Nineveh, his voice is heard by our mares in this place so that they
miscarry?[74]” Hereat Haykar left the King and faring to his place took
a tabby-cat and tying her up fell to flogging her with a sore flogging
until all the Egyptians heard her outcries and reported the matter to
the Sovran. So Pharaoh sent to fetch him and asked, “O Haykar, for what
cause didst thou scourge this cat and beat her with such beating, she
being none other but a dumb beast[75]?” He replied, “O my lord the King,
she hath done by me a wrongous deed and she hath amply merited this
whipping and these stripes.” The King asked, “And what may be this deed
she did?” whereto Haykar made answer, “Verily my master Sankharib the
King had given me a beautiful cock who had a mighty fine voice and a
strong, and he knew the hours of darkness and announced them. But as he
was in my mansion this mischief-making tabby fared there and fell upon
him last night and tare off his head; and for this cause when she
returned to me I took to punishing her with such blows and stripes.”
Pharaoh rejoined, “O Haykar, indeed I see thou art old and doting!
Between Misraim and Nineveh lie eight hundred and sixty parasangs; so
how could this cat have covered them in one night and have torn off thy
chanticleer’s head and have returned by morning to Egypt?” He replied,
“O my lord, seeing that between Egypt and Assyria is such interval how
then can the neighing of my lord the King’s stallion reach unto
Nile-land and be heard by your mares so that here they miscarry?” When
Pharaoh had pondered these words, he knew that the envoy had returned
him a full and sufficient reply, so quoth he, “O Haykar, ’tis my desire
that thou make for me two ropes of sand;” and quoth the other, “Do thou
prescribe that they bring me a cord from thy stores that I twist one
like it.” So when they had done as he bade, Haykar fared forth arear of
the palace and dug two round borings equal to the thickness of the cord;
then he collected sand from the river-bed and placed it therein, so that
when the sun arose and entered into the cylinder, the sand appeared in
the sunlight like unto ropes.[76] Thereupon quoth he to Pharaoh,
“Command thy slaves take up these ropes and I will twist thee as many of
them as thou willest.” Quoth Pharaoh, “O Haykar, we have before our eyes
a millstone which is broken; and I require of thee that thou sew up the
rent.” Accordingly the Envoy looked about him and, seeing there another
stone, said to Pharaoh, “O my lord, here am I a stranger man nor have I
with me aught of darning-gear; but I would have thee bid thy confidants
amongst the cobblers to provide me out of this other stone with
shoemaker’s awls and needles and scissors wherewith I may sew up for
thee the breach in yon millstone.” Hereat Pharaoh the King fell
a-laughing, he and his Grandees, and cried, “Blessed be Allah, who hath
vouchsafed to thee all this penetration and knowledge;” then, seeing
that the Envoy had answered all his questions and had resolved his
propositions he forthright confessed that he was conquered and he bade
them collect the tax-tribute of three years and present it to him
together with the loan concerning which Haykar had written and he robed
him with robes of honour, him and his guards and his pages; and supplied
him with viaticum, victual and moneys for the road, and said to him,
“Fare thee in safety, O honour of thy lord and boast of thy liege: who
like unto thee shall be found as a Councillor for the Kings and the
Sultans? And do thou present my salam to thy master Sankharib the Sovran
saying:—Excuse us for that which we forwarded to thee, as the Kings are
satisfied with a scanting of such acknowledgment.”[77] Haykar accepted
from him all this; then, kissing ground before him, said, “I desire of
thee, O my lord, an order that not a man of Assyria and Nineveh remain
with thee in the land of Egypt but fare forth it with me homewards.”
Hereupon Pharaoh sent a herald to make proclamation of all whereof
Haykar had spoken to him, after which the envoy farewelled the King and
set out on his march intending for the realm of Assyria and Nineveh and
bearing with him of treasures and moneys a mighty matter. When the
tidings of his approach came to the ears of Sankharib, the King rode
forth to meet his Minister, rejoicing in him with joy exceeding and
received him lovingly and kissed him, and cried, “Well come and welcome
and fair welcome to my sire and the glory of my realm and the vaunt of
my kingdom: do thou require of me whatso thou wantest and choosest, even
didst thou covet one-half of my good and of my government.” The Minister
replied, “Live, O King, for ever; and if thou would gift me bestow thy
boons upon Abu Sumayk, the Sworder, whose wise delay, furthered by the
will of Allah Almighty, quickened me with a second life,” “In thine
honour, O my beloved,” quoth the King, “I will do him honour;” and
presently he fell to questioning his envoy concerning what had befallen
him from Pharaoh and how the Lord of the Misraim had presented him with
the tax-tribute and moneys and gifts and honourable robes; and lastly,
he asked anent the instances and secrets which ended the mission. So
Haykar related all that had betided, whereat Sankharib rejoiced with
mighty great joy; and, when the converse was concluded, the King said to
him, “O Haykar, take unto thee everything thou wishest and wantest of
all this, for ’tis in the grasp of thy hand.” Haykar answered, “Live, O
King, for ever and aye; naught do I require save thy safety and the
permanency of thy rule: what shall I do with moneys and such like? But
an thou deign largesse me with aught, make over to me in free gift
Nadan, my sister’s son, that I requite him for that he wrought with me:
and I would that thou grant me his blood and make it lawfully my very
own.” Sankharib replied, “Take him, for I have given to thee that same.”
So Haykar led his nephew to his home[78] and bound his hands in bonds
and fettered his feet with heavy chains; then he beat him with a severe
bastinado and a torturing upon his soles and calves, his back, his belly
and his armpits; after which bashing he cast him into a black hole
adjoining the jakes. He also made Binuhal guardian over him and bade him
be supplied day by day with a scone of bread and a little water; and
whenever the uncle went in to or came forth from the nephew he would
revile Nadan and of his wisdom would say to him, “O dear my son, I
wrought with thee all manner of good and kindly works and thou didst
return me therefor evil and treason and death. O dear my son, ’tis said
in saws:—Whoso heareth not through his ears, through the nape of his
neck shall he hear.”[79] Hereat quoth Nadan, “O my uncle, what reason
hast thou to be wroth with me?” and quoth Haykar, “For that I raised
thee to worship and honour and made thee great after rearing thee with
the best of rearing and I educated thee so thou mightest become mine
heir in lore and contrivance and in worldly good. But thou soughtest my
ruin and destruction and thou desiredst for me doom of death; however,
the Lord, knowing me to be a wronged man, delivered me from thy
mischief, for God hearteneth the broken heart and abaseth the envious
and the vain-glorious. O dear my son,[80] thou hast been as the scorpion
who when she striketh her sting[81] upon brass would pierce it. O dear
my son, thou hast resembled the Sajálmah-bird[82] when netted in net
who, when she cannot save herself alive, she prayeth the partridges to
cast themselves into perdition with her. O dear my son, thou hast been
as the cur who, when suffering cold entereth the potter’s house to warm
himself at the kiln, and when warmed barketh at the folk on such wise
that they must beat him and cast him out, lest after barking he bite
them. O dear my son, thou hast done even as the hog who entered the
Hammam in company with the great; but after coming out he saw a stinking
fosse a-flowing[83] and went and therein wallowed. O dear my son, thou
hast become like the old and rank he-goat who when he goeth in leadeth
his friends and familiars to the slaughter-house and cannot by any means
come off safe or with his own life or with their lives. O dear my son, a
hand which worketh not neither plougheth, and withal is greedy and
over-nimble shall be cut off from its armpit. O dear my son, thou hast
imitated the tree whom men hew down, head and branch, when she said:—Had
not that in your hands been of me,[84] indeed ye would not have availed
to my felling. O dear my son, thou hast acted as did the she-cat to whom
they said:—Renounce robbing that we make thee collars of gold and feed
thee with sugar and almond cake! But she replied:—As for me, my craft is
that of my father and my mother, nor can I ever forget it. O dear my
son, thou art as a dragon mounted upon a bramble-bush, and the two
amiddlemost a stream, which when the wolf saw he cried:—A mischief on a
mischief and let one more mischievous counsel the twain of them. O dear
my son, with delicate food I fed thee and thou didst not fodder me with
the driest of bread; and of sugar and the finest wines I gave thee to
drink, while thou grudgedst to me a sup of cold water. O dear my son, I
taught thee and tendered thee with the tenderest of tending and garred
thee grow like the lofty cedar of Lebanon, but thou didst incriminate me
and confine me in fetters by thine evil courses.[85] O dear my son, I
nourished a hope that thou wouldst build me a strong tower wherein I
might find refuge from mine adversary and foil my foes; but thou hast
been to me as a burier, a grave-digger, who would thrust me into the
bowels of the earth: however, my Lord had mercy upon me. O dear my son,
I willed thee well and thou rewardedst me with ill-will and foul deed;
wherefore, ’tis now my intent to pluck out thine eyes and hack away thy
tongue and strike off thy head with the sword-edge and then make thee
meat for the wolves; and so exact retaliation from thine abominable
actions.” Hereupon Nadan made answer and said to Haykar his uncle, “Do
with me whatso thy goodness would do and then condone thou to me all my
crimes, for who is there can offend like me and can condone like thee?
And now I pray thee take me into thy service and suffer me to slave in
thy house and groom thy horses, even to sweeping away their dung, and
herd thy hogs; for verily I am the evil-doer and thou art the
beneficent; I am the sinner and thou art the pardoner.” “O dear my son,”
rejoined Haykar, “Thou favourest the tree which, albe planted by the
side of many waters, was barren of dates and her owner purposed to hew
her down, when she said:—Remove me unto another stead where if I fruit
not then fell me. But he rejoined:—Being upon the water-edge thou gavest
ne’er a date, so how shalt thou bear fruit being in other site? O dear
my son, better the senility of the eagle than the juvenility of the
raven. O dear my son, they said to the wolf:—Avoid the sheep lest haply
the dust they raise in flight may do thee a damage; but Lupus made
answer:—Verily their dust is a powder good for the eyes. O dear my son,
they brought the wolf to school that he might learn to read; but, when
quoth they to him:—Say A, B, C, D,[86] quoth he, Lamb, Sheep, Kid,
Goat,[87] even as within my belly. O dear my son, they set the ass’s
head beside a tray of meats, but he slipped down and fell to rolling
upon his back, for his nature (like that of others) may never be
changed. O dear my son, his say is stablished who said:—When thou hast
begotten a child assume him to be thy son, and when thou hast reared a
son assume him to be a slave.[88] O dear my son, whoso doeth good, good
shall be his lot; and whoso worketh evil, evil shall befal him; for that
the Lord compensateth mankind according to conduct. O dear my son,
wherewith shall I bespeak thee beyond this my speech? and verily Allah
knoweth concealed things and wotteth all secret and hidden works and
ways and He shall requite thee and order and ordain between me and thee
and shall recompense thee with that thou deservest.” Now when Nadan
heard these words from his uncle Haykar, his body began to swell and
become like a blown-up bag and his members waxed puffy, his legs and
calves and his sides were distended, then his belly split asunder and
burst till his bowels gushed forth and his end (which was destruction)
came upon him; so he perished and fared to Jahannam-fire and the
dwelling-place dire. Even so it is said in books:—“Whoever diggeth for
his brother a pit shall himself fall into it and whoso setteth up a
snare for his neighbour shall be snared therein.” And this much know we
anent the Say of Haykar the Sage, and magnification be to Allah for ever
and ever
AMEN.
TMT.[89]
THE HISTORY OF AL-BUNDUKANI.
OR,
THE CALIPH HARUN AL-RASHID AND THE DAUGHTER OF KING KISRA.
=In the name of Allah the Compassionating, the Compassionate, we here
invite, by the aidance of the Almighty and His furtherance, the History
of the Caliph Harun al-Rashid and of the Daughter of Kisra the
King.=[90]