She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when they told the
Governor, he rose and mounted and, taking with him labourers, with spades and
baskets, went on my track, with many people behind him; and I ran on before
them, howling and casting dust on my head and beating my face, followed by my
mistress and her children keening for the dead. But I got ahead of them; and
entered the garden before them, and when my master saw me in this state, I
smiting my face and saying, "Well away! my mistress! Alas! Alas! Alas! who is
left to take pity on me, now that my mistress is gone? Would I had been a
sacrifice for her!", he stood aghast and his colour waxed yellow and he said to
me, "What aileth thee O Kafur! What is the matter?" "O my lord," I replied,
"when thou sentest me to the house, I found that the saloon-wall had given way
and had fallen like a layer upon my mistress and her children!" "And did not
thy mistress escape?" "No, by Allah, O my master; not one of them was saved;
the first to die was my mistress, thine elder daughter!" "And did not my
younger daughter escape?"; "No, she did not!" "And what became of the mare-mule
I use to ride, is she safe?" "No, by Allah, O my master, the house-walls and
the stable-walls buried every living thing that was within doors, even to the
sheep and geese and poultry, so that they all became a heap of flesh and the
dogs and cats are eating them; and not one of them is left alive." "And hath not
thy master, my elder son, escaped?" "No, by Allah! not one of them was saved,
and now there is naught left of house or household, nor even a sign of them:
and, as for the sheep and geese and hens, the cats and dogs have devoured
them." When my master heard this the light became night before his sight; his
wits were dazed and he so lost command of his senses that he could not stand
firm on his feet: he was as one struck with a sudden palsy and his back was
like to break. Then he rent his raiment and plucked out his beard and, casting
his turband from off his head, buffeted his face till the blood ran down and he
cried aloud, "Alas, my children! Alas, my wife! Alas, my calamity! To whom ever
befel that which hath befallen me?" The merchants, his friends, also cried
aloud at his crying and wept for his weeping and tore their clothes, being
moved to pity of his case; and so my master went out of the garden, smiting his
face with such violence that from excess of pain he staggered like one drunken
with wine. As he and the merchants came forth from the garden gate, behold,
they saw a great cloud of dust and heard a loud noise of crying and
lamentation; so they looked and lo! it was the Governor with his attendants and
the townsfolk, a world of people, who had come out to look on, and my master's
family following them, all screaming and crying aloud and weeping exceeding
sore weeping. The first to address my owner were his wife and children; and
when he saw them he was confounded and laughed[FN#98] and said to them, "How is
it with all of you and what befel you in the house and what hath come to pass
to you?" When they saw him they exclaimed, "Praise be to Allah for thy
preservation!" and threw themselves upon him and his children hung about him
crying, "Alack, our father! Thanks to Allah for thy safety, O our father!" And
his wife said to him, "Art thou indeed well? Laud to Allah who hath shown us
thy face in safety!" And indeed she was confounded and her reason fled when she
saw him, and she asked, "O, my lord, how didst thou escape, thou and thy
friends the merchants?"; and he answered her, "And how fared it with thee in
the house?" Quoth they, "We were all well, whole and healthy, nor hath aught of
evil befallen us in the house, save that thy slave Kafur came to us, bareheaded
with torn garments and howling, 'Alas, the master! Alas the master!' So we
asked him, 'What tidings, O Kafur?' and he answered 'A wall of the garden hath
fallen on my master and his friends the merchants, and they are all crushed and
dead!''' "By Allah," said my master, "he came to me but now howling, 'Alas, my
mistress! Alas, the children of the mistress!', and said, 'My mistress and her
children are all dead, every one of them!'" Then he looked round and seeing me
with my turband rent in rags round my neck, howling and weeping with exceeding
weeping and throwing dust upon my head, he cried out at me. So I came to him
and he said, "Woe to thee, O ill-omened slave! O whoreson knave! O thou damned
breed! What mischief thou hast wrought? By Allah! I will flog thy skin from thy
flesh and cut thy flesh from thy bones!" I rejoined, "By Allah, thou canst do
nothing of the kind with me, O my lord, for thou boughtest me with my blemish;
and there are honest men to bear witness against thee that thou didst so
accepting the condition, and that thou knewest of my fault which is to tell one
lie every year. Now this is only a half-lie, but by the end of the year I will
tell the other half, then will the lie stand whole and complete." "O dog, son
of a dog!", cried my master, "O most accursed of slaves, is this all of it but
a half-lie? Verily if it be a half-lie 'tis a whole calamity! Get thee from me,
thou art free in the face of Allah!" "By Allah," rejoined I, if thou free me, I
will not free thee till my year is completed and I have told thee the half-lie
which is left. When this is done, go down with me to the slave-market and sell
me as thou boughtest me to whoso will buy me with my blemish; but thou shalt
not manumit me, for I have no handicraft whereby to gain my living;[FN#99] and
this my demand is a matter of law which the doctors have laid down in the
Chapter of Emancipation."[FN#100] While we were at these words, up came the
crowd of people, and the neighbours of the quarter, men, women and children,
together with the Governor and his suite offering condolence. So my master and
the other merchants went up to him and informed him of the adventure, and how
this was but a half-lie, at which all wondered, deeming it a whole lie and a
big one. And they cursed me and reviled me, while I stood laughing and grinning
at them, till at last I asked, "How shall my master slay me when he bought me
with this my blemish?" Then my master returned home and found his house in
ruins, and it was I who had laid waste the greater part of it,[FN#101] having
broken things which were worth much money, as also had done his wife, who said
to him, "'Twas Kafur who broke the vessels and chinaware." Thereupon his rage
redoubled and he struck hand upon hand exclaiming, "By Allah! in my life never
saw I a whoreson like this slave; and he saith this is but a half-lie! How,
then, if he had told me a whole lie? He would ruin a city, aye or even two."
Then in his fury he went to the Governor, and they gave me a neat thing in the
bastinado-line and made me eat stick till I was lost to the world and a
fainting-fit came on me; and, whilst I was yet senseless, they brought the
barber who docked me and gelded me[FN#102] and cauterised the wound. When I
revived I found myself a clean eunuch with nothing left, and my master said to
me, "Even as thou hast burned my heart for the things I held dearest, so have I
burnt thy heart for that of thy members whereby thou settest most store!" Then
he took me and sold me at a profit, for that I was become an eunuch. And I
ceased not bringing trouble upon all, wherever I was sold, and was shifted from
lord to lord and from notable to notable, being sold and being bought, till I
entered the palace of the Commander of the Faithful. But now my spirit is
broken and my tricks are gone from me, so--alas!--are my ballocks. When the two
slaves heard his history, they laughed at him and chaffed him and said, "Truly
thou art skite[FN#103] and skite-son! Thou liedest an odious lie." Then quoth
they to the third slave, "Tell us thy tale." "O sons of my uncle," quoth he,
"all that ye have said is idle: I will tell you the cause of my losing my
testicles, and indeed I deserved to lose even more, for I futtered both my
mistress and my master's eldest son and heir: but my story is a long one and
this is not the time to tell it; for the dawn, O my cousins, draweth near and
if morning come upon us with this chest still unburied, we shall get into sore
disgrace and our lives will pay for it. So up with you and open the door and,
when we get back to the palace, I will tell you my story and the cause of my
losing my precious stones." Then he swarmed up and dropped down from the wall
inside and opened the door, so they entered and, setting down the lantern, dug
between four tombs a hole as long as the chest and of the same breadth. Kafur
plied the spade and Sawab removed the earth by baskets-full till they reached
the depth of the stature of a man;[FN#104] when they laid the chest in the hole
and threw back the earth over it: then they went forth and shutting the door
disappeared from Ghanim's eyes. When all was quiet and he felt sure that he was
left alone in the place, his thought was busied about what the chest contained
and he said to himself, "Would that I knew the contents of that box!" However,
he waited till day broke, when morning shone and showed her sheen: whereupon he
came down from the date-tree and scooped away the earth with his hands, till
the box was laid bare and disengaged from the ground. Then he took a large
stone and hammered at the lock till he broke it and, opening the lid, beheld a
young lady, a model of beauty and loveliness, clad in the richest of garments
and jewels of gold and such necklaces of precious stones that, were the
Sultan's country evened with them, it would not pay their price. She had been
drugged with Bhang, but her bosom, rising and falling, showed that her breath
had not departed. When Ghanim saw her, he knew that some one had played her
false and hocussed her; so he pulled her out of the chest and laid her on the
ground with her face upwards. As soon as she smelt the breeze and the air
entered her nostrils, mouth and lungs, she sneezed and choked and coughed; when
there fell from out her throat a pill of Cretan Bhang, had an elephant smelt it
he would have slept from night to night. Then she opened her eyes and glancing
around said, in sweet voice and gracious words, "Woe to thee O wind! there is
naught in thee to satisfy the thirsty, nor aught to gratify one whose thirst is
satisfied! Where is Zhar al-Bostan?" But no one answered her, so she turned her
and cried out, "Ho Sabíhah! Shajarat al-Durr! Núr al-Hudá! Najmat al-Subh! be
ye awake? Shahwah, Nuzhah, Halwá, Zarífah, out on you, speak![FN#105]'' But no
one answered; so she looked all around and said, "Woe's me! have they entombed
me in the tombs? O Thou who knowest what man's thought enwombs and who givest
compensation on the Day of Doom, who can have brought me from amid hanging
screens and curtains veiling the Harím-rooms and set me down between four
tombs?" All this while Ghanim was standing by: then he said to her, "O my lady,
here are neither screened rooms nor palace-Haríms nor yet tombs; only the slave
henceforth devoted to thy love, Ghanim bin Ayyub, sent to thee by the
Omniscient One above, that all thy troubles He may remove and win for thee
every wish that doth behove!" Then he held his peace. She was reassured by his
words and cried, "I testify that there is no god but the God and I testify that
Mohammed is the Apostle of God!"; then she turned to Ghanim and, placing her
hands before her face, said to him in the sweetest speech, "O blessed youth,
who brought me hither? See, I am now come to myself." "O my lady," he replied,
"three slave-eunuchs came here bearing this chest;" and related to her the
whole of what had befallen him, and how evening having closed upon him had
proved the cause of her preservation, otherwise she had died smothered.[FN#106]
Then he asked her who she was and what was her story, and she answered, "O
youth, thanks be to Allah who hath cast me into the hands of the like of thee!
But now rise and put me back into the box; then fare forth upon the road and
hire the first camel-driver or muleteer thou findest to carry it to thy house.
When I am there, all will be well and I will tell thee my tale and acquaint
thee with my adventures, and great shall be thy gain by means of me." At this
he rejoiced and went outside the tomb. The day was now dazzling bright and the
firmament shone with light and the folk had begun to circulate; so he hired a
man with a mule and, bringing him to the tomb, lifted the chest wherein he had
put the damsel and set it on the mule. Her love now engrossed his heart and he
fared homeward with her rejoicing, for that she was a girl worth ten thousand
gold pieces and her raiment and ornaments would fetch a mint of money. As soon
as he arrived at his house he carried in the chest and opening it,—And
Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
When it was the Forty-first night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when Ghanim son of Ayyub
arrived with the chest at his house, he opened it and took out the young lady,
who looked about her and, seeing that the place was handsome, spread with
carpets and dight with cheerful colours and other deckings; and noting the
stuffs up-piled and packed bales and other else than that, knew that he was a
substantial merchant and a man of much money. Thereupon she uncovered her face
and looked at him, and lo! he was a fair youth; so when she saw him she loved
him and said, "O my lord, bring us something to eat." "On my head and mine
eyes!" replied he; and, going down to the bazar, bought a roasted lamb and a
dish of sweetmeats and with these dry fruits and wax candles, besides wine and
whatsoever was required of drinking materials, not forgetting perfumes. With
all this gear he returned to the house; and when the damsel saw him she laughed
and kissed him and clasped his neck. Then she began caressing him, which made
his love wax hotter till it got the mastery of his heart. They ate and drank
and each had conceived the fondest affection; for indeed the two were one in
age and one in loveliness; and when night came on Ghanim bin Ayyub, the
Distraught, the Thrall o' Love, rose and lit the wax candles and lamps till the
place blazed with light;[FN#107] after which he produced the wine-service and
spread the table. Then both sat down again, he and she, and he kept filling and
giving her to drink, and she kept filling and giving him to drink, and they
played and toyed and laughed and recited verses; whilst their joy increased and
they clove in closer love each to each (glory be to the Uniter of Hearts!). They
ceased not to carouse after this fashion till near upon dawn when drowsiness
overcame them; and they slept where they were, apart each from other, till the
morning.[FN#108] Then Ghanim arose and going to the market, bought all they
required of meat and vegetables and wine and what not, and brought them to the
house; whereupon both sat down to eat and ate their sufficiency, when he set on
wine. They drank and each played with each, till their cheeks flushed red and
their eyes took a darker hue and Ghanim's soul longed to kiss the girl and to
lie with her and he said, "O my lady, grant me one kiss of that dear mouth: per
chance 't will quench the fire of my heart." "O Ghanim," replied she, "wait
till I am drunk and dead to the world; then steal a kiss of me, secretly and on
such wise that I may not know thou hast kissed me." Then she rose and taking
off her upper dress sat in a thin shift of fine linen and a silken head
kerchief.[FN#109] At this passion inflamed Ghanim and he said to her, "O my
lady, wilt thou not vouchsafe me what I asked of thee?" "By Allah," she
replied, "that may not be thine, for there is written upon my trouser
string[FN#110] a hard word!" Thereupon Ghanim's heart sank and desire grew on
him as its object offered difficulties; and he improvised these verses,
"I asked the author of mine ills * To heal the wound with one sweet kiss:
No! No! she cried,[FN#111] for ever no! * But I, soft whispering, urged yes:
Quoth she, Then take it by my leave, * When smiles shall pardon thine amiss:
By force, cried I? Nay, she replied * With love and gladness eke I wis.
Now ask me not what next occurred * Seek grace of God and whist of this!
Deem what thou wilt of us, for love * By calumnies the sweeter is:
Nor after this care I one jot * Whether my foe be known or not."
Then his affection increased and love fires rose hotter in his heart, while she
refused herself to him saying, "Thou canst not possess me." They ceased not to
make love and enjoy their wine and wassail, whilst Ghanim was drowned in the
sea of love and longing; but she redoubled in coyness and cruelty till the
night brought on the darkness and let fall on them the skirts of sleep.
Thereupon Ghanim rose and lit the lamps and wax candles and refreshed the room
and removed the table; then he took her feet and kissed them; and, finding them
like fresh cream, pressed his face[FN#112] on them; and said to her, "O my lady,
take pity on one thy love hath ta'en and thine eyes hath slain; for indeed I
were heart-whole but for thy bane!" And he wept somewhat. "O my lord, and light
of my eyes," quoth she, "by Allah, I love thee in very sooth and I trust to thy
truth, but I know that I may not be thine." "And what is the obstacle?" asked
he; when she answered, "To-night I will tell thee my tale, that thou mayst
accept my excuse." Then she threw herself upon him and winding her arms like a
necklace about his neck, kissed him and caressed him and promised him her
favours; and they ceased not playing and laughing till love get the firmest
hold upon both their hearts. And so it continued a whole month, both passing
the night on a single carpet-bed, but whenever he would enjoy her, she put him
off; whilst mutual love increased upon them; and each could hardly abstain from
other. One night, as he lay by her side, and both were warm with wine, Ghanim
passed his hand over her breasts and stroked them; then he slipped it down to
her waist as far as her navel. She awoke and, sitting up, put her hand to her
trousers and finding them fast tied, once more fell asleep. Presently, he again
felt her and sliding his hand down to her trouser-string, began pulling at it,
whereupon she awoke and sat upright. Ghanim also sat up by her side and she
asked him, "What dost thou want?" "I want to lie with thee," he answered, "and
that we may deal openly and frankly with each other." Quoth she, "I must now
declare to thee my case, that thou mayst know my quality; then will my secret
be disclosed to thee and my excuse become manifest to thee." Quoth he, "So be
it!" Thereat she opened the skirt of her shift and taking up her trouser
string, said to him, "O my lord, read what is worked on the flat of this
string:" so he took it in hand, and saw these words broidered on it in gold, "I
AM THINE, AND THOU ART MINE, O COUSIN OF THE APOSTLE!''[FN#113] When he read
this, he withdrew his hand and said to her, "Tell me who thou art!" "So be it,"
answered she; "know that I am one of the concubines of the Commander of the
Faithful, and my name is Kút al-Kulúb--the Food of Hearts. I was brought up in
his palace and, when I grew to woman's estate, he looked on me and, noting what
share of beauty and loveliness the Creator had given me, loved me with
exceeding love, and assigned me a separate apartment, and gave me ten slave
girls to wait on me and all these ornaments thou seest me wearing. On a certain
day he set out for one of his provinces, and the Lady Zubaydah came to one of
the slave-girls in my service and said to her, 'I have something to require of
thee.' 'What is it, O my lady?' asked she and the Caliph's wife answered, 'When
thy mistress Kut al-Kulub is asleep, put this piece of Bhang into her nostrils
or drop it into her drink, and thou shalt have of me as much money as will
satisfy thee.' 'With love and gladness;' replied the girl and took the Bhang
from her, being a glad woman because of the money and because aforetime she had
been one of Zubaydah's slaves. So she put the Bhang in my drink, and when it
was night I drank, and the drug had no sooner settled in my stomach than I fell
to the ground, my head touching my feet, and knew naught of my life but that I
was in another world. When her device succeeded, she bade put me in this chest,
and secretly brought in the slaves and the doorkeepers and bribed them; and, on
the night when thou wast perched upon the date-tree, she sent the blacks to do
with me as thou sawest. So my delivery was at thy hands, and thou broughtest me
to this house and hast entreated me honourably and with thy kindest. This is my
story, and I wot not what is become of the Caliph during my absence. Know then
my condition and divulge not my case." When Ghanim heard her words and knew
that she was a concubine of the Caliph, he drew back, for awe of the Caliphate
beset him, and sat apart from her in one of the corners of the place, blaming
himself and brooding over his affair and patiencing his heart bewildered for
love of one he could not possess. Then he wept for excess of longing, and
plained him of Fortune and her injuries, and the world and its enmities (and
praise be to Him who causeth generous hearts to be troubled with love and the
beloved, and who endoweth not the minds of the mean and miserly with so much of
it as eveneth a grain-weight!). So he began repeating,
"The lover's heart for his beloved must meet * Sad pain, and from her charms bear sore defeat:
What is Love's taste? They asked and answered I, * Sweet is the aste but ah! 'tis bitter sweet."
Thereupon Kut al-Kulub arose and took him to her bosom and kissed him; for the
love of him was firm fixed in her heart, so that she disclosed to him her
secret and all the affection she felt; and, throwing her arms round Ghanim's
neck like a collar of pearls, kissed him again and yet again. But he held off
from her in awe of the Caliph. Then they talked together a long while (and
indeed both were drowned in the sea of their mutual love); and, as the day
broke, Ghanim rose and donned his clothes and going to the bazar, as was his
wont, took what the occasion required and returned home. He found her weeping;
but when she saw him she checked herself and, smiling through her tears, said,
"Thou hast desolated me, O beloved of my heart. By Allah, this hour of absence
hath been to me like a year![FN#114] I have explained to thee my condition in
the excess of my eager love for thee; so come now near me, and forget the past
and have thy will of me." But he interrupted her crying, "I seek refuge with
Allah! This thing may never be. How shall the dog sit in the lion's stead? What
is the lord's is unlawful to the slave!" So he with-drew from her, and sat down
on a corner of the mat. Her passion for him increased with his forbearance; so
she seated herself by his side and caroused and played with him, till the two
were flushed with wine, and she was mad for her own dishonour. Then she sang
these verses,
"The lover's heart is like to break in twain: * Till when these coy denials ah! till when?
O thou who fliest me sans fault of mine, * Gazelles are wont at times prove tame to men:
Absence, aversion, distance and disdain, * How shall young lover all these ills sustain?"
Thereupon Ghanim wept and she wept at his weeping, and they ceased not drinking
till nightfall, when he rose and spread two beds, each in its place. "For whom
is this second bed?" asked she, and he answered her, "One is for me and the
other is for thee: from this night forth we must not sleep save thus, for that
which is the lord's is unlawful to the thrall." "O my master!" cried she, "let
us have done with this, for all things come to pass by Fate and Fortune." But
he refused, and the fire was lighted in her heart and, as her longing waxed
fiercer, she clung to him and cried, "By Allah, we will not sleep save side by
side!" "Allah forefend!" he replied and prevailed against her and lay apart
till the morning, when love and longing redoubled on her and distraction and
eager thirst of passion. They abode after this fashion three full-told months,
which were long and longsome indeed, and every time she made advances to him,
he would refuse himself and say, "Whatever belongeth to the master is unlawful
to the man." Now when time waxed tiresome and tedious to her and anguish and
distress grew on her, she burst out from her oppressed heart with these verses,
"How long, rare beauty! wilt do wrong to me? * Who was it bade thee not belong to me?
With outer charms thou weddest inner grace * Comprising every point of piquancy:
Passion thou hast infused in every heart, * From eyelids driven sleep by deputy:
Erst was (I wot) the spray made thin of leaf. * O Cassia-spray! Unlief thy sin I see:[FN#115]
The hart erst hunted I: how is 't I spy * The hunter hunted (fair my hart!) by thee?
Wondrouser still I tell thee aye that I * Am trapped while never up to trap thou be!
Ne'er grant my prayer! For if I grudge thyself * To thee, I grudge my me more jealously;
And cry so long as life belong to me, * Rare beauty how, how long this wrong to me?"
They abode in this state a long time, and fear kept Ghanim aloof from her. So
far concerning these two; but as regards the Lady Zubaydah, when, in the
Caliph's absence she had done this deed by Kut al-Kulub she became perplexed,
saying to herself, "What shall I tell my cousin when he comes back and asks for
her? What possible answer can I make to him?" Then she called an old woman, who
was about her and discovered her secret to her saying, "How shall I act seeing
that Kut al-Kulub died by such untimely death?" "O my lady," quoth the old
crone, "the time of the Caliph's return is near; so do thou send for a
carpenter and bid him make thee a figure of wood in the form of a corpse. We
will dig a grave for it midmost the palace and there bury it: then do thou
build an oratory over it and set therein lighted candles and lamps, and order
each and every in the palace to be clad in black.[FN#116] Furthermore command
thy handmaids and eunuchs as soon as they know of the Caliph's returning from
his journey, to spread straw over the vestibule-floors and, when the Commander
of the Faithful enters and asks what is the matter, let them say:— Kut al-Kulub
is dead, and may Allah abundantly compensate thee for the loss of her![FN#117];
and, for the high esteem in which she was held of our mistress, she hath buried
her in her own palace. When he hears this he will weep and it shall be grievous
to him; then will he cause perlections of the Koran to be made for her and he
will watch by night at her tomb. Should he say to himself, 'Verily Zubaydah,
the daughter of my uncle, hath compassed in her jealousy the death of Kut
al-Kulub'; or, if love-longing overcome him and he bid her be taken out of her
tomb, fear thou not; for when they dig down and come to the image in human
shape he will see it shrouded in costly grave-clothes; and, if he wish to take
off the winding-sheet that he may look upon her, do thou forbid him or let some
other forbid him, saying, 'The sight of her nakedness is unlawful.' The fear of
the world to come will restrain him and he will believe that she is dead and
will restore the figure to its place and thank thee for thy doings; and thus
thou shalt escape, please Almighty Allah, from this slough of despond." When
the Lady Zubaydah heard her words, she commended the counsel and gave her a
dress of honour and a large sum of money, ordering her to do all she had said.
So the old woman set about the business forthright and bade the carpenter make
her the aforesaid image; and, as soon as it was finished, she brought it to
the Lady Zubaydah, who shrouded it and buried it and built a sepulchre over it,
wherein they lighted candles and lamps, and laid down carpets about the tomb.
Moreover she put on black and she spread abroad in the Harim that Kut al-Kulub
was dead. After a time the Caliph returned from his journey and went up to the
palace, thinking only of Kut al-Kulub. He saw all the pages and eunuchs and
handmaids habited in black, at which his heart fluttered with extreme fear;
and, when he went in to the Lady Zubaydah, he found her also garbed in black.
So he asked the cause of this and they gave him tidings of the death of Kut
al-Kulub, whereon he fell a-swooning. As soon as he came to himself, he asked
for her tomb, and the Lady Zubaydah said to him, "Know, O Prince of the
Faithful, that for especial honour I have buried her in my own palace." Then he
repaired in his travelling-garb[FN#118] to the tomb that he might wail over
her, and found the carpets spread and the candles and lamps lighted. When he
saw this, he thanked Zubaydah for her good deed and abode perplexed, halting
between belief and unbelief till at last suspicion overcame him and he gave
order to open the grave and take out the body. When he saw the shroud and would
have removed it to look upon her, the fear of Allah Almighty restrained him,
and the old woman (taking advantage of the delay) said, "Restore her to her
place." Then he sent at once for Fakirs and Koran-readers, and caused
perlections to be made over her tomb and sat by the side of the grave, weeping
till he fainted; and he continued to frequent the tomb and sit there for a
whole month,— And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her
permitted say.
When it was the Forty-second Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the Caliph ceased not to
frequent the tomb for the period of a whole month, at the end of which time it
so happened one day that he entered the Serraglio, after dismissing the Emirs
and Wazirs, and lay down and slept awhile; and there sat at his head a slave
girl fanning him, and at his feet a second rubbing and shampooing them.
Presently he awoke and, opening his eyes, shut them again and heard the
handmaid at his head saying to her who was at his feet, "A nice business this,
O Khayzarán!" and the other answered her "Well, O Kazíb al-Bán?"[FN#119]
"Verily" said the first, "our lord knoweth naught of what hath happened and
sitteth waking and watching by a tomb wherein is only a log of wood carved by
the carpenter's art." "And Kut al-Kulub," quoth the other, "what hath befallen
her?" She replied, "Know that the Lady Zubaydah sent a pellet of Bhang by one
of the slave women who was bribed to drug her; and when sleep overpowered her
she let put her in a chest, and ordered Sawab and Kafur and Bukhayt to throw
her amongst the tombs." "What dost thou say, O Kazib al-Ban;" asked Khayzaran,
"is not the lady Kut al-Kulub dead?" "Nay, by Allah!" she answered "and long
may her youth be saved from death! but I have heard the Lady Zubaydah say that
she is in the house of a young merchant named Ghanim bin Ayyub of Damascus,
hight the Distraught, the Thrall o' Love; and she hath been with him these four
months, whilst our lord is weeping and watching by night at a tomb wherein is
no corpse." They kept on talking this sort of talk, and the Caliph gave ear to
their words; and, by the time they had ceased speaking, he knew right well that
the tomb was a feint and a fraud, and that Kut al-Kulub had been in Ghanim's
house for four months. Whereupon he was angered with exceeding anger and rising
up, he summoned the Emirs of his state; and his Wazir Ja'afar the Barmaki came
also and kissed the ground between his hands. The Caliph said to him in fury,
"Go down, O Ja'afar, with a party of armed men and ask for the house of Ghanim
son of Ayyub: fall upon it and spoil it and bring him to me with my slave girl,
Kut al-Kulub, for there is no help but that I punish him!" "To hear is to
obey," said Ja'afar; and setting out with the Governor and the guards and a
world of people, repaired to Ghanim's house. Now about that time the youth
happened to have brought back a pot of dressed meat and was about to put forth
his hand to eat of it, he and Kut al-Kulub, when the lady, happening to look
out saw calamity surrounding the house on every side; for the Wazir and the
Governor, the night-guard and the Mamelukes with swords drawn had girt it as
the white of the eye girdeth the black. At this she knew that tidings of her
had reached the Caliph, her lord; and she made sure of ruin, and her colour
paled and her fair features changed and her favour faded. Then she turned to
Ghanim and said to him, "O my love? fly for thy life!" "What shall I do," asked
he, "and whither shall I go, seeing that my money and means of maintenance are
all in this house?"; and she answered, "Delay not lest thou be slain and lose
life as well as wealth." "O my loved one and light of mine eyes!" he cried,
"how shall I do to get away when they have surrounded the house?" Quoth she,
"Fear not;" and, stripping off his fine clothes, dressed him in ragged old
garments, after which she took the pot and, putting in it bits of broken bread
and a saucer of meat,[FN#120] placed the whole in a basket and setting it upon
his head said, "Go out in this guise and fear not for me who wotteth right well
what thing is in my hand for the Caliph."[FN#121] So he went out amongst them,
bearing the basket with its contents, and the Protector vouchsafed him His
protection and he escaped the snares and perils that beset him, by the blessing
of his good conscience and pure conduct. Meanwhile Ja'afar dismounted and
entering the house, saw Kut al-Kulub who had dressed and decked herself in
splendid raiments and ornaments and filled a chest with gold and jewellery and
precious stones and rarities and what else was light to bear and of value rare.
When she saw Ja'afar come in, she rose and, kissing the ground before him,
said, "O my lord, the Reed hath written of old the rede which Allah
decreed!''[FN#122] "By Allah, O my lady," answered Ja'afar, "he gave me an
order to seize Ghanim son of Ayyub;" and she rejoined, "O my lord, he made
ready his goods and set out therewith for Damascus and I know nothing more of
him; but I desire thee take charge of this chest and deliver it to me in the
Harim of the Prince of the Faithful." "Hearing and obedience," said Ja'afar,
and bade his men bear it away to the head-quarters of the Caliphate together
with Kut al-Kulub, commanding them to entreat her with honour as one in high
esteem. They did his bidding after they had wrecked and plundered Ghanim's
house. Then Ja'afar went in to the Caliph and told him all that had happened,
and he ordered Kut al-Kulub to be lodged in a dark chamber and appointed an old
women to serve her, feeling convinced that Ghanim had debauched her and slept
with her. Then he wrote a mandate to the Emir Mohammed bin Sulayman al-Zayni,
his viceroy in Damascus, to this effect: "The instant thou shalt receive this
our letter, seize upon Ghanim bin Ayyub and send him to us." When the missive
came to the viceroy, he kissed it and laid it on his head; then he let proclaim
in the bazars, "Whoso is desirous to plunder, away with him to the house of
Ghanim son of Ayyub."[FN#123] So they flocked thither, when they found that
Ghanim's mother and sister had built him a tomb[FN#124] in the midst of the
house and sat by it weeping for him; whereupon they seized the two without
telling them the cause and, after spoiling the house, carried them before the
viceroy. He questioned them concerning Ghanim and both replied, "For a year or
more we have had no news of him." So they restored them to their place. Thus
far concerning them; but as regards Ghanim, when he saw his wealth spoiled and
his ruin utterest he wept over himself till his heart well-nigh brake. Then he
fared on at random till the last of the day, and hunger grew hard on him and
walking wearied him. So coming to a village he entered a mosque[FN#125] where
he sat down upon a mat and propped his back against the wall; but presently he
sank to the ground in his extremity of famine and fatigue. There he lay till
dawn, his heart fluttering for want of food; and, owing to his sweating, the
lice[FN#126] coursed over his skin; his breath waxed fetid and his whole
condition was changed. When the villagers came to pray the dawn-prayer, they
found him prostrate, ailing, hunger-lean, yet showing evident signs of former
affluence. As soon as prayers were over, they drew near him; and, understanding
that he was starved with hunger and cold, they gave him an old robe with ragged
sleeves and said to him, "O stranger, whence art thou and what sickness is upon
thee?" He opened his eyes and wept but returned no answer; whereupon one of
them, who saw that he was starving, brought him a saucer of honey and two
barley scones. He ate a little and they sat with him till sun-rise, when they
went to their work. He abode with them in this state for a month, whilst
sickness and weakliness grew upon him; and they wept for him and, pitying his
condition, took counsel with one another upon his case and agreed to forward
him to the hospital in Baghdad.[FN#127] Meanwhile behold, two beggar-women, who
were none other than Ghanim's mother and sister,[FN#128] came into the mosque
and, when he saw them, he gave them the bread that was at his head; and they
slept by his side that night but he knew them not. Next day the villagers
brought a camel and said to the cameleer, "Set this sick man on thy beast and
carry him to Baghdad and put him down at the Spital-door; so haply he may be
medicined and be healed and thou shalt have thy hire."[FN#129] "To hear is to
comply," said the man. So they brought Ghanim, who was asleep, out of the
mosque and set him, mat and all, on the camel; and his mother and sister came
out among the crowd to gaze upon him, but they knew him not. However, after
looking at him and considering him carefully they said, "Of a truth he favours
our Ghanim, poor boy!; can this sick man be he?" Presently, he woke and finding
himself bound with ropes on a camel's back, he began to weep and
complain,[FN#130] and the village-people saw his mother and sister weeping over
him, albeit they knew him not. Then they fared forth for Baghdad, but the
camel-man forewent them; and, setting Ghanim down at the Spital-gate, went away
with his beast. The sick man lay there till dawn and, when the folk began to go
about the streets, they saw him and stood gazing on him, for he had become as
thin as a toothpick, till the Syndic of the bazar came up and drove them away
from him, saying, "I will gain Paradise through this poor creature; for if they
take him into the Hospital, they will kill him in a single day."[FN#131] Then
he made his young men carry him to his house, where they spread him a new bed
with a new pillow,[FN#132] and he said to his wife, "Tend him carefully;" and
she replied, "Good! on my head be it!" Thereupon she tucked up her sleeves and
warming some water, washed his hands, feet and body; after which she clothed
him in a robe belonging to one of her slave-girls and made him drink a cup of
wine and sprinkled rose-water over him. So he revived and complained, and the
thought of his beloved Kut al-Kulub made his grief redouble. Thus far
concerning him; but as regards Kut al-Kulub, when the Caliph was angered
against her,— And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her
permitted say.
When it was the Forty-third Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the Caliph was
angered against Kut al-Kulub, he ordered her to a dark chamber where she abode
eighty days, at the end of which the Caliph, happening to pass on a certain day
the place where she was, heard her repeating poetry, and after she ceased
reciting her verse, saying, "O my darling, O my Ghanim! how great is thy
goodness and how chaste is thy nature! thou didst well by one who did ill by
thee and thou guardedst his honour who garred thine become dishonour, and his
Harim thou didst protect who to enslave thee and thine did elect! But thou
shalt surely stand, thou and the Commander of the Faithful, before the Just
Judge, and thou shalt be justified of him on the Day when the Lord (to whom be
honour and glory!) shall be Kazi and the Angels of Heaven shall be witnesses!"
When the Caliph heard her complaint, he knew that she had been wronged and,
returning to the palace, sent Masrur the Eunuch for her. She came before him
with bowed head and eyes tearful and heart sorrowful; and he said to her, "O
Kut al-Kulub, I find thou accuses me of tyranny and oppression, and thou
avouchest that I have done ill by one who did well by me. Who is this who hath
guarded my honour while I garred his become dishonour? Who protected my Harim
and whose Harim I wrecked?" "He is Ghanim son of Ayyub," replied she, "for he
never approached me in wantonness or with lewd intent, I swear by thy
munificence, O Commander of the Faithful!" Then said the Caliph, "There is no
Majesty and there is no Might save in Allah! Ask what thou wilt of me, O Kut
al-Kulub." "O Prince of the Faithful!", answered she, "I require of thee only
my beloved Ghanim son of Ayyub." He did as she desired, whereupon she said, "O
Lord of the Moslems, if I bring him to thy presence, wilt thou bestow me on
him?"; and he replied, "If he come into my presence, I will give thee to him as
the gift of the generous who revoketh not his largesse." "O Prince of True
Believers," quoth she, "suffer me to go and seek him; haply Allah may unite me
with him:" and quoth he, "Do even as thou wilt." So she rejoiced and, taking
with her a thousand dinars in gold, went out and visited the elders of the
various faiths and gave alms in Ghanim's name.[FN#133] Next day she walked to
the merchants' bazar and disclosed her object to the Syndic and gave him money,
saying, "Bestow this in charity to the stranger!" On the following Friday she
fared to the bazar (with other thousand dinars) and, entering the goldsmiths'
and jewellers' market-street, called the Chief and presented to him a thousand
dinars with these words, "Bestow this in charity to the stranger!" The Chief
looked at her (and he was the Syndic who had taken in Ghanim) and said, "O my
lady, wilt thou come to my house and look upon a youth, a stranger I have there
and see how goodly and graceful he is?" Now the stranger was Ghanim, son of
Ayyub, but the Chief had no knowledge of him and thought him to be some
wandering pauper, some debtor whose wealth had been taken from him, or some
lover parted from his beloved. When she heard his words her heart
fluttered[FN#134] and her vitals yearned, and she said to him, "Send with me
one who shall guide me to thy house." So he sent a little lad who brought her
to the house wherein was the head man's stranger-guest and she thanked him for
this. When she reached the house, she went in and saluted the Syndic's wife,
who rose and kissed the ground between her hands, for she knew her. Then quoth
Kut al-Kulub, "Where is the sick man who is with thee?" She wept and replied,
"Here is he, O my lady; by Allah, he is come of good folk and he beareth the
signs of gentle breeding: you see him lying on yonder bed." So she turned and
looked at him: and she saw something like him, but he was worn and wasted till
he had become lean as a toothpick, so his identity was doubtful to her and she
could not be certain that it was he. Yet pity for him possessed her and she
wept saying, "Verily the stranger is unhappy, even though he be a prince in his
own land!"; and his case was grievous to her and her heart ached for him, yet
she knew him not to be Ghanim. Then she furnished him with wine and medicines
and she sat awhile by his head, after which she mounted and returned to her
palace and continued to visit every bazar in quest of her lover. Meanwhile
Ghanim's mother and sister Fitnah arrived at Baghdad and met the Syndic, who
carried them to Kut al-Kulub and said to her, "O Princess of beneficent ladies,
there came to our city this day a woman and her daughter, who are fair of
favour and signs of good breeding and dignity are apparent in them, though they
be dressed in hair-cloth and have each one a wallet hanging to her neck; and
their eyes are tearful and their hearts are sorrowful. So I have brought them
to thee that thou mayst give them refuge, and rescue them from beggary, for
they are not of asker-folk and, if it please Allah, we shall enter Paradise
through them." "By Allah, O my master," cried she, "thou makest me long to see
them! Where are they?", adding, "Here with them to me!" So he bade the eunuch
bring them in; and, when she looked on them; and saw that they were both of
distinguished beauty, she wept for them; and said, "By Allah, these are people
of condition and show plain signs of former opulence." "O my lady," said the
Syndic's wife, "we love the poor and the destitute, more especially as reward
in Heaven will recompense our love; and, as for these persons, haply the
oppressor hath dealt hardly with them; and hath plundered their property and
harried their houses." Then Ghanim's mother and sister wept with sore weeping,
remembering their former prosperity and contrasting it with their present
poverty and miserable condition; and their thoughts dwelt upon son and brother,
whilst Kut al-Kulub wept for their weeping; and they said, "We beseech Allah to
reunite us with him whom we desire, and he is none other but my son named
Ghanim bin Ayyub!" When Kut al-Kulub heard this, she knew them to be the mother
and sister of her lover and wept till a swoon came over her. When she revived
she turned to them; and said, "Have no fear and sorrow not, for this day is the
first of your prosperity and the last of your adversity!"—And Shahrazad
perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
When it was the Forty-fourth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when Kut al-Kulub had
consoled them she bade the Syndic lead them to his house and let his wife carry
them to the Hammam and dress them in handsome clothes and take care of them; and
honour them with all honour; and she gave him a sufficient sum of money. Next
day, she mounted and, riding to his house, went in to his wife who rose up and
kissed her hands and thanked her for her kindness. There she saw Ghanim's
mother and sister whom the Syndic's wife had taken to the Hammam and clothed
afresh, so that the traces of their former condition became manifest upon them.
She sat talking with them awhile, after which she asked the wife about the sick
youth who was in her house and she replied, "He is in the same state." Then
said Kut al-Kulub, "Come, let us go and visit him." So she arose, she and the
Chief's wife and Ghanim's mother and sister, and went in to the room where he
lay and sat down near him. Presently Ghanim bin Ayyub, the Distraught, the
Thrall o' Love, heard them mention the name of Kut al-Kulub; whereupon life
returned to him, emaciated and withered as he was, and he raised his head from
the pillow and cried aloud, "O Kut al-Kulub!" She looked at him and made
certain it was he and shrieked rather than said, "Yes, O my beloved!" "Draw
near to me;" said he, and she replied, "Surely thou art Ghanim bin Ayyub?"; and
he rejoined "I am indeed!" Hereupon a swoon came upon her; and, as soon as
Ghanim's mother and his sister Fitnah heard these words, both cried out "O our
joy'" and fainted clean away. When they all recovered, Kut al-Kulub exclaimed,
"Praise be to Allah who hath brought us together again and who hath reunited
thee with thy mother and thy sister!" And she related to him all that had
befallen her with the Caliph and said, "I have made known the truth to the
Commander of the Faithful, who believed my words and was pleased with thee; and
now he desireth to see thee," adding, "He hath given me to thee." Thereat he
rejoiced with extreme joy, when she said, "Quit not this place till I come
back" and, rising forthwith, betook herself to her palace. There she opened the
chest which she had brought from Ghanim's house and, taking out some of the
dinars, gave them to the Syndic saying, "Buy with this money for each of them
four complete suits of the finest stuffs and twenty kerchiefs, and else beside
of whatsoever they require;" after which she carried all three to the baths and
had them washed and bathed and made ready for them consommés, and
galangale-water and cider against their coming out. When they left the Hammam,
they put on the new clothes, and she abode with them three days feeding them
with chicken meats and bouillis, and making them drink sherbert of sugar candy.
After three days their spirits returned; and she carried them again to the
baths, and when they came out and had changed their raiment, she led them back
to the Syndic's house and left them there, whilst she returned to the palace
and craved permission to see the Caliph. When he ordered her to come in, she
entered and, kissing the ground between his hands, told him the whole story and
how her lord, Ghanim bin Ayyub, yclept the Distraught, the Thrall o' Love, and
his mother and sister were now in Baghdad. When the Caliph heard this, he
turned to the eunuchs and said, "Here with Ghanim to me." So Ja'afar went to
fetch him; but Kut al-Kulub forewent him and told Ghanim, "The Caliph hath sent
to fetch thee before him," and charged him to show readiness of tongue and
firmness of heart and sweetness of speech. Then she robed him in a sumptuous
dress and gave him dinars in plenty, saying, "Be lavish of largesse to the
Caliph's household as thou goest in to him." Presently Ja'afar, mounted on his
Nubian mule, came to fetch him; and Ghanim advanced to welcome the Wazir and,
wishing him long life, kissed the ground before him. Now the star of his good
fortune had risen and shone brightly; and Ja'afar took him; and they ceased not
faring together, he and the Minister, till they went in to the Commander of the
Faithful. When he stood in the presence, he looked at the Wazirs and Emirs and
Chamberlains, and Viceroys and Grandees and Captains, and then at the Caliph.
Hereupon he sweetened his speech and his eloquence and, bowing his head to the
ground, broke out in these extempore couplets,
"May that Monarch's life span a mighty span, * Whose lavish of largesse all lieges scan:
None other but he shall be Kaysar hight, * Lord of lordly hall and of haught Divan:
Kings lay their gems on his threshold-dust * As they bow and salam to the mighty man;
And his glances foil them; and all recoil, * Bowing beards aground and with faces wan:
Yet they gain the profit of royal grace, * The rank and station of high soldan.
Earth's plain is scant for thy world of men, * Camp there in Kay wan's[FN#135] Empyrean!
May the King of Kings ever hold thee dear; * Be counsel thine and right steadfast plan,
Till thy justice spread o'er the wide-spread earth * And the near and the far be of equal worth."
When he ended his improvisation the Caliph was pleased by it and marvelled at
the eloquence of his tongue and the sweetness of his speech,—And Shahrazad
perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
When it was the Forty-fifth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the Caliph, after
marvelling at his eloquence of tongue and sweetness of speech, said to him,
"Draw near to me." So he drew near and quoth the King, "Tell me thy tale and
declare to me thy case." So Ghanim sat down and related to him what had
befallen him in Baghdad, of his sleeping in the tomb and of his opening the
chest after the three slaves had departed, and informed him, in short, of
everything that had happened to him from commencement to conclusion--none of
which we will repeat for interest fails in twice told tales. The Caliph was
convinced that he was a true man; so he invested him with a dress of honour,
and placed him near himself in token of favour, and said to him, "Acquit me of
the responsibility I have incurred.''[FN#136] And Ghanim so did, saying, "O our
lord the Sultan, of a truth thy slave and all things his two hands own are his
master's." The Caliph was pleased at this and gave orders to set apart a palace
for him and assigned to him pay and allowances, rations and donations, which
amounted to something immense. So he removed thither with sister and mother;
after which the Caliph, hearing that his sister Fitnah was in beauty a very
"fitnah,"[FN#137] a mere seduction, demanded her in marriage of Ghanim who
replied, "She is thy handmaid as I am thy slave." The Caliph thanked him and
gave him an hundred thousand dinars, then summoned the witnesses and the Kazi,
and on one and the same day they wrote out the two contracts of marriage
between the Caliph and Fitnah and between Ghanim bin Ayyub and Kut al-Kulub;
and the two marriages were consummated on one and the same night. When it was
morning, the Caliph gave orders to record the history of what had befallen
Ghanim from first to last and to deposit it in the royal muniment-rooms, that
those who came after him might read it and marvel at the dealings of Destiny
and put their trust in Him who created the night and the day. Yet, O auspicious
King, this story to which thou hast deigned give ear is on no wise more
wondrous than the
Tale Of King Omar Bin Al-Nu'uman And His Sons Sharrkan
and Zau Al-Makan, and What Befel Them of Things Seld-Seen and Peregrine.[FN#138]
The King asked her, "And what was their story?" and she answered: It hath
reached me, O auspicious King, that there was in the City of Safety, Baghdad,
before the Caliphate of Abd al-Malik bin Marwán,[FN#139] a King, Omar bin
al-Nu'umán hight, who was of the mighty giants and had subjected the Chosroës
of Persia and the Kaysars of Eastern Rome; for none could warm himself at his
fire;[FN#140] nor could any avail to meet him in the field of foray and fray;
and, when he was angered, there came forth from his nostrils sparks of flame.
He had made himself King over all quarters, and Allah had subjected to him all
His creatures; his word went forth to all great cities and his hosts had
harried the farthest lands. East and West had come under his command with
whatsoever regions lay interspersed between them, Hind and Sind and
Sin,[FN#141] the Holy Land, Al-Hijaz, the rich mountains of Al-Yaman and the
archipelagos of India and China. Moreover, he reigned supreme over the north
country and Diyár Bakr, or Mesopotamia, and over Sudán, the Eastern Negro-land
and the Islands of the Ocean, and all the far famed rivers of the earth, Sayhún
and Jayhún,[FN#142] Nile and Euphrates. He sent envoys and ambassadors to
capitals the most remote, to provide him with true report; and they would bring
back tidings of justice and peace, with assurance of loyalty and obedience and
of prayers in the pulpits for King Omar bin al-Nu'uman; for he was, O Ruler of
the Age, a right noble King; and there came to him presents of rarities and
toll and tribute from all lands of his governing. This mighty monarch had a son
yclept Sharrkan,[FN#143] who was likest of all men to his father and who proved
himself one of the prodigies of his time for subduing the brave and bringing
his contemporaries to bane and ban. For this his father loved him with love so
great none could be greater, and made him heir to the kingdom after himself.
This Prince grew up till he reached man's estate and was twenty years old, and
Allah subjected His servants to him, by reason of his great might and prowess
in battle. Now his father, King Omar, had four wives legally married, but
Allah had vouchsafed him no son by them, save Sharrkan, whom he had begotten
upon one of them, and the rest were barren. Moreover he had three hundred and
sixty concubines, after the number of days in the Coptic year, who were of all
nations; and he had furnished for each and every a private chamber within his
own palace. For he had built twelve pavilions, after the number of the months,
each containing thirty private chambers, which thus numbered three hundred and
three score, wherein he lodged his handmaids: and he appointed according to law
for each one her night, when he lay with her and came not again to her for a
full year;[FN#144] and on this wise he abode for a length of time. Meanwhile
his son Sharrkan was making himself renowned in all quarters of the world and
his father was proud of him and his might waxed and grew mightier; so that he
passed all bounds and bore himself masterfully and took by storm castles and
cities. Presently, by decree of the Decreer, a handmaid among the handmaids of
Omar bin Nu'uman became pregnant; and, her pregnancy being announced to the
Harim, the King was informed thereof; whereupon he rejoiced with exceeding joy
and said, "Haply 't will be a son, and so all my offspring will be males!" Then
he documented the date of her conception and entreated her with all manner of
kindness. But when the tidings came to Sharrkan, he was troubled and the
matter seemed to him a sore one and a grievous; and he said, "Verily one cometh
who shall dispute with me the sovereignty:" so quoth he to himself, "If this
concubine bear a male child I will kill it:" but he kept that intention hidden
in his heart. Such was the case with Sharrkan; but what happened in the matter
of the damsel was as follows. She was a Roumiyah, a Greek girl, by name
Sofiyah or Sophia,[FN#145] whom the King of Roum and Lord of Cæsarea had sent
to King Omar as a present, together with great store of gifts and of rarities:
she was the fairest of favour and loveliest of all his handmaids and the most
regardful of her honour; and she was gifted with a wit as penetrating as her
presence was fascinating. Now she had served the King on the night of his
sleeping with her, saying to him, "O King! I desire of the God of the Heavens
that he bless thee this night with a male child by me, so I may bring him up
with the best of rearing, and enable him to reach man's estate perfect in
intelligence, good manners and prudent bearing"[FN#146]—a speech which much
pleased the King. During her pregnancy she was instant in prayer, fervently
supplicating the Lord to bless her with a goodly male child and make his birth
easy to her; and Allah heard her petition so that after her months were
accomplished she sat safely upon the birth-stool.[FN#147] Now the King had
deputed a eunuch to let him know if the child she should bring forth were male
or female; and in like way his son Sharrkan had sent one to bring him tidings
of the same. In due time Sophia was delivered of a child, which the midwives
examined and found to be a girl with a face sheenier than the moon. So they
announced this to all present in the room, whereupon the King's messenger
carried the news to him; and Sharrkan's eunuch did the like with his master, who
rejoiced with exceeding joy. But, after the two had departed, quoth Sophia to
the midwives, "Wait with me awhile, for I feel as if there were still somewhat
in my womb." Then she cried out and the pains of child-bed again took her; and
Allah made it easy to her and she gave birth to a second child. The wise women
looked at it and found it a boy like the full moon, with forehead flower-white,
and cheek ruddy-bright with rosy light; whereupon the mother rejoiced, as did
the eunuchs and attendants and all the company; and Sophia was delivered of the
after-birth whilst all in the palace sent forth the trill of joy.[FN#148] The
rest of the concubines heard it and envied her lot; and the tidings reached
Omar son of Al- Nu'uman, who was glad and rejoiced at the excellent news. Then
he rose and went to her and kissed her head, after which he looked at the boy;
and, bending over him, kissed him, whilst the damsels struck the tabors and
played on instruments of music; and the King gave order that the boy should be
named Zau al-Makán and his sister Nuzhat al-Zamán.[FN#149] They answered
"Hearing and obedience," and did his bidding; so he appointed wet nurses and
dry nurses and eunuchs and attendants to serve them; and assigned them rations
of sugar and diet-drinks and unguents and else beside, beyond the power of
tongue to rehearse. Moreover the people of Baghdad, hearing that Allah had
blessed their King with issue, decorated the city and made proclamation of the
glad tidings with drum and tom-tom; and the Emirs and Wazirs and high
dignitaries came to the palace and wished King Omar bin al-Nu'uman joy of his
son, Zau al-Makan, and of his daughter Nuzhat al-Zaman, wherefore he thanked
them; and bestowed on them dresses of honour and further favoured them with
gifts, and dealt largesse to all, gentle and simple, who were present. After
this fashion he did for four days full told, and he lavished upon Sophia
raiment and ornaments and great store of wealth; and, every few days he would
send a messenger to ask after her and the new-borns. And when four years had
gone by, he provided her with the wherewithal to rear the two children
carefully and educate them with the best of instructions. All this while his
son Sharrkan knew not that a male child had been born to his father, Omar son
of Al-Nu'uman, having news only that he had been blessed with the birth of
Nuzhat al-Zaman; and they hid the intelligence from him, until days and years
had sped by, whilst he was busied in battling with the brave and fighting
single-handed against the knights. One day, as King Omar was sitting in his
palace, his Chamberlains came in to him and, kissing the ground before him,
said, "O King there be come Ambassadors from the King of Roum, Lord of
Constantinople the Great, and they desire admission to thee and submission to
thy decree: if the King command us to introduce them we will so do; and, if
not, there is no disputing his behest." He bade them enter and, when they came
in, he turned to them; and, courteously receiving them, asked them of their
case, and what was the cause of their coming. They kissed the ground before
him and said, "O King glorious and strong! O lord of the arm that is long!
know that he who despatched us to thee is King Afrídún,[FN#150] Lord of
Ionia-land[FN#151] and of the Nazarene armies, the sovereign who is firmly
established in the empery of Constantinople, to acquaint thee that he is now
waging fierce war and fell with a tyrant and a rebel, the Prince of Cæsarea;
and the cause of this war is as follows. One of the Kings of the Arabs in past
time, during certain of his conquests, chanced upon a hoard of the time of
Alexander,[FN#152] whence he removed wealth past compute; and, amongst other
things, three round jewels, big as ostrich eggs, from a mine of pure white gems
whose like was never seen by man. Upon each were graven characts in Ionian
characters, and they have many virtues and properties, amongst the rest that if
one of these jewels be hung round the neck of a new-born child, no evil shall
befal him and he shall neither wail, nor shall fever ail him as long as the
jewel remain without fail.[FN#153] When the Arab King laid hands upon them; and
learned their secrets, he sent to King Afridun presents of certain rarities and
amongst them the three jewels afore mentioned; and he equipped for the mission
two ships, one bearing the treasure and the other men of might to guard it from
any who might offer hindrance on the high seas, albeit well assured that none
would dare waylay his vessels, for that he was King of the Arabs, and more by
token that their course lay over waters subject to the King of Constantinople
and they were bound to his port; nor were there on the shores of that sea any
save the subjects of the Great King, Afridun. The two ships set out and
voyaged till they drew near our city, when there sallied out on them certain
corsairs from that country and amongst them troops from the Prince of Cæsarea,
who took all the treasures and rarities in the ships, together with the three
jewels, and slew the crews. When our King heard of this, he sent an army
against them, but they routed it; then he marched a second and a stronger but
they put this also to flight,—whereupon the King waxed wroth and swore that he
would not go forth[FN#154] against them save in his own person at the head of
his whole army; nor would he turn back from them till he had left Cæsarea, of
Armenia[FN#155] in ruins and had laid waste all the lands and cities over which
her Prince held sway. So he sent us to the Lord of the age and the time,
Sultan Omar bin al-Nu'uman, King of Baghdad and of Khorasan, desiring that he
aid us with an army, so may honour and glory accrue to him; and he hath also
forwarded by us somewhat of various kinds of presents, and of the King's grace
he beggeth their acceptance and the friendly boon of furtherance." Then the
Ambassadors kissed the ground before him,—And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of
day and ceased to say her permitted say.
When it was the Forty-sixth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that, after the Ambassadors
and retinue from the Constantinopolitan King had kissed the ground before Omar
and had delivered their embassage, they brought out the presents, which were
fifty damsels of the choicest from Græcia-land, and fifty Mamelukes in tunics
of brocade, belted with girdles of gold and silver, each wearing in his ears
hoops of gold with pendants of fine pearls costing a thousand ducats every one.
The girls were adorned in like fashion and were clad in stuffs worth a
treasury of money. When the King saw them, he rejoiced in them; and accepted
them; then he bade the Ambassadors be honourably entreated and, summoning his
Wazirs, took counsel with them of what he should do. Herewith rose up among
them a Wazir, an ancient man, Dandán[FN#156] hight, who kissed the ground
before Omar and said, "O King, there is nothing better to do in this matter
than equip an army valiant and victorious, and set over it thy son Sharrkan
with us as his lieutenants; and this rede commendeth itself to me on two
counts; first, because the King of Roum hath invoked thine assistance and hath
sent thee gifts which thou hast accepted; and, secondly, because while no enemy
dareth attack our country, thine army may go forth safely and, should it
succour the King of Græcia-land and defeat his foe, the glory will be thine.
Moreover, the news of it will be noised abroad in all cities and countries and
especially, when the tidings shall reach the Islands of the Ocean and the Kings
of Mauritania shall hear it, they will send thee offerings of rarities and pay
thee tribute of money." The King, pleased by the Wazir's words and approving his
rede, gave him a dress of honour and said to him, "Of the like of thee should
Kings ask counsel, and it seemeth fit that thou shouldst conduct the van of our
army and our son Sharrkan command the main battle." Then he sent for his son
who came and kissed ground before him and sat down; and he expounded to him the
matter, telling him what the Ambassadors and the Wazir Dandan had said, and he
charged him to take arms and equip himself for the campaign, enjoining him not
to gainsay Dandan in aught he should do. Moreover, he ordered him to pick out
of his army ten thousand horsemen, armed cap-à-pie and inured to onset and
stress of war. Accordingly, Sharrkan arose on the instant, and chose out a
myriad of horsemen, after which he entered his palace and mustered his host and
distributed largesse to them, saying, "Ye have delay of three days." They
kissed the earth before him in obedience to his commands and began at once to
lay in munitions, and provide provisions for the occasion; whilst Sharrkan
repaired to the armouries and took therefrom whatsoever he required of arms and
armour, and thence to the stable where he chose horses of choice blood and
others. When the appointed three days were ended, the army drew out to the
suburbs of Baghdad city;[FN#157] and King Omar came forth to take leave of his
son who kissed the ground before him and received from the King seven parcels
of money.[FN#158] Then he turned to Dandan and commended to his care the army
of his son; and the Wazir kissed the ground before him and answered, "I hear
and I obey;" and lastly he charged Sharrkan that he should consult the Wazir on
all occasions, which he promised to do. After this, the King returned to his
city and Sharrkan ordered the officers to muster their troops in battle-array.
So they mustered them; and their number was ten thousand horsemen, besides
footmen and camp-followers. Then they loaded their baggage on their beasts and
the war-drums beat and the trumpets blared and the bannerols and standards were
unfurled, whilst Sharrkan mounted horse, with the Wazir Dandan by his side, and
the colours fluttering over their heads. So the host fared forth and stinted
not faring, with the ambassadors preceding them, till day departed and night
drew nigh, when they alighted and encamped for the night. And as soon as Allah
caused the morn To-morrow, they mounted and hied on, guided by the Ambassadors,
for a space of twenty days; and by the night of the twenty-first they came to a
fine and spacious Wady well grown with trees and shrubbery. Here Sharrkan
ordered them to alight and commanded a three days' halt, so they dismounted and
pitched their tents, spreading their camp over the right and the left slopes of
the extensive valley, whilst the Wazir Dandan and the Ambassadors of King
Afridun pitched in the sole of the Wady.[FN#159] As for Sharrkan, he tarried
behind them for awhile till all had dismounted and had dispersed themselves
over the valley-sides; he then slacked the reins of his steed, being minded to
explore the Wady and to mount guard in his own person, because of his father's
charge and owing to the fact that they were on the frontier of Græcia land and
in the enemy's country. So he rode out alone after ordering his armed slaves
and his body-guard to camp near the Wazir Dandan, and he fared on along the
side of the valley till a fourth part of the night was passed, when he felt
tired and drowsiness overcame him, so that he could no longer urge horse with
heel. Now he was accustomed to take rest on horseback; so when slumber
overpowered him, he slept and the steed ceased not going on with him till half
the night was spent and entered one of the thickets[FN#160] which was dense
with growth; but Sharrkan awoke not until his horse stumbled over wooded
ground. Then he started from sleep and found himself among the trees, and the
moon arose and shone brightly over the two horizons, Eastern and Western. He
was startled when he found himself alone in this place and said the say which
ne'er yet shamed its sayer, "There is no Majesty and there is no Might save in
Allah, the Glorious, the Great!" But as he rode on, in fear of wild beasts,
behold, the moon spread her glad light over a meadow as if 'twere of the meads
of Paradise; and he heard pleasant voices and a loud noise of talk and laughter
captivating the senses of men. So King Sharrkan alighted and, tying his steed
to one of the trees, went over a little way till he came upon a stream and
heard a woman talking in Arabic and saying, "Now by the truth of the Messiah,
this is not well of you! but whoso utters a word, I will throw her and truss
her up with her own girdle[FN#161]!" He kept walking in the direction of the
sound and when he reached the further side he looked and behold, a stream was
gushing and flowing, and antelopes at large were frisking and roving, and wild
cattle amid the pasture moving, and birds expressed joy and gladness in their
divers tongues, and that place was purfled with all manner flowers and green
herbs, even as a poet described it in these couplets,
"Most beautiful is earth in budding bloom, * When lucid waters course through plain and wood:
No work but His th' All great, th' All glorious, * Giver of all gifts, Giver of all good!"
And as Sharrkan considered the place, he saw in it a Christian Monastery within
whose enceinte a castle towered high in air catching the light of the
moon.[FN#162] Through the midst of the convent passed a stream, the water
flowing amongst its gardens; and upon the bank sat the woman whose voice he had
heard, while before her stood ten handmaids like moons and wearing various
sorts of raiment and ornaments that dazed and dazzled the beholder,
high-bosomed virgins, as saith of them the poet in these couplets,
"The mead is bright with what is on't * Of merry maidens debonnair:
Double its beauty and its grace * Those trooping damsels slender-fair:
Virgins of graceful swimming gait * Ready with eye and lip to ensnare;
And like the tendril'd vine they loose * The rich profusion of their hair:
Shooting their shafts and arrows from * Beautiful eyes beyond compare;
Overpowering and transpiercing * Every froward adversaire."
Sharrkan gazed upon the ten girls and saw in their midst a lady like the moon
at fullest, with ringleted hair and forehead sheeny-white, and eyes wondrous
wide and black and bright, and temple-locks like the scorpion's tail; and she
was perfect in essence and attributes, as the poet said of her in these
couplets,
"She beamed on my sight with a wondrous glance, * And her straight slender stature enshamed the lance:
She burst on my sight with cheeks rosy-red, * Where all manner of beauties have habitance:
And the locks on her forehead were lowering as night * Whence issues a dawn-tide of happiest chance."
Then Sharrkan heard her say to the handmaids, "Come ye on, that I may wrestle
with you and gravel you, ere the moon set and the dawn break!" So each came up
to her in turn and she grounded them forthright, and pinioned them with their
girdles, and ceased not wrestling and pitching them until she had overthrown
one and all. Then there turned to her an old woman who was before her, and the
beldam said as in wrath, "O strumpet, dost thou glory in grounding these girls?
Behold I am an old woman, yet have I thrown them forty times! So what hast
thou to boast of? But if thou have the strength to wrestle with me, stand up
that I may grip thee and set thy head between thy heels!" The young lady smiled
at her words, but she was filled with inward wrath, and she jumped up and
asked, "O my lady Zat al-Dawahi,[FN#163] by the truth of the Messiah, wilt thou
wrestle with me in very deed, or dost thou jest with me?"; and she answered,
"Yea,"—And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted
say.
When it was the Forty-seventh Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the young lady asked
Zat al-Dawahi, "By the truth of the Messiah, wilt wrestle with me or dost
jest?", and she answered, "Yea, I will wrestle with thee in very deed"
(Sharrkan looking on the while), the damsel cried, "Rise up for the fall an
thou have spunk so to do." When the old woman heard this, she raged with
exceeding rage, and her body-hair stood on end like the bristles of a fretful
hedgehog.[FN#164] Then she sprang to her feet, whilst the damsel stood up to
her, and said, "Now by the truth of the Messiah, I will not wrestle with thee
unless I be naked, Mistress whore!"[FN#165] So she loosed her petticoat
trousers and, putting her hand under her clothes, tore them off her body; then
twisted up a silken kerchief into cord-shape, girt it round her middle and
became as she were a scald-head Ifritah or a spotted snake. With this she
inclined towards the damsel and said, "Do thou as I have done." All this time,
Sharrkan was gazing at the twain, and laughing at the beldam's loathly
semblance. So the damsel leisurely rose and, taking a sash of Yamani stuff,
passed it twice round her waist, then she tucked up her trousers and displayed
two calves of alabaster carrying a mound of crystal, smooth and rounded, and a
stomach which exhaled musk from its dimples, as it were a bed of Nu'uman's
anemones; and breasts like double pomegranates. Then the old woman leant
towards her, and the two laid hold either of each, while Sharrkan raised his
head Heavenwards and prayed Allah that the belle might beat the beldam.
Presently the young woman gat beneath the old woman; and, gripping her waist
cloth with the left and circling her neck with the right hand, hoisted her off
the ground with both; whereupon the old woman strove to free herself and, in so
doing fell on her back arsiversy, with her legs high in air and her hairy bush
between them showed manifest in the moonshine; furthermore she let fly two
great farts[FN#166] one of which blew up the dust from the earth's face and the
other steamed up to the gate of Heaven. Sharrkan laughed till he fell back
upon the ground. Then he arose and, baring his brand looked right and left,
but he saw no one save the old woman sprawling on her back, and said to
himself, "He lied not who named thee Lady of Calamities! Verily thou knewest
her prowess by her performance upon the others." So he drew near them to hear
what should pass between them. Then the young lady went up to the old one and,
throwing a wrapper of thin silk upon her nakedness, helped her to don her
clothes and made excuses saying, "O my lady Zat al- Dawahi, I intended only to
throw thee and not all this, but thou triedst to twist out of my hands; so laud
to Allah for safety!" She returned her no answer, but rose in her shame and
walked away till out of sight, leaving the handmaids prostrate and pinioned,
with the fair damsel standing amongst them. Quoth Sharrkan to himself, "Every
luck hath its cause. Sleep did not fall upon me nor the war-horse bear me
hither save for my good fortune; for doubtless this maid and what is with her
shall become booty to me." So he made towards his steed and mounted and
heeled[FN#167] him on, when he sped as the shaft speeds from the bow and in his
hand he still hent his brand bare of sheath, which he brandished shouting the
while his war cry, "Allah is All-mighty[FN#168]!" When the damsel saw him she
sprang to her feet and, taking firm stand on the bank of the stream, whose
breadth was six ells, the normal cubits, made one bound and landed clear on the
farther side,[FN#169] where she turned and cried out with a loud voice, "Who
art thou, O thou fellow, that breakest in upon our privacy and pastime, and
that too hanger in hand as if charging a host? Whence camest thou and whither
art thou going? Speak sooth, for truth will stand thee in good stead, and lie
not, for lies come of villein-breed Doubtless thou hast wandered this night
from thy way, that thou chancedst upon this place whence escape were the
greatest of mercies; for thou art now in an open plain and, did we shout but a
single shout, would come to our rescue four thousand knights.[FN#170] So tell
me what thou wantest; and if thou wouldst only have us set thee on the right
road, we will do so." When Sharrkan heard her words he replied, "I am a
stranger of the Moslems, who fared forth this night single-handed, seeking for
spoil; nor could this moonlight show me a fairer booty than these ten maidens;
so I shall seize them; and rejoin my comrades with them." Quoth she, "I would
have thee know that as for the booty thou hast not come at it; and, as for the
handmaids, by Allah, they shall never be thy spoil. Have I not told thee that
to lie is villein-vile?" Quoth he, "The wise man is he who taketh warning by
others." Thereupon quoth she, "By the truth of the Messiah, did I not fear that
thy death would be on my hands, I would shout a shout should fill the mead for
thee with war steeds and with men of might, but I take pity upon the stranger.
So, if thou seek booty, I require of thee that thou alight from thy steed and
swear to me, by thy faith, that thou wilt not advance against me aught like
arms in hand, and we will wrestle, I and thou. If thou throw me, set me on thy
steed and take all of us to thy booty; but if I throw thee, thou shalt become
under my command. Swear this to me, for I fear thy treachery: indeed it hath
become a common saw, 'Where Perfidy is innate there Trust is a weakly mate.'
Now an thou wilt swear I will return and draw near to thee and tackle thee."
Answered Sharrkan (and indeed he lusted to seize her and said in his soul,
"Truly she knoweth not that I am a champion of champions"); "Swear me by what
oath thou wilt and by what thou deemest most binding, and I will not approach
thee with aught till thou hast made thy preparation and sayest, 'Draw near that
I wrestle with thee.' If thou throw me, I have money wherewithal to ransom
myself; and if I throw thee, 'twill be booty and booty enough for me!" Rejoined
the damsel, "I am content herewith!" and Sharrkan was astounded at her words
and said, "And by the truth of the Apostle (whom Allah bless and keep!) I too
am content on the other part!" Then said she, "Swear to me by Him who sprite in
body dight and dealt laws to rule mankind aright, that thou wilt not offer me
aught of violence save by way of wrestling; else mayst thou die without the
pale of Al- Islam." Sharrkan replied, "By Allah! were a Kazi to swear me, even
though he were a Kazi of the Kazis,[FN#171] he would not impose upon me such an
oath as this!" Then he sware to her by all she named and tied his steed to a
tree; but he was drowned in the sea of thought, saying in himself, "Praise be
to Him who fashioned her from dirty water!"[FN#172] Then he girt himself and
made ready for wrestling, and said to her, "Cross the stream to me;" but she
replied, "It is not for me to come over to thee: if thou wilt, pass thou over
here to me." "I cannot do that," quoth he, and quoth she, "O boy, I will come
across to thee." So she tucked up her skirts and, leaping, landed on the other
side of the stream by his side; whereupon he drew near to her and bent him
forwards and clapped palms.[FN#173] But he was confounded by her beauty and
loveliness; for he saw a shape which the Hand of Power had tanned with the
dye-leaves of the Jánn, which had been fostered by the Hand of Beneficence and
fanned by the Zephyrs of fair fortune and whose birth a propitious ascendant
had greeted. Then she called out to him, "O Moslem, come on and let us wrestle
ere the break of morning," and tucked up her sleeves from a forearm like fresh
curd, which illumined the whole place with its whiteness; and Sharrkan was
dazzled by it. Then he bent forwards and clapped his palms by way of
challenge, she doing the like, and caught hold of her, and the two grappled and
gripped and interlocked hands and arms. Presently he shifted his hands to her
slender waist, when his finger tips sank into the soft folds of her middle,
breeding languishment, and he fell a trembling like the Persian reed in the
roaring gale. So she lifted him up and, throwing him to the ground, sat upon
his breast with hips and hinder cheeks like mounds of sand, for his soul had
lost mastery over his senses. Then she asked him, "O Moslem! the slaying of
Nazarenes is lawful to you folk; what then hast thou to say about being slain
thyself?"; and he answered, "O my lady, thy speech as regards slaying me is not
other than unlawful; for our prophet Mohammed (whom Allah bless and preserve!)
prohibited the slaying of women and children, old men and monks!" "As it was
thus revealed to your Prophet," she replied, "it behoveth us to render the
equivalent of his mercy; so rise. I give thee thy life, for generosity is
never lost upon the generous." Then she got off his breast and he rose and
stood shaking the dust from his head against the owners of the curved rib, even
women; and she said to him, "Be not ashamed; but verily one who entereth the
land of Roum in quest of booty, and cometh to assist Kings against Kings, how
happeneth it that he hath not strength enough to defend himself from one made
out of the curved rib?" "'Twas not for lack of strength in me," he answered;
"nor didst thou throw me by thy force; it was thy loveliness overthrew me; so
if thou wilt grant me another bout, it will be of thy courtesy." She laughed
and said, "I grant thee thy request: but these handmaids have long been
pinioned and their arms and sides are weary, and it were only right I should
loose them, for haply this next wrestling bout will be long." Then she went to
the slave-girls and, unbinding them, said to them in the tongue of Greece, "Get
ye to some safe place, till I foil this Moslem's lust and longing for you." So
they went away, whilst Sharrkan kept gazing at them; and they kept turning to
look at the two. Then each approached the adversary and he set his breast
against hers, but when he felt waist touch waist, his strength failed him; and
she, waxing ware of this, lifted him with her hands swiftlier than the blinding
leven-flash, and threw him to the ground. He fell on his back,[FN#174] and
then she said to him, "Rise: I give thee thy life a second time. I spared thee
in the first count because of thy Prophet, for that he made unlawful the
slaying of women; and I do so on the second count because of thy weakliness and
the greenness of thine years and thy strangerhood; but I charge thee, if there
be in the Moslem army sent by Omar bin al-Nu'uman to succour the King of
Constantinople, a stronger than thou, send him hither and tell him of me: for
in wrestling there are shifts and trips, catches and holds, such as the feint
or falsing and the snap or first grip, the hug, the feet-catch, the
thigh-bite,[FN#175] the jostle and the leg-lock." "By Allah, O my lady," quoth
Sharrkan (and indeed he was highly incensed against her), "had I been Master
al-Safdí, Master Mohammed Kimál or Ibn al-Saddí,[FN#176] as they were in their
prime, I had kept no note of these shifts thou mentionest; for O my mistress,
by Allah, thou hast not grassed me by thy strength, but by the blandishments of
thy back parts; for we men of Mesopotamia so love a full-formed thigh that nor
sense was left me nor foresight. But now, an thou wish, thou shalt try a third
fall with me while my wits are about me, and this last match is allowed me by
the laws of the game which sayeth the best of three: moreover I have regained
my presence of mind." When she heard his words she said to him, "Hast thou not
had a belly-full of this wrestling, O vanquished one? However come on, an thou
wilt; but know that this must be the last round." Then she bent forward and
challenged him and Sharrkan did likewise, setting to it in real earnest and
being right cautious about the throw: so the two strove awhile and the damsel
found in him a strength such as she had not observed before and said to him, "O
Moslem, thou art now on thy mettle." "Yes," he replied, "thou knowest that
there remaineth to me but this one round, after which each of us will wend a
different way." She laughed and he laughed too;[FN#177] then she overreached at
his thigh and caught firm hold of it unawares, which made him greet the ground
and fall full on his back. She laughed at him and said, "Art thou an eater of
bran? Thou are like a Badawi's bonnet which falleth off with every touch or
else the Father of Winds[FN#178] that droppeth before a puff of air. Fie upon
thee, O thou poor thing!" adding, "Get thee back to the Moslem army and send us
other than thyself, for thou failest of thews; and proclaim for us, among the
Arabs and Persians, the Turks and Daylamites,[FN#179] whoso hath might in him,
let him come to us." Then she made a spring and landed on the other side of the
stream and said to Sharrkan, laughing, "Parting with thee is right grievous to
me, O my lord; but get thee to thy mates before dawn, lest the Knights come
upon thee and pick thee up on their lance-points. Thou hast no strength to
defend thee against a woman, so how couldst thou hold thine own amongst men of
might and Knights?" Sharrkan was confounded and called to her (as she turned
from him making towards the convent), "O my lady, wilt thou go away and leave
the miserable stranger, the broken hearted slave of love?" So she turned to him
laughing and said, "What is thy want? I will grant thee thy prayer." "Have I
set foot in thy country and tasted the sweetness of thy courtesy," replied he,
"and shall I return without eating of thy victual and tasting thy hospitality;
I who have become one of thy servitors!" "None baulk kindliness save the base,"
she rejoined, "honour us in Allah's name, on my head and eyes be it! Mount thy
steed and ride along the brink of the stream over against me, for now thou art
my guest." At this Sharrkan was glad and, hastening back to his horse, mounted
and walked him abreast of her, and she kept faring on till they came to a
drawbridge[FN#180] built of beams of the white poplar, hung by pullies and
steel-chains and made fast with hooks and padlocks. When Sharrkan looked, he
saw awaiting her upon the bridge the same ten handmaids whom she had thrown in
the wrestling-bouts; and, as she came up to them, she said to one in the Greek
tongue, "Arise and take the reins of his horse and conduct him across into the
convent." So she went up to Sharrkan and led him over, much puzzled and
perturbed with what he saw, and saying to himself, "O would that the Wazir
Dandan were here with me that his eyes might look upon these fairest of
favours." Then he turned to the young lady and said to her, "O marvel of
loveliness, now I have two claims upon thee; first the claim of good
fellowship, and secondly for that thou hast carried me to thy home and offered
me thy hospitality. I am now under thy commandance and thy guidance; so do me
one last favour by accompanying me to the lands of Al-Islam; where thou shalt
look upon many a lion-hearted warrior and thou shalt learn who I am." When she
heard this she was angered and said to him, "By the truth of the Messiah, thou
hast proved thyself with me a man of keen wit; but now I see what mischief
there is in thy heart, and how thou canst permit thyself a speech which proveth
thy traitorous intent. How should I do as thou sayest, when I wot that if I
came to that King of yours, Omar bin al- Nu'uman, I should never get free from
him? For truly he hath not the like of me or behind his city walls or within
his palace-halls, Lord of Baghdad and of Khorasan though he be, who hath built
for himself twelve pavilions, in number as the months of the year, and in each
a concubine after the number of the days; and if I come to him he would not
prove shy of me, for your folk believe I am lawful to have and to hold as is
said in your writ, 'Or those women whom your right hand shall possess as
slaves.'[FN#181] So how canst thou speak thus to me? As for thy saying, 'Thou
shalt look upon the braves of the Moslems,' by the truth of the Messiah, thou
sayest that which is not true, for I saw your army when it reached our land,
these two days ago; and I did not see that your ordinance was the ordinance of
Kings, but I beheld only a rabble of tribesmen gathered together. And as to
thy words, 'Thou shalt know who I am,' I did not do thee kindness because of
thy dignity but out of pride in myself; and the like of thee should not talk
thus to the like of me, even wert thou Sharrkan, Omar bin al- Nu'uman's son,
the prowest name in these days!" "Knowest thou Sharrkan?" asked he; and she
answered "Yes! and I know of his coming with an army numbering ten thousand
horsemen; also that he was sent by his sire with this force to gain prevalence
for the King of Constantinople." "O my lady," said Sharrkan, "I adjure thee by
thy religion, tell me the cause of all this, that sooth may appear to me clear
of untruth, and with whom the fault lies." "Now by the virtue of thy faith,"
she replied, "did I not fear lest the news of me be bruited abroad that I am of
the daughters of Roum, I would adventure myself and sally forth single-handed
against the ten thousand horsemen and slay their leader, the Wazir Dandan and
vanquish their champion Sharrkan.[FN#182] Nor would aught of shame accrue to me
thereby, for I have read books and studied the rules of good breeding in the
language of the Arabs. But I have no need to vaunt my own prowess to thee,
more by token as thou hast proved in thy proper person my skill and strength in
wrestling; and thou hast learnt my superiority over other women. Nor, indeed,
had Sharrkan himself been here this night and it were said to him, 'Clear this
stream,' could he have done it; and I only long and lust that the Messiah would
throw him into my hands in this very convent, that I might go forth to him in
the habit of a man and drag him from his saddle-seat and make him my captive
and lay him in bilboes."—And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased
to say her permitted say.
When it was the Forty-eighth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the Nazarene damsel
said to Sharrkan (and he listening impatiently enow), "Verily if Sharrkan fell
into my hands, I would go forth to him in the habit of a man and drag him from
his saddle-seat and make him my captive and lay him in bilboes," pride and
passion and knightly jealousy took possession of him and he desired to discover
and declare himself and to lay on load; but her loveliness restrained him and
he began repeating,
"An faulty of one fault the Beauty prove, * Her charms a thousand advocates
shall move."
So she went up and Sharrkan after her; and, when he saw the maiden's back and
hinder cheeks that clashed against each other, like rollers in the rolling sea,
he extemporised these couplets:—
"For her sins is a pleader that brow, * And all hearts its fair pleading must trow:
When I saw it I cried, "To-night * The moon at its fullest doth show;
Tho' Balkis' own Ifrit[FN#183] try a bout, * Spite his force she would deal him a throw."
The two fared on till they reached a gate over which rose a marble archway.
This she opened and ushered Sharrkan into a long vestibule, vaulted with ten
connected arches, from each of which hung a crystal lamp glistening like a
spark of fire. The handmaids met her at the further end bearing wax candles of
goodly perfume, and wearing on their heads golden fillets crusted with all
manner bezel-gems,[FN#184] and went on before her (Sharrkan still following),
till they reached the inner convent. There the Moslem saw couches and sofas
ranged all around, one opposite the other and all overhung with curtains
flowered in gold. The monastery floor was paved with every kind of
vari-coloured marbles and mosaic-work, and in the midst stood a basin that held
four-and-twenty jetting fountains of gold, whence the water ran like molten silver;
whilst at the upper end stood a throne spread with silks fit only for Kings.
Then said the damsel, "Ascend, O my lord, this throne." So he went up to it and
sat down and she withdrew to remain absent for some time. Sharrkan asked of her
from one of the servants who answered him, "She hath gone to her dormitory; but
we will serve thee even as she ordered." So they set before him viands of rare
varieties, and he ate his sufficiency, when they brought him a basin of gold
and an ewer of silver, and he washed his hands. Then his thoughts reverted to
his army, knowing not what had befallen it in his absence and calling to mind
also how he had forgotten his father's injunctions: so he was troubled about
his case, repenting of what he had done till the dawn broke and the day
appeared; when he lamented and sighed and became drowned in sea of sadness and
repeated,
"I am not lost to prudence, but indeed * Here I'm bewildered, what shall be my rede?
Would any aid me in mine ails of love, * By my own might and sleight would I be free'd:
But ah! my heart is lost and passion-shent: * To none save Allah can I trust my need!"
When he ended his verse behold, there came up to him a rare show and a fair,
more than twenty maidens like crescents encompassing the young lady, who shone
in their midst as the full moon among the constellations guarding and girding
her. She was clad in brocades befitting Kings; her breasts were like twin
pomegranates, a woven zone set with all kinds of jewels tightly clasped her
waist which expanded below into jutting hips; and her hinder cheeks stood out
as a mound of crystal[FN#185] supporting a silvern shaft. When Sharrkan looked
at her his wits went nigh to fly away from him with delight; and he forgot army
and Wazir as he gazed on her fair head decked and dight with a net-work of
pearls set off by divers sorts of gems. Handmaids on her right and handmaids
on her left bore her train, as she paced with dainty graceful gait in all the
pride of seemlihead. He sprang to his feet seeing such beauty and loveliness,
and cried aloud, "Beware and beware of that zone rarely fair!" and broke out
into these couplets,
"With heavy back parts, high breasts delicate, * And lissome form that sways with swimming gait
She deftly hides love-longing in her breast; * But I may never hide its ban and bate:
While hosts of followers her steps precede,[FN#186] * Like pearls now necklaced and now separate."
She gazed upon him for a long time and considered him till she was assured of
him, when she came up to him and said, "In very sooth the place is honoured and
illumined by thee, O Sharrkan! How sped thy night, O hero, after we went away
and left thee?"; adding, "Verily lying is a vile thing and a shameful,
especially in great Kings! and thou art Crown-Prince Sharrkan, son and heir of
King Omar bin al-Nu'uman; so henceforth make no secret of thy rank and
condition, nor let me hear aught from thee but the truth; for leasing
bequeatheth hate and despite. And as thou art pierced by the shaft of Fate, be
resignation thine and abide content to wait." When he heard her words he saw
that artifice availed him naught and he acknowledged the truth, saying, "I am
Sharrkan, bin Omar bin al-Nu'uman, whom fortune hath afflicted and cast into
this place; so whatso thou willest, do it in my case!" She hung her head
groundwards a long while, then turned to him and said, "Be of good cheer and
let thine eyes be cool and clear;[FN#187] for thou art the guest of my
hospitality, and bread-and-salt hath made a tie between me and thee; wherefore
thou art in my ward and under my safeguard. Have no fear for, by the truth of
the Messiah, if all on earth sought to do thee hurt they should not come at
thee, till life had left my body for thy sake: indeed thou art now under the
charge of the Messiah and of me." Hereat she sat her down by his side and fell
to playing with him, till his alarm subsided and he knew that had she desired
to slay him, she would have done so during the past night. Presently she
bespoke in the Grecian tongue, one of her slave-girls, who went away and soon
came back bringing a beaker and a tray of food; but Sharrkan abstained from
eating and said to himself, "Haply she hath put somewhat in this meat." She
knew what was in his thought; so she turned to him and said, "By the truth of
the Messiah, the case is not on such wise, nor is there aught in this meat of
what thou suspectest! Had my mind been set on slaying thee, I had slain thee
ere now." Then she walked up to the tray and ate of every dish a mouthful;
whereupon Sharrkan came forward and ate too. She was pleased at this and both
ate till they were satisfied. They washed their hands and after that she rose
and ordered a handmaid to bring perfumes and herbs of sweet savour, wines of
all colours and kinds and a wine-service with vessels of gold, silver and
crystal. She filled a first goblet and drank it off before offering it to him,
even as she had done with the food: then she crowned a second and handed it to
him. He drank and she said to him, "O Moslem, see how thou art here in all
solace and delight of life!" And she ceased not to drink and ply him with
drink, till he took leave of his wits,—And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of
day, and ceased saying her permitted say.
When it was the Forty-ninth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the damsel ceased not to
drink and ply Sharrkan with drink till he took leave of his wits, for the wine
and the intoxication of love he bore her. Presently she said to the slave
girl, "O Marjanah[FN#188]! bring us some instruments of music!" "To hear is to
obey," said the handmaid and going out, returned in the twinkling of an eye
with a Damascus lute,[FN#189] a Persian harp, a Tartar pipe, and an Egyptian
dulcimer. The young lady took the lute and, after tuning each several string,
began in gentle undersong to sing, softer than zephyr's wing and sweeter than
Tasmin[FN#190]-spring, with heart safe and secure from everything the couplets
following,
"Allah assain those eyne! What streams of blood they shed! * How many an arrowy glance those lids of thine have sped.
I love all lovers who to lovers show them dure; * 'Twere wrong to rue the love in wrong-head born and bred:
Haply fall hapless eye for thee no sleeping kens! * Heaven help the hapless heart by force of thee misled!
Thou doomest me to death who art my king, and I * Ransom with life the deemster who would doom me dead."
Thereupon each and every of the maidens rose up and taking an instrument,
played and recited couplets in the Roumi tongue; then their mistress sang also
and seeing Sharrkan in ecstasies asked him, "O Moslem, dost thou understand
what I say?"; and he answered, "Nay, my ecstasy cometh from the beauty of thy
finger-tips." She laughed and continued, "If I sing to thee in Arabic what
wouldst thou do?" "I should no longer," quoth he, "be master of my senses."
Then she took an instrument and, changing the measure, began singing these
verses,
"The smack of parting's myrrh to me, * How, then, bear patience' aloë?
I'm girt by ills in trinity * Severance, distance, cruelty!
My freedom stole that fairest she, * And parting irks me bitterly."
When she ended her verse, she looked at Sharrkan and found him lost to
existence, and he lay for a while stretched at full length and prone among the
maidens.[FN#191] Then he revived and, remembering the songs, again inclined to
mirth and merriment; and the twain returned to their wine and wassail, and
continued their playing and toying, their pastime and pleasure till day ceased
illuminating and night drooped her wing. Then the damsel went off to her
dormitory and when Sharrkan asked after her they answered, "She is gone to her
sleeping-chamber," whereto he rejoined, "Under Allah's ward and His good
guard!" As soon as it was morning, a handmaid came to him and said to him, "My
mistress biddeth thee to her." So he rose and followed her and, as he drew near
her lodging, the damsels welcomed him with smitten tabrets and songs of
greeting, and led him through a great door of ivory studded with pearls and
jewels. Thence they passed with him into a tall and spacious hall, at the
upper end of which was a wide daïs carpeted with all kinds of silks, and round
it open lattices commanding a view of trees and streams. About the saloon were
figures carved in human form, and fashioned on such wise that the air passed
through them; and set in motion musical instruments within, so that the beholder
would fancy they spoke.[FN#192] Here sat the young lady, looking at the
figures; but when she saw Sharrkan, she sprang to her feet and, taking him by
the hand, made him sit down by her side, and asked him how he had passed the
night. He blessed her and the two sat talking awhile till she asked him,
"Knowest thou aught touching lovers and slaves of love?"; and he answered "Yes!
I wot somewhat in verse on that matter." "Let me hear it," quoth she, so he
began quoting,
"Pleasure and health, good cheer, good appetite * To Azzah, freest with our name and fame!
By Allah! would I near her off she flies * At tangent, granting less the more I claim:
I dote on Azzah, but when clear I off * My rivals, clears me too that dearest dame;
Like wandering wight that chose for shade a cloud * Which, ere siesta done, thin air became."
When she heard this she said, "Verily Al-Kuthayyir[FN#193] was conspicuous for
sweet speech and chaste, and he was superlative in his praise of Azzah when he
sang" (and she began to recite),
"Did Azzah deal behest to Sun o' noon, * The judge had 'judged her beauty's bestest boon;
And girls who come to me and carp at her, * God make their rosy cheeks her sandal-shoon!
"And indeed," quoth she, "'twas said that Azzah boasted exceeding beauty and
loveliness." Then she asked Sharrkan saying, "O Prince, dost thou know aught of
Jamíl's[FN#194] verses to Buthaynah? if so repeat to us somewhat of them;" and
he answered, "Yes, I know them better than any;" whereupon he began repeating
these couplets,
"Jamil, in Holy war go fight!" to me they say: * What war save fight for fair ones would I e'er essay?
To me their every word and work are mere delight, * And martyrs clepe I all they slay in fight and fray:
An ask I, 'O Buthaynah! what's this love, I pray, * Which eats my heart?' quoth she ' 'Twill stay for ever and aye!'
And when I cry, 'Of wits return some small display * For daily use,' quoth she, 'Far, far 'tis fled away!"
Thou seekst my death; naught else thy will can satisfy * While I no goal espy save thee and thee alway.
"Thou hast spoken right well," said she, "O King's son, and Jamil also spoke
excellently well. But what would Buthaynah have done with him that he saith in
his hemistich,
'Thou seekst my death; naught else thy will can satisfy?'"
"O my lady," quoth Sharrkan, "she willed to do him what thou willest to do with
me, and even that will not satisfy thee." She laughed at his opportune reply
and they ceased not carousing till Day put out her light and Night came in
darkness dight. Then she rose and went to her dormitory and slept, while
Sharrkan slept in his place till morning dawned. As soon as he awoke, the
hand-maids came to him with tabrets and other instruments of mirth and merriment, as
wont; and, kissing the ground between his hands, said to him, "Bismillah!--in
Allah's name--be so kind as to come[FN#195]: our mistress biddeth thee to her
presence!" So he rose and accompanied the slave-girls who surrounded him,
playing on tabrets and other instruments of music, till they passed from that
saloon into another and a yet more spacious hall, decorated with pictured
likenesses and figures of birds and beasts, passing all description. Sharrkan
marvelled at the art and artifice of the place and began reciting,
"He pluckt fruits of her necklace in rivalry, * And her breast-pearls that bedded in gold-mine lie.
Pure water on silvern bars is her brow, * And her cheeks show roses with rubies vie:
Meseems in her eyne that the violet's hue * Lies purpling set in the Ithmid's[FN#196] dye."