reached the hillock he found it of green jasper surmounted by a golden
throne studded with all manner gems, round which were set many stools,
some of gold, some of silver and others of leek green emerald. He clomb
the hillock and, counting the stools, found them twelve thousand in
number; then he mounted the throne which was set on the centre and,
seating himself thereon, fell to wondering at the lake and the stools,
and he marvelled till drowsiness overcame him and he drops asleep.
Presently, he was aroused by a loud snorting and hissing and rustling,
so he opened his eyes; and, sitting up, saw each stool occupied by a
huge serpent, an hundred cubits in length. At this sight, great fear
get hold of him; his spittle dried up for the excess of his dread and
he despaired of life, as all their eyes were blazing like live coals.
Then he turned towards the lake and saw that what he had taken for
shimmering water was a multitude of small snakes, none knoweth their
compt save Allah the Most High. After awhile, there came up to him a
serpent as big as a mule, bearing on its back a tray of gold, wherein
lay another serpent which shone like crystal and whose face was as that
of a woman[FN#511] and who spake with human speech. And as soon as she
was brought up to Hasib, she saluted him and he returned the
salutation. There upon, one of the serpents seated on the stools came
up and, lifting her off the tray, set her on one of the seats and she
cried out to the other serpents in their language, whereupon they all
fell down from their stools and did her homage. But she signed to them
to sit and they did so. Then she addressed Hasib, saying, "Have no fear
of us, O youth; for I am the Queen of the Serpents and their Sultαnah."
When he heard her speak on this wise, he took heart and she bade the
serpents bring him somewhat of food.[FN#512] So they brought apples and
grapes and pomegranates and pistachio-nuts and filberts and walnuts and
almonds and bananas and set them before him, and the Queen-serpent
said, "Welcome, O youth! What is thy name?" Answered he, "Hasib Karim
al-Din;" and she rejoined, "O Hasib, eat of these fruits, for we have
no other meat and fear thou have nothing from us at all." Hearing this,
he ate his fill and praised Allah Almighty; and presently they took
away the trays from before him, and the Queen said, "Tell me, O Hasib,
whence thou art and how camest thou hither and what hath befallen
thee." So he told her his story from first to last, the death of his
father; his birth; his being sent to school where he learnt nothing;
his becoming a wood cutter; his finding the honey- cistern; his being
abandoned therein; his killing the scorpion; his widening the crevice;
his finding the iron door and his coming upon the Queen, and he ended
his long tale with saying, "These be my adventures from beginning to
end and only Allah wotteth what will betide me after all this!" Quoth
the Queen, after listening to his words, "Nothing save good shall
betide thee:"—And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say
her permitted say.
When it was the Four Hundred and Eighty-sixth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the
Serpent-queen had heard his story she said, "Nothing save good shall
betide thee: but I would have thee, O Hasib, abide with me some time,
that I may tell thee my history and acquaint thee with the wondrous
adventures which have happened to me." "I hear and obey thy hest,"
answered he; and she began to tell in these words,
The Adventures of Bulukiya.
"Know thou, O Hasib, there was once in the city of Cairo a King of the
Banu Isra'νl, a wise and a pious, who was bent double by poring over
books of learning, and he had a son named Bulϊkiyα. When he grew old
and weak and was nigh upon death, his Grandees and Officers of state
came up to salute him, and he said to them, 'O folk, know that at hand
is the hour of my march from this world to the next, and I have no
charge to lay on you, save to commend to your care my son Bulukiya.'
Then said he, 'I testify that there is no god save the God;' and,
heaving one sigh, departed the world the mercy of Allah be upon him!
They laid him out and washed him and buried him with a procession of
great state. Then they made his son Bulukiya Sultan in his stead; and
he ruled the kingdom justly and the people had peace in his time. Now
it befell one day that he entered his father's treasuries, to look
about him, and coming upon an inner compartment and finding the
semblance of a door, opened it and passed in. And lo! he found himself
in a little closet, wherein stood a column of white marble, on the top
of which was a casket of ebony; he opened this also and saw therein
another casket of gold, containing a book. He read the book and found
in it an account of our lord Mohammed (whom Allah bless and preserve!)
and how he should be sent in the latter days[FN#513] and be the lord of
the first Prophets and the last. On seeing the personal description
Bulukiya's heart was taken with love of him, so he at once assembled
all the notables of the Children of Israel, the Cohens or diviners, the
scribes and the priests, and acquainted them with the book, reading
portions of it to them and, adding, 'O folk, needs must I bring my
father out of his grave and burn him.' The lieges asked, 'Why wilt thou
burn him?'; and he answered, 'Because he hid this book from me and
imparted it not to me.' Now the old King had excerpted it from the
Torah or Pentateuch and the Books of Abraham; and had set it in one of
his treasuries and concealed it from all living. Rejoined they, 'O
King, thy father is dead; his body is in the dust and his affair is in
the hands of his Lord; thou shalt not take him forth of his tomb.' So
he knew that they would not suffer him to do this thing by his sire and
leaving them he repaired to his mother, to whom said he, 'O my mother,
I have found, in one of my father's treasuries, a book containing a
description of Mohammed (whom Allah bless and keep!), a prophet who
shall be sent in the latter days; and my heart is captivated with love
of him. Wherefore am I resolved to wander over the earth, till I
foregather with him; else I shall die of longing for his love.' Then he
doffed his clothes and donned an Aba gown of goat's hair and coarse
sandals, saying, 'O my mother, forget me not in thy prayers.' She wept
over him and said, 'What will become of us after thee?'; but Bulukiya
answered, 'I can endure no longer, and I commit my affair and thine to
Allah who is Almighty.' Then he set out on foot Syria wards without the
knowledge of any of his folk, and coming to the sea board found a
vessel whereon he shipped as one of the crew. They sailed till he made
an island, where Bulukiya landed with the crew, but straying away from
the rest he sat down under a tree and sleep got the better of him. When
he awoke, he sought the ship but found that she had set sail without
him, and in that island he saw serpents as big as camels and palm
trees, which repeated the names of Allah (be He extolled and exalted!)
and blessed Mohammed (whom the Lord assain and save!), proclaiming the
Unity and glorifying the Glorious; whereat he wondered."—And Shahrazad
perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
When it was the Four Hundred and Eighty-seventh Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that "when Bulukiya
saw the serpents glorifying God and proclaiming the Unity, he wondered
with extreme wonder. When they saw him, they flocked to him and one of
them said to him, 'Who and whence art thou and whither goest thou. and
what is thy name?' Quoth he, 'My name is Bulukiya; I am of the Children
of Israel and, being distracted for love of Mohammed (whom Allah bless
and keep!), I come in quest of him. But who are ye, O noble creatures?'
Answered they, 'We are of the dwellers in the Jahannam-hell; and
Almighty Allah created us for the punishment of Kafirs.' 'And how came
ye hither?' asked he, and the Serpents answered, 'Know, O Bulukiya,
that Hell[FN#514] of the greatness of her boiling, breatheth twice a
year, expiring in the summer and inspiring in the winter, and hence the
summer heat and winter cold. When she exhaleth, she casteth us forth of
her maw, and we are drawn in again with her inhaled breath.' Quoth
Bulukiya, 'Say me, are there greater serpents than you in Hell?'; and
they said, 'Of a truth we are cast out with the expired breath but by
reason of our smallness; for in Hell every serpent is so great, that
were the biggest of us to pass over its nose it would not feel
us.[FN#515]' Asked Bulukiya, 'Ye sing the praises of Allah and invoke
blessings on Mohammed, whom the Almighty assain and save! Whence wot ye
of Mohammed?'; and they answered, 'O Bulukiya, verily his name is
written on the gates of Paradise; and, but for him, Allah had not
created the worlds[FN#516] nor Paradise, nor heaven nor hell nor earth,
for He made all things that be, solely on his account, and hath
conjoined his name with His own in every place; wherefore we love
Mohammed, whom Allah bless and preserve!' Now hearing the serpents'
converse did but inflame Bulukiya's love for Mohammed and yearning for
his sight; so he took leave of them; and, making his way to the
sea-shore, found there a ship made fast to the beach; he embarked
therein as a seaman and sailed nor ceased sailing till he came to
another island. Here he landed and walking about awhile found serpents
great and small, none knoweth their number save Almighty Allah, and
amongst them a white Serpent, clearer than crystal, seated in a golden
tray borne on the back of another serpent as big as an elephant. Now
this, O Hasib, was the Serpent-queen, none other than myself." Quoth
Hasib, "And what answer didst thou make him?" Quoth she, "Know, O
Hasib, that when I saw Bulukiya, I saluted him with the salam, and he
returned my salutation, and I said to him, 'Who and what art thou and
what is thine errand and whence comest thou and whither goest thou?'
Answered he, 'I am of the Children of Israel; my name is Bulukiya, and
I am a wanderer for the love of Mohammed, whose description I have read
in the revealed scriptures, and of whom I go in search. But what art
thou and what are these serpents about thee?' Quoth I, 'O Bulukiya, I
am the Queen of the Serpents; and when thou shalt foregather with
Mohammed (whom Allah assain and save!) bear him my salutation.' Then
Bulukiya took leave of me and journeyed till he came to the Holy City
which is Jerusalem. Now there was in that stead a man who was deeply
versed in all sciences, more especially in geometry and astronomy and
mathematics, as well as in white magic[FN#517] and Spiritualism; and he
had studied the Pentateuch and the Evangel and the Psalms and the Books
of Abraham. His name was Affan; and he had found in certain of his
books, that whoso should wear the seal ring of our lord Solomon, men
and Jinn and birds and beasts and all created things would be bound to
obey him. Moreover, he had discovered that our lord Solomon had been
buried in a coffin which was miraculously transported beyond the Seven
Seas to the place of burial;"—And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day
and ceased to say her permitted say.
When it was the Four Hundred and Eighty-eighth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that "Affan had found
in certain books that none, mortal or spirit, could pluck the seal ring
from the lord Solomon's finger; and that no navigator could sail his
ship upon the Seven Seas over which the coffin had been carried.
Moreover, he had found out by reading that there was a herb of herbs
and that if one express its juice and anoint therewith his feet, he
should walk upon the surface of any sea that Allah Almighty had created
without wetting his soles, but none could obtain this herb, without he
had with him the Serpent-queen. When Bulukiya arrived at the Holy City,
he at once sat down to do his devotions and worship the Lord; and,
whilst he was so doing, Affan came up and saluted him as a True
Believer. Then seeing him reading the Pentateuch and adoring the
Almighty, he accosted him saying, 'What is thy name, O man; and whence
comest thou and whither goest thou?' He answered, 'My name is Bulukiya;
I am from the city of Cairo and am come forth wandering in quest of
Mohammed, whom Allah bless and preserve!' Quoth Affan, 'Come with me to
my lodging that I may entertain thee.' 'To hear is to obey,' replied
Bulukiya So the devotee took him by the hand and carried him to his
house where he entreated him with the utmost honour and presentry said
to him, 'Tell me thy history, O my brother, and how thou camest by the
knowledge of Mohammed (whom Allah assain and save!) that thy heart hath
been taken with love of him and compelled thee to fare forth and seek
him; and lastly tell me who it was directed thee in this road.' So he
related to him his tale in its entirety; whereupon Affan, who well nigh
lost his wits for wonder, said to him, 'Make tryst for me with the
Queen of the Serpents and I will bring thee in company with Mohammed,
albeit the date of his mission is yet far distant. We have only to
prevail upon the Queen and carry her in a cage to a certain mountain
where the herbs grow; and, as long as she is with us, the plants as we
pass them will parley with human speech and discover their virtues by
the ordinance of Allah the Most High. For I have found in my books that
there is a certain herb and all who express its juice and anoint
therewith their feet shall walk upon whatsoever sea Almighty Allah hath
made, without wetting sole. When we have found the magical herb, we
will let her go her way; and then will we anoint our feet with the
juice and cross the Seven Seas, till we come to the burial place of our
lord Solomon. Then we will take the ring off his finger and rule even
as he ruled and win all our wishes; we will enter the Main of
Murks[FN#518] and drink of the Water of Life, and so the Almighty will
let us tarry till the End of Time and we shall foregather with
Mohammed, whom Allah bless and preserve!' Hearing these words Bulukiya
replied, 'O Affan, I will make tryst for thee with the Serpent-queen
and at once show thee her abiding place.' So Affan made him a cage of
iron; and, providing himself with two bowls, one full of wine and the
other of milk, took ship with Bulukiya and sailed till they came to the
island, where they landed and walked upon it. Then Affan set up the
cage, in which he laid a noose and withdrew after placing in it the two
bowls; when he and Bulukiya concealed themselves afar off. Presently,
up came the Queen of the Serpents (that is, myself) and examined the
cage. When she (that is I) smelt the savour of the milk, she came down
from the back of the snake which bore her tray and, entering the cage,
drank up the milk. Then she went to the bowl of wine and drank of it,
whereupon her head became giddy and she slept. When Affan saw this, he
ran up and locking the cage upon her, set it on his head and made for
the ship, he and Bulukiya. After awhile she awoke and finding herself
in a cage of iron on a man's head and seeing Bulukiya walking beside
the bearer, said to him, 'This is the reward of those who do no hurt to
the sons of Adam.' Answered he, 'O Queen, have no fear of us, for we
will do thee no hurt at all. We wish thee only to show us the herb
which, when pounded and squeezed yieldeth a juice, and this rubbed upon
the feet conferreth the power of walking dryshod upon what sea soever
Almighty Allah hath created; and when we have found that, we will
return thee to thy place and let thee wend thy way.' Then Affan and
Bulukiya fared on for the hills where grew the herbs; and, as they went
about with the Queen, each plant they passed began to speak and avouch
its virtues by permission of Allah the Most High. As they were thus
doing and the herbs speaking right and left, behold, a plant spoke out
and said, 'I am the herb ye seek, and all who gather and crush me and
anoint their feet with my juice, shall fare over what sea soever Allah
Almighty hath created and yet ne'er wet sole.' When Affan heard this,
he set down the cage from his head and, gathering what might suffice
them of the herb, crushed it and filling two vials with the juice kept
them for future use; and with what was left they anointed their feet.
Then they took up the Serpent-queen's cage and journeyed days and
nights, till they reached the island, where they opened the cage and
let out her that is me. When I found myself at liberty, I asked them
what use they would make of the juice; and they answered, 'We design to
anoint our feet and to cross the Seven Seas to the burial place of our
lord Solomon[FN#519] and take the seal ring from his finger.' Quoth I,
'Far, far is it from your power to possess yourselves of the ring!'
They enquired, 'Wherefore?' and I replied, 'Because Almighty Allah
vouchsafed unto our lord Solomon the gift of this ring and
distinguished him thereby, for that he said to him, 'O Lord, give me a
kingdom which may not be obtained after me; for Thou verily art the
Giver of kingdoms.[FN#520]' 'So that ring is not for you.' And I added,
'Had ye twain taken the herb, whereof all who eat shall not die until
the First Blast,[FN#521] it had better availed you than this ye have
gotten; for ye shall nowise come at your desire thereby.' Now when they
heard this, they repented them with exceeding penitence and went their
ways."—And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her
permitted say.
When it was the Four Hundred and Eighty-ninth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that "when Bulukiya
and Affan heard these words, they repented them with exceeding
penitence and went their ways. Such was their case; but as regards
myself" (continued the Serpent-queen) "I went in quest of my host and
found it fallen in piteous case, the stronger of them having grown weak
in my absence and the weaker having died. When they saw me, they
rejoiced and flocking about me, asked, 'What hath befallen thee, and
where hast thou been?' So I told them what had passed, after which I
gathered my forces to "ether and repaired with them to the mountain
Kaf, where I was wont to winter, summer-freshing in the place where
thou now seest me, O Hasib Karim al-Din. This, then, is my story and
what befell me." Thereupon Hasib marvelled at her words and said to
her, "I beseech thee, of thy favour, bid one of thy guards bear me
forth to the surface of the earth, that I may go to my people." She
replied, "O Hasib, thou shalt not have leave to depart from us till
winter come, and needs must thou go with us to the Mountain Kaf and
solace thyself with the sight of the hills and sands and trees and
birds magnifying the One God, the Victorious; and look upon Marids and
Ifrits and Jinn, whose number none knoweth save Almighty Allah." When
Hasib heard this, he was sore chafed and chagrined: then he said to
her, "Tell me of Affan and Bulukiya; when they departed from thee and
went their way, did they cross the Seven Seas and reach the
burial-place of our lord Solomon or not; and if they did had they power
to take the ring or not?" Answered she, "Know, that when they left me,
they anointed their feet with the juice; and, walking over the water,
fared on from sea to sea, diverting themselves with the wonders of the
deep, nor ceased they faring till they had traversed the Seven Seas and
came in sight of a mountain, soaring high in air, whose stones were
emeralds and whose dust was musk; and in it was a stream of running
water. When they made it they rejoiced, saying each to the other,
'Verily we have won our wish'; and they entered the passes of the
mountain and walked on, till they saw from afar a cavern surmounted by
a great dome, shining with light. So they made for the cavern, and
entering it beheld therein a throne of gold studded with all manner
jewels, and about it stools whose number none knoweth save Allah
Almighty. And they saw lying at full length upon the throne our lord
Solomon, clad in robes of green silk inwoven with gold and broidered
with jewels and precious minerals: his right hand was passed over his
breast and on the middle finger was the seal ring whose lustre outshone
that of all other gems in the place. Then Affan taught Bulukiya
adjurations and conjurations galore and said to him, 'Repeat these
conjurations and cease not repeating until I take the ring.' Then he
went up to the throne; but, as he drew near unto it lo' c mighty
serpent came forth from beneath it and cried out at him with so
terrible a cry that the whole place trembled and sparks flew from its
mouth, saying, 'Begone, or thou art a dead man' But Affan busied
himself with his incantations and suffered himself not to be startled
thereby. Then the serpent blew such a fiery blast at him, that the
place was like to be set on fire, and said to him, Woe to thee! Except
thou turn back, I will consume thee' Hearing these words Bulukiya left
the cave, but Affan, who suffered himself not to be troubled, went up
to the Prophet: then he put out his hand to the ring and touched it and
strove to draw it off the lord Solomon's finger; and behold, the
serpent blew on him once more and he became a heap of ashes. Such was
his case; but as regards Bulukiya he fell down in a swoon."— And
Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted
say.
When it was the Four Hundred and Ninetieth Night,