taking his hand, seated him by her side and asked, "O son of King
Omar bin al-Nu'uman, hast thou any cunning in the game of chess?"
"Yes," he answered, "but do not thou with me as said the poet,
'I speak and longing love upties me and unties me; * Till with her honey-dew of inner lip she plies me:
I brought the chess-board and my liefest lover plays me * With white and black,[FN#197] but black-cum-white ne'er satisfies me:
'Twas as if King for Castle I were fain to place me * Till wilful loss of game atwixt two queens surprise me:
And if I seek to read intent in eyes that eye me * Oh man! that glance askance with hint of wish defies me.'"
Then she brought the chess-board and played with him; but Sharrkan, instead of
looking at her moves, kept gazing at her fair mouth, and putting knight in
place of elephant and elephant[FN#198] in stead of knight. She laughed and said
to him, "If thy play be after this fashion, thou knowest naught of the game."
"This is only our first," replied he, "judge not by this bout." When she beat
him he replaced the pieces in position and played again with her; but she beat
him a second time, a third, a fourth and a fifth. So she turned to him and
said, "Thou art beaten in everything;" and he replied, "O my lady, how should
one playing with the like of thee avoid being beaten?" Then she bade bring
food, and they ate and washed their hands; after which the wine was set before
them; and they drank. Presently, she took the dulcimer, for her hand was
cunning in smiting it, and she began repeating to an accompaniment these
couplets,
"Twixt the close-tied and open-wide no medium Fortune knoweth, * Now ebb and flow then flow and ebb this wise her likeness showeth.
Then drink her wine the syne she's thine and smiling thou dost find her * Anon she'll fall and fare away when all thy good forth goeth."
They ceased not to carouse till nightfall and this day was pleasanter even than
the first. When darkness set in, the lady betook her to her dormitory, leaving
him alone with the handmaids; so he threw himself on the ground and slept till
dawn, when the damsels came to him with tambourines and other instruments
according to custom. Seeing them he roused him hastily and sat up; and they
carried him to their mistress, who came to meet him and, taking him by the
hand, seated him by her side. Then she asked him how he had passed his night,
whereat he prayed that her life be prolonged; and she took the lute and sang to
it these verses which she improvised,
"Ne'er incline thee to part * Which embitters the heart;
E'en the sun when he sets * Shall in pallor depart."
While they were solacing themselves after this fashion, behold, there arose a
great and sudden clamour, and a confused crowd of knights and men rushed in,
holding drawn swords that glittered and gleamed in their hands, and cried aloud
in the Grecian tongue, "Thou hast fallen into our hands, O Sharrkan, so make
thee sure of death!" When he heard this, he said to himself, "By Allah, she
hath entrapped me and held me in play, till her men should come. These are the
Knights with whom she threatened me; but 'tis I who have thrown myself into
this strait." Then he turned towards the young lady to reproach her, but saw
that she had changed colour and her face was pale; and she sprang to her feet
and asked the crowd, "Who are ye?" "O most gracious Princess and peerless
union-pearl," answered the leading Knight, "dost thou weet who is yon man by thy
side?" "Not I," she replied, "who may he be?" Quoth the Patrician, "This is of
towns the highwayman! This is he who rideth in the horseman's van! This is
Sharrkan, son of King Omar bin al-Nu'uman! This is he that forceth fortalice
and penetrateth every impregnable place! The news of him reached King Hardub,
thy father, by report of the ancient dame Zat al- Dawahi; and thy sire, our
sovereign, hath made sure that thou hast rendered good service to the army of
the Greeks by taking captive this ominous lion." When she heard this, she
looked at the Knight and asked him, "What be thy name?" and he answered, "I am
Másúrah, son of thy slave Mausúrah bin Káshardah, Knight of Knights." "And
how?" quoth she, "durst thou enter my presence without leave?" Quoth he, "O my
lady, when I came to the gate, none forbade me, neither chamberlain nor porter,
but all the door-keepers rose and forewent us as of wont; although, when others
come, they leave them standing at the gate while they ask permission to admit
them. But this is not a time for long talking, when the King is expecting our
return with this Prince, the scorpion-sting[FN#199] of the Islamitic host, that
he may kill him and drive back his men whither they came, without the bane of
battling with them." "These words be ill words," rejoined the Princess, "and
Dame Zat al-Dawahi lied, avouching an idle thing and a vain, whereof she
weeteth not the truth; for by the virtue of the Messiah, this man who is with
me is not Sharrkan, nor is he a captive, but a stranger who came to us seeking
our hospitality, and I made him my guest. So even were we assured that this be
Sharrkan and were it proved to us that it is he beyond a doubt, I say it would
ill befit mine honour that I should deliver into your hands one who hath
entered under my protection. So make me not a traitor to my guest and a
disgrace among men; but return to the King, my father, and kiss the ground
before him, and inform him that the case is contrariwise to the report of the
Lady Zat al-Dawahi." "O Abrízah," replied Masurah, the Knight, "I cannot return
to the King's majesty without his debtor and enemy." Quoth she (and indeed she
had waxed very wroth), "Out on thee! Return to him with my answer, and no
blame shall befal thee!" Quoth Masurah, "I will not return without him."
Thereupon her colour changed and she exclaimed, "Exceed not in talk and vain
words; for verily this man had not come in to us, were he not assured that he
could of himself and single-handed make head against an hundred riders; and if
I said to him, 'Thou art Sharrkan, son of King Omar bin al-Nu'uman,' he would
answer, 'Yes.' But 'tis not of your competence to let or hinder him; for if you
do so, he will not turn back from you till he hath slain all that are in this
place. Behold, here he is by my side, and I will bring him before you sword
and targe in hand." "Albeit I were safe from thy wrath," answered Masurah the
Knight, "I am not safe from that of thy father, and when I see him, I shall
sign to the Knights to take him captive, and we will carry him to the King
bound and in abject sort." When she heard this, she said, "The matter shall not
pass thus, for 'twould be blazoning mere folly. This man is but one and ye are
an hundred Knights: so if you would attack him come out against him, one after
one, that it may appear to the King which is the valiant amongst you."—And
Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
When it was the Fiftieth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Princess Abrizah said to
the Knight, "This man is but one, and ye are an hundred: so if ye would attack
him, come out against him, one after one, that it may appear to the King which
is the valiant." Quoth Masurah, the Knight, "By the truth of the Messiah, thou
sayest sooth, and none but I shall sally out against him first." Quoth she,
"Wait till I go to him and acquaint him with the case and hear what answer he
will make. If he consent, 'tis well; but if he refuse, ye shall on no wise
come to him, for I and my handmaids and whosoever is in the convent will be
his ransom." So she went to Sharrkan and told him the news, whereat he smiled
and knew that she had not informed any of the Emirs; but that tidings of him
had been bruited and blazed abroad, till the report reached the King, against
her wish and intent. So he again began reproaching himself and said, "How came
I to adventure and play with my life by coming to the country of the Greeks?"
But hearing the young lady's proposal he said to her, "Indeed their onset, one
after one, would be overburdensome to them. Will they not come out against me,
ten by ten?" "That would be villeiny," said she; "Let one have at one." When he
heard this, he sprang to his feet and made for them with his sword and battle-gear;
and Masurah, the Knight, also sprang up and bore down upon him. Sharrkan
met him like a lion and delivered a shoulder-cut[FN#200] which clove him to the
middle, and the blade came out gleaming and glittering from his back and
bowels. When the lady beheld that swashing-blow, Sharrkan's might was magnified
in her sight and she knew that when she overthrew him in the wrestle it was not
by her strength but by her beauty and loveliness. So she turned to the Knights
and said, "Take wreak for your chief!" Thereupon out came the slain man's
brother, a fierce and furious Knight, and rushed upon Sharrkan, who delayed
not, but smote him also with the shoulder-cut and the sword came out glittering
from his vitals. Then cried the Princess, "O ye servants of the Messiah,
avenge your comrade!" So they ceased not charging down upon him, one after one;
and Sharrkan also ceased not playing upon them with the blade, till he had
slain fifty Knights, the lady looking on the while. And Allah cast a panic
into the hearts of the survivors, so that they held back and dared not meet him
in the duello, but fell upon him in a body; and he laid on load with heart
firmer than a rock, and smote them; and trod them down like straw under the
threshing-sled,[FN#201] till he had driven sense and soul out of them. Then
the Princess called aloud to her damsels, saying, "Who is left in the
convent?"; and they replied, "None but the gate-keepers;" whereupon she went up
to Sharrkan and took him to her bosom, he doing the same, and they returned to
the palace, after he had made an end of the melée. Now there remained a few of
the Knights hiding from him in the cells of the monastery, and when the
Princess saw this she rose from Sharrkan's side and left him for a while, but
presently came back clad in closely-meshed coat of ring-mail and holding in her
hand a fine Indian scymitar. And she said, "Now by the truth of the Messiah, I
will not be a niggard of myself for my guest; nor will I abandon him though for
this I abide a reproach and a by-word in the land of the Greeks." Then she took
reckoning of the dead and found that he had slain fourscore of the Knights, and
other twenty had taken to flight.[FN#202] When she saw what work he had made
with them she said to him, "Allah bless thee, O Sharrkan! The Cavaliers may
well glory in the like of thee." Then he rose and wiping his blade clean of the
blood of the slain began reciting these couplets,
"How oft in the mellay I've cleft the array, * And given their bravest to lions a prey:
Ask of me and of them when I proved me prow * O'er creation, on days of the foray and fray:
When I left in the onslaught their lions to lie * On the sands of the low-lands[FN#203] in fieriest day."
When he ended his verse, the Princess came up to him with smiles and kissed his
hand; then she doffed her hauberk and he said to her, "O lady mine, wherefore
didst thou don that coat of mail and bare thy brand?" "To guard thee against
these caitiffs,"[FN#204] she replied. Then she summoned the gate-keepers and
asked them, "How came ye to admit the King's Knights into my dwelling without
leave of me?"; and they answered, "O Princess, it is not our custom to ask
leave of thee for the King's messengers, and especially for the chief of his
Knights." Quoth she, "I think ye were minded only to disgrace me and murder my
guest;" and bade Sharrkan smite their necks. He did so and she cried to the
rest of her servants, "Of a truth, they deserved even more than that!" Then
turning to Sharrkan, she said to him, "Now that there hath become manifest to
thee what was concealed, thou shalt be made acquainted with my history. Know,
then, that I am the daughter of King Hardub of Roum; my name is Abrizah and the
ancient dame, yclept Zat al-Dawahi, is my grandmother by the sword side. She
it certainly is who told my father of thee, and as surely she will compass a
sleight to slay me, more by token as thou hast slain my father's chivalry and
it is noised abroad that I have separated myself from the Nazarenes and have
become no better than I should be with the Moslems. Wherefore it were wiser
that I leave this dwelling while Zat al-Dawahi is on my track; but I require of
thee the like kindness and courtesy I have shown thee, for enmity will
presently befal between me and my father on thine account. So do not thou
neglect to do aught that I shall say to thee, remembering all this betided me
not save by reason of thee." Hearing her words, Sharrkan joyed greatly; his
breast broadened and his wits flew from him for delight, and he said, "By
Allah, none shall come at thee, while life is in my bosom! But hast thou
patience to bear parting from thy parents and thy people?" "Even so," she
answered; and Sharrkan swore to her and the two plighted their troth. Then
said she, "Now is my heart at ease; but there remaineth one other condition for
thee." "What is it?" asked he and she answered, "It is that thou return with
thy host to thine own country." Quoth he, "O lady mine, my father, King Omar
bin al- Nu'uman, sent me to wage war upon thy sire, on account of the treasure
he plundered from the King of Constantinople, and amongst the rest three great
jewels, noted givers of good fortune." Quoth she, "Cheer thy heart and clear
thine eyes: I will tell thee the whole of the tale and the cause of our feud
with the King of Constantinople. Know that we have a yearly festival, hight
the Convent-Feast, whereat Kings from all quarters and the noblest women are
wont to congregate; thither also come merchants and traders with their wives
and families, and the visitors abide there seven days. I was wont to be one of
them; but, when there befel enmity between us, my father forbade me to be
present at the festival for the space of seven years. One year, it chanced that
amongst the daughters of the great who resorted to the patron, as was their
custom, came a daughter of the King of Constantinople, a beautiful girl called
Sophia. They tarried at the monastery six days and on the seventh the folk
went their ways;[FN#205] but Sophia said, 'I will not return to Constantinople
save by water.' So they equipped for her a ship in which she embarked with her
suite; and making sail they put out to sea; but as they were voyaging behold, a
contrary wind caught them; and drove the vessel from her course till, as Fate
and Fortune would have it, she fell in with a Nazarene craft from the Camphor
Island[FN#206] carrying a crew of five hundred armed Franks, who had been
cruising about a long time. When they sighted the sails of the ship, wherein
Sophia and her women were, they gave chase in all haste and in less than an
hour they came up with her, then they laid the grappling-irons aboard her and
captured her. Then taking her in tow they made all sail for their own island
and were but a little distant from it when the wind veered round and, splitting
their sails, drove them on to a shoal which lies off our coast. Thereupon we
sallied forth and, looking on them as spoil driven to us by Fate,[FN#207]
boarded and took them; and, slaying the men, made prize of the wreck, wherein
we found the treasures and rarities in question and forty maidens, amongst whom
was the King's daughter, Sophia. After the capture we carried the Princess and
her women to my father, not knowing her to be a daughter of King Afridun of
Constantinople; and he chose out for himself ten including her; and divided the
rest among his dependants. Presently he set apart five damsels, amongst whom
was the King s daughter, and sent them to thy father, King Omar bin al-Nu'uman,
together with other gifts, such as broadcloth[FN#208] and woollen stuffs and
Grecian silks. Thy father accepted them; and chose out from amongst the five
girls Sophia, daughter of King Afridun; nor did we hear more of her till the
beginning of this year, when her father wrote to my father in words unfitting
for me to repeat, rebuking him with menaces and saying to him: Two years ago,
you plundered a ship of ours which had been seized by a band of Frankish
pirates in which was my daughter, Sophia, attended by her maidens numbering
some threescore. Yet ye informed me not thereof by messenger or otherwise; nor
could I make the matter public, lest reproach befal me amongst the Kings, by
reason of my daughter's honour. So I concealed my case till this year, when I
wrote to certain Frankish corsairs and sought news of my daughter from the
Kings of the Isles. They replied, 'By Allah we carried her not forth of thy
realm; but we have heard that King Hardub rescued her from certain pirates.
And they told me the whole tale.' Then he added in the writing which he writ to
my father: 'Except you wish to be at feud with me and design to disgrace me and
dishonour my daughter, you will, the instant my letter reacheth you, send my
daughter back to me. But if you slight my letter and disobey my commandment, I
will assuredly make you full return for your foul dealing and the baseness of
your practices.'[FN#209] When my father read this letter and understood the
contents,[FN#210] it vexed him and he regretted not having known that Sophia,
King Afridun's daughter, was among the captured damsels, that he might have
sent her back to her sire; and he was perplexed about the case because, after
so long a time, he could not send to King Omar bin al-Nu'uman and demand her
back from him, especially as he had lately heard that Heaven had granted him
boon of babe by this Sophia. So when we pondered that truth, we knew that this
letter was none other than a grievous calamity; and my father found nothing for
it but to write an answer to King Afridun, making his excuses and swearing to
him by strong oaths that he knew not his daughter to be among the bevy of
damsels in the ship and setting forth how he had sent her to King Omar bin al
Nu'uman, who had gotten the blessing of issue by her. When my father's reply
reached King Afridun he rose up and sat down,[FN#211] and roared and foamed at
the mouth crying:—'What! shall he take captive my daughter and even her with
slave-girls and pass her on from hand to hand sending her for a gift to Kings,
and they lie with her without marriage-contract? By the Messiah and the true
Faith,' said he, 'I will not desist till I have taken my blood-vengeance for
this and have wiped out my shame; and indeed I will do a deed which the
chroniclers shall chronicle after me!' So he bided his time till he devised a
device and laid notable toils and snares, when he sent an embassy to thy
father, King Omar, to tell him that which thou hast heard: accordingly thy
father equipped thee and an army with thee and sent thee to King Afridun, whose
object is to seize thee and thine army to boot. As for the three jewels
whereof he told thy father when asking his aid, there was not one soothfast
word in that matter, for they were with Sophia, his daughter; and my father
took them from her, when he got possession of her and of her maidens, and gave
them to me in free gift, and they are now with me. So go thou to thy host and
turn them back ere they be led deep into, and shut in by, the land of the
Franks and the country of the Greeks;
for as soon as you have come far enough into their interior, they will
stop the roads upon you and there will be no escape for you till the Day of
retribution and retaliation. I know that thy troops are still halting where
thou leftest them, because thou didst order a three days' rest; withal they
have missed thee all this time and they wot not what to do." When Sharrkan
heard her words, he was absent awhile in thought; then he kissed Princess
Abrizah's hand and said, "Praise be to Allah who hath bestowed thee on me and
appointed thee to be the cause of my salvation and the salvation of whoso is
with me! But 'tis grievous to me to part from thee and I know not what will
become of thee after my departure." "Go now to thine army," she replied, "and
turn them back, while ye are yet near your own country. If the envoys be still
with them, lay hands on them; and keep them, that the case may be made manifest
to you; and, after three days, I will be with you all and we will enter Baghdad
together." As he turned to depart she said, "Forget not the compact which is
between me and thee;" then she rose to bid[FN#212] him farewell and embrace him
and quench the fire of desire, so she took leave of him and, throwing her arms
round his neck, wept with exceeding weeping, and repeated these verses,
"I bade adieu, my right hand wiped my tears away, * The while my left hand held her in a close embrace:
'Fearest thou naught,' quoth she, 'of shame?' I answered 'Nay, * The lover's parting day is lover's worst disgrace.'"
Then Sharrkan left her and walked down from the convent. They brought his
steed, so he mounted and rode down-stream to the drawbridge which he crossed
and presently threaded the woodland paths and passed into the open meadow. As
soon as he was clear of the trees he was aware of horsemen which made him stand
on the alert, and he bared his brand and rode cautiously; but as they drew near
and exchanged curious looks he recognized them; and behold, it was the Wazir
Dandan and two of his Emirs. When they saw him and knew him, they dismounted
and saluting him, asked the reason of his absence; whereupon he told them all
that had passed between him and Princess Abrizah from first to last. The Wazir
returned thanks to Almighty Allah for his safety and said,[FN#213] "Let us at
once leave these lands; for the envoys who came with us are gone to inform the
King of our approach, and haply he will hasten to fall on us and take us
prisoners." So Sharrkan cried to his men to saddle and mount, which they did
and, setting out at once, they stinted not faring till they reached the sole of
the valley wherein the host lay. The Ambassadors meanwhile had reported
Sharrkan's approach to their King, who forthright equipped a host to lay hold
of him and those with him. But Sharrkan, escorted by the Wazir Dandan and the
two Emirs, had no sooner sighted the army, than he raised the cry "March!
March!" They took horse on the instant and fared through the first day and
second and third day, nor did they cease faring for five days; at the end of
which time they alighted in a well-wooded valley, where they rested awhile.
Then they again set out and stayed not riding for five and twenty days which
placed them on the frontiers of their own country. Here, deeming themselves
safe, they halted to rest; and the country people came out to them with guest-gifts
for the men and provender and forage for the beasts. They tarried there
two days after which, as all would be making for their homes, Sharrkan put the
Wazir Dandan in command, bidding him lead the host back to Baghdad. But he
himself remained behind with an hundred riders, till the rest of the army had
made one day's march: then he called "To horse!" and mounted with his hundred
men. They rode on two parasangs'[FN#214] space till they arrived at a gorge
between two mountains and lo! there arose before them a dark cloud of sand and
dust. So they checked their steeds awhile till the dust opened and lifted,
discovering beneath it an hundred cavaliers, lion-faced and in mail-coats
cased. As soon as they drew within earshot of Sharrkan and his meiny they
cried out to them, saying, "By the virtue of John and Mary, we have won to our
wish! We have been following you by forced marches, night and day, till we
forewent you to this place. So dismount and lay down your arms and yield
yourselves, that we may grant you your lives." When Sharrkan heard this, his
eyes stood out from his head and his cheeks flushed red and he said 'How is it,
O Nazarene dogs, ye dare enter our country and overmarch our land? And doth
not this suffice you, but ye must adventure yourselves and address us in such
unseemly speech? Do you think to escape out of our hands and return to your
country?" Then he shouted to his hundred horsemen, "Up and at these hounds, for
they even you in number!" So saying, he bared his sabre and bore down on them,
he and his, but the Franks met them with hearts firmer than rocks, and wight
dashed against wight, and knight dashed upon knight, and hot waxed the fight,
and sore was the affright, and nor parley nor cries of quarter helped their
plight; and they stinted not to charge and to smite, right hand meeting right,
nor to hack and hew with blades bright-white, till day turned to night and
gloom oppressed the sight. Then they drew apart and Sharrkan mustered his men
and found none wounded save four only, who showed hurts but not death-hurts.
Said he to them, "By Allah, my life long have I waded in the clashing sea of
fight and I have met many a gallant sprite, but none so unfrightened of the
sword that smites and the shock of men that affrights like these valiant
Knights!" "Know, O King," said they, that there is among them a Frankish
cavalier who is their leader and, indeed, he is a man of valour and fatal is
his spear-thrust: but, by Allah, he spares us great and small; for whoso falls
into his hands he lets him go and forbears to slay him. By Allah, had he
willed he had killed us all." Sharrkan was astounded when he heard what the
Knight had done and such high report of him, so he said, "When the morn shall
morrow, we will draw out and defy them, for we are an hundred to their hundred;
and we will seek aid against them from the Lord of the Heavens." So they rested
that night in such intent; whilst the Franks gathered round their Captain and
said, "Verily this day we did not win our will of these;" and he replied, "At
early dawn when the morrow shall morn, we will draw out and challenge them, one
after one." They also rested in that mind, and both camps kept guard until
Almighty Allah sent the light of day-dawn. Thereupon King Sharrkan and his
hundred riders took horse and rode forth to the plain, where they found the
Franks ranged in line of battle; and Sharrkan said to his followers, "Our foes
have determined like ourselves to do their devoir; so up and at them; and lay on
load." Then came forth an Herald of the Franks and cried out, saying, "Let
there be no general engagement betwixt us this day, save by the duello, a
champion of yours against a champion of ours." Whereupon one of Sharrkan's
riders dashed out from the ranks and drave between the two lines crying, "Ho!
who is for smiting? Let no dastard engage me this day nor nidering!" Hardly
had he made an end of his vaunt, when there sallied forth to him a Frankish
cavalier, armed cap-à-pie and clad in a surcoat of gold stuff, riding on a
grey-white steed,[FN#215] and he had no hair on his cheeks. He urged his charger on
to the midst of the battle-plain and the two fell to derring-do of cut and
thrust, but it was not long before the Frank foined the Moslem with the
lance-point; and, toppling him from his steed, took him prisoner and led him off
crestfallen. His folk rejoiced in their comrade and, forbidding him to go out
again to the field, sent forth another, to whom sallied out another Moslem,
brother to the captive, and offered him battle. The two fell to, either
against other, and fought for a little while, till the Frank bore down upon the
Moslem and, falsing him with a feint, tumbled him by a thrust of the lance-heel
from his destrier and took him prisoner. After this fashion the Moslems ceased
not dashing forwards, one after one, and the Franks to unhorse them; and take
them captive, till day departed and the night with darkness upstarted. Now
they had captured of the Moslems twenty cavaliers, and when Sharrkan saw this,
it was grievous to him and he mustered his men and said to them, "What is this
thing that hath befallen us? To- morrow, I myself will go forth to the field
and offer singular combat to their chief and learn what is the cause of his
entering our land and warn him against doing battle with our band. If he
persist, we will punish him with death, and if he prove peaceable we will make
peace with him." They righted on this wise till Allah Almighty caused the morn
to dawn, when mounted the twain and drew up for battle fain; and Sharrkan was
going forth to the plain, but behold, more than one half of the Franks
dismounted and remained on foot before one of them who was mounted, till they
reached the midst of the battle-plain. Sharrkan looked at that horseman and
lo! he was their chief. He was clad in a surcoat of blue satin and a close-ringed
mail shirt; his face was as the moon when it rises and no hair was upon
his cheeks. He hent in hand an Indian scymitar and he rode a sable steed with
a white blaze on brow, like a dirham; and he smote the horse with heel till he
stood almost in the midst of the field when, signing to the Moslems, he cried
out in fluent Arab speech, "Ho, Sharrkan! Ho, son of Omar bin al- Nu'uman! Ho,
thou who forcest fortalice and overthrowest cities and countries! up and out
to battle-bout, and blade single-handed wield with one who halves with thee the
field! Thou art Prince of thy people and I am Prince of mine; and whoso
overcometh his adversary, him let the other's men obey and come under his
sway." Hardly had he ended his speech, when out came Sharrkan with a heart full
of fury, and urging his steed into the midst of the field, closed like a raging
lion with the Frank who encountered him with wariness and steadfastness and met
him with the meeting of warriors. Then they fell to foining and hewing, and
they stinted not of onset and offset, and give and take, as they were two
mountains clashing together or two seas together dashing; nor did they cease
fighting until day darkened and night starkened. Then they drew apart and each
returned to his own party; but as soon as Sharrkan foregathered with his
comrades, he said, "Never looked I on the like of this cavalier: he hath one
quality I have not yet seen in any and this it is that, when his foemen
uncovereth a place for the death-blow, he reverseth his weapon and smiteth with
the lance-heel! In very deed I know not what will be the issue 'twixt him and
me; but 'tis my wish that we had in our host his like and the like of his men."
Then he went to his rest for the night and, when morning dawned, the Frank came
forth and rode down to the mid-field, where Sharrkan met him; and they fell to
fighting and to wheeling, left and right; and necks were stretched out to see
the sight, nor did they stint from strife and sword-play and lunge of lance
with main and might, till the day turned to night and darkness overwhelmed the
light. Then the twain drew asunder and returned each to his own camp, where
both related to their comrades what had befallen them in the duello; and at
last the Frank said to his men, "To-morrow shall decide the matter!" So they
both passed that night restfully till dawn; and, as soon as it was day, they
mounted and each bore down on other and ceased not to fight till half the day
was done. Then the Frank bethought him of a ruse; first urging his steed with
heel and then checking him with the rein, so that he stumbled and fell with his
rider; thereupon Sharrkan threw himself on the foe, and would have smitten him
with the sword fearing lest the strife be prolonged, when the Frank cried out
to him, "O Sharrkan, champions are not wont to do thus! This is the act of a
man accustomed to be beaten by a woman."[FN#216] When Sharrkan heard this, he
raised his eyes to the Frank's face and gazing steadfastly at him, recognized
in him Princess Abrizah with whom that pleasant adventure had befallen him in
the convent; whereupon he cast brand from hand and, kissing the earth before
her, asked her, "What moved thee to a deed like this?"; and she answered, "I
desired to prove thy prowess afield and test thy doughtiness in tilting and
jousting. These that are with me are my handmaids, and they are all clean
maids; yet they have vanquished thy horsemen in fair press and stress of plain;
and had not my steed stumbled with me, thou shouldst have seen my might and
prowess in combat." Sharrkan smiled at her speech and said, "Praise be to Allah
for safety and for my reunion with thee, O Queen of the age!" Then she cried
out to her damsels to loose the twenty captives of Sharrkan's troop and
dismount. They did as she bade and came and kissed the earth before her and
Sharrkan who said to them, "It is the like of you that Kings keep in store for
the need-hour." Then he signed to his comrades to salute the Princess; so all
alighted and kissed the earth before her, for they knew the story. After this,
the whole two hundred took horse, and fared on night and day for six days'
space, till they drew near to Baghdad, when they halted and Sharrkan bade
Abrizah and her handmaids doff the Frankish garb that was on them,—And
Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
When it was the Fifty-first Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Sharrkan bade Princess
Abrizah and her damsels doff the garb that was on them; and don the garments of
daughters of Greece; and thus did they. Then he despatched a company of his
companions to Baghdad to acquaint his father Omar bin al-Nu'uman, with his
arrival and report that he was accompanied by Princess Abrizah, daughter of
King Hardub, Lord of Græcia-land. They halted forthright in the place they
had reached, and Sharrkan also halted and all nighted there; and when Almighty
Allah made morning dawn, Sharrkan and his company and Abrizah and her company
took horse and fared on towards the city; when lo! on the way they met the
Wazir Dandan, who had come out amongst a thousand horse to honour Abrizah and
Sharrkan, by especial commandment of King Omar Son of Al- Nu'uman. When the
two drew near, they turned towards them; and kissed ground before them; then
they mounted again and escorted them into the city and went up with them to the
palace. Sharrkan walked in to his father, who rose and embraced him and
questioned him of his case. So he told him all that Abrizah had told him, and
what had passed between them; and said, "She hath parted from her sire and
departed from her reign and hath chosen to take part with us and make her abode
with us; "And indeed," he said to his father, "the King of Constantinople hath
plotted to do us a mischief, because of his daughter Sophia, for that the King
of Greece had made known to him her story and the cause of her being given to
thee; and he (the Grecian King) not knowing her to be daughter of King Afridun,
Lord of Constantinople; and, had he known that, he would not have bestowed her
upon thee, but he would have restored her to her parent. And of a verity," he
continued, "we were saved from these perils only by the Lady Abrizah, and never
saw we a more valiant than she." And he went on to tell his father all that had
passed from first to last of the wrestling and the single-fighting. When King
Omar heard the story of Sharrkan, Abrizah was exalted in his eyes, and he
longed to see her and question her. Thereupon Sharrkan went out to her and
said, "The King calleth for thee;" she replied, "I hear and I obey;" and he
took her and brought her in to his father, who was seated on his throne and
who, having dismissed his high officers, was attended only by his eunuchs. The
Princess entered and kissing the ground between his hands, saluted him in
choice terms. He was amazed at her eloquent speech and thanked her for her
dealing with his son Sharrkan and bade her be seated. So she sat down and
unveiled her face;[FN#217] and, when the King saw her beauty, his reason fled
his head and he made her draw near and showed her favour, appointing her an
especial palace for herself and her damsels, and assigning them solde and
allowances. Then began he to ask her of the three jewels aforesaid, and she
answered, "Here be they with me, O King of the age!" So saying, she rose and
going to her lodging, unpacked her baggage and from it brought out a box and
from the box a casket of gold. She opened the casket and taking out those
three jewels, kissed them; and gave them to the King. Then she went away
bearing his heart with her. After her going the King sent for his son Sharrkan
and gave him one jewel of the three, and when he enquired of the other two
replied, "O my son! I mean to give one to thy brother Zau al-Makan, and the
other to thy sister Nuzhat al- Zaman." But when Sharrkan heard that he had a
brother (for to that time he knew only of his sister) he turned to his sire and
said to him, "O King, hast thou a son other than myself?" He answered, "Yes,
and he is now six years old;" adding that his name was Zau al- Makan and that
he and Nuzhat al-Zaman were twins, born at a birth. This news was grievous to
Sharrkan, but he kept his secret and said, "The bless- ing of Allah Most High
be upon them!", and he cast the jewel from his hand and shook the dust off his
clothes. Quoth the King, "How do I see thee change thy manner when hearing of
this, considering that after me thou becomest heir of the kingdom. Of a truth
the troops have sworn to thee and the Emirs and Grandees have taken the oath of
succession to thee; and this one of the three jewels is thine." Sharrkan bowed
his head to the ground and was ashamed to bandy words with his parent so he
accepted the jewel and went away, knowing not what to do for exceeding wrath,
and stayed not walking till he had entered Abrizah's palace. As he approached
she stood up to meet him and thanked him for what he had done and prayed for
blessings on him and his sire. Then she sat down and seated him by her side;
but when he had taken his place she saw rage in his face and questioned him,
whereupon he told her that Allah had blessed his father with two children by
Sophia, a boy and a girl, and that he had named the boy Zau al-Makan and the
girl Nuzhat al-Zaman; adding, "He hath kept the other two jewels for them; and
hath given me one of thine, so I left it behind; I knew naught of Zau
al-Makan's birth till this day, and the twain are now six years old. So when I
learnt this, wrath possessed me; and I tell thee the reason of my rage and hide
nothing from thee. But now I fear lest my father take thee to wife, for he
loveth thee and I saw in him signs of desire for thee: so what wilt thou say,
if he wish this?" Quoth she, "Know, O Sharrkan, that thy father hath no
dominion over me, nor can he have me without my consent; and if he prevail over
me by force, I will take my own life. As for the three jewels, it was not my
intent that he should give any of them to either of his children and I had no
thought but that he would lay them up in his treasury with his things of price;
but now I desire of thy favour that thou make me a present of the jewel which
he gave thee, if thou have accepted it." "Hearkening and obedience," replied
Sharrkan, and gave it to her. Then said she, "Fear nothing," and talked with
him awhile and continued, "I fear lest my father hear that I am with you and
sit not patiently under my loss, but do his endeavours to find me; and to that
end he may ally himself with King Afridun, on account of his daughter Sophia,
and both come on thee with armies and so there befal great turmoil." When
Sharrkan heard these words, he said to her, "O my lady, if it please thee to
sojourn with us, take no thought of them; though there gather together against
us all that be on land and on sea." " 'Tis well," rejoined she; "if ye entreat
me fair, I will tarry with you, and if ye deal evilly by me, I will depart from
you." Then she bade her slave-maidens bring food; so they set the tables, and
Sharrkan ate a little and went away to his own house, disturbed and perturbed.
Such was his case; but regarding the affairs of his father, Omar bin
al-Nu'uman, after dismissing his son Sharrkan he arose and, taking the other
two jewels, betook himself to the Lady Sophia, who stood up when she saw him
and remained standing till he was seated. Presently, his two children, Zau
al-Makan and Nuzhat al-Zaman, came to him and he kissed them; and hung a jewel
round each one's neck, at which they rejoiced and kissed his hands. Then went
they to their mother, who joyed in their joy and wished the King long life; so
he asked her, "Why hast thou not informed me all this time that thou art the
daughter of King Afridun, Lord of Constantinople, that I might have honoured
thee still more and enlarged thee in dignity and raised thy rank?" "O King,"
answered Sophia, "and what could I desire greater or higher than this my
standing with thee, overwhelmed as I am with thy favours and thy benefits?
And, furthermore, Allah hath blessed me with two children by thee, a son and a
daughter." Her reply pleased the King and after leaving her, he set apart for
her and her children a wondrous fine palace. Moreover, he appointed for them
eunuchs and attendants and doctors of law and doctors of philosophy and
astrologers and physicians and surgeons to do them service; and in every way he
redoubled his favour and entreated them with the best of treatment. And
presently he returned to the palace of his dominion and to his Court where he
distributed justice among the lieges. So far concerning him and Sophia and her
children; but in the matter of Abrizah the King was greatly occupied with love
of her and burnt with desire of her night and day; and every night, he would go
in to her and converse with her and pay his court to her, but she gave him no
answer, only saying, "O King of the age! I have no desire for men at this
present." When he saw her withdraw from him, his passion waxed hotter and his
longing and pining increased until, when weary of this, he summoned his Wazir
Dandan and, opening his very heart to him, told him of his love for Princess
Abrizah, daughter of Hardub, and informed him how she refused to yield to his
wishes and how desire for her was doing him to die, for that he could get no
grace of her. The Wazir, hearing these words, said to the King, "As soon as it
is dark night, take thou a piece of Bhang the measure of a miskal, about an
ounce, and go in to her and drink somewhat of wine with her. When the hour of
ending the carousel shall draw near, fill her a last cup and dropping therein
the Bhang, give it to her to drink, and she will not reach her sleeping-chamber
ere the drug take effect on her. Then do thou go in to her and take thy will
of her; and such is my advice."[FN#218] "Thy rede is aright," quoth the King,
and seeking his treasury, he took thence a piece of concentrated Bhang, if an
elephant smelt it he would sleep from year to year. This he put in his bosom-pocket
and waited till some little of the night went by, when he betook himself
to the palace of Princess Abrizah, who seeing him stood up to receive him; but
he bade her sit down. So she sat down, and he sat by her, and he began to talk
with her of wine and wassail, whereupon she furnished the carousing-table[FN#219]
and placed it before him. Then she set on the drinking vessels
and lighted the candles and ordered to bring dried fruits and sweetmeats and
all that pertaineth to drinking. So they fell to tippling and the King ceased
not to pledge her till drunkenness crept into her head; and seeing this he took
out the bit of Bhang from his pocket and, holding it between his fingers,
filled a cup with his own hand and drank it off. Then filling a second he
said, "To thy companionship!"; and dropped the drug into her cup, she knowing
naught of it. She took it and drank it off; then she rose and went to her
sleeping-chamber. He waited for less than an hour till he was assured that the
dose had taken effect on her and had robbed her of her senses, when he went in
to her and found her thrown on her back: and she had doffed her petticoat
trousers and the air raised the skirt of her shift and discovered what was
between her thighs. When the King saw the state of things and found a lighted
candle at her head and another at her feet, shining upon what her thighs
enshrined he took leave of his five senses for lust and Satan seduced him and
he could not master himself, but put off his trousers and fell upon her and
abated her maidenhead. Then he rose off her and went to one of her women, by
name Marjánah, and said, "Go in to thy lady and speak with her." So she went in
to her mistress and found her lying on her back insensible, with the blood
running down to the calves of her legs, whereupon she took a kerchief and wiped
away the blood and lay by her that night. As soon as Almighty Allah brought
the dawn, the handmaid Marjanah washed her mistress's hands and feet and
brought rose-water and bathed her face and mouth with it, whereupon she
sneezed and yawned and cast up from her inside that bit of Bhang like a
bolus.[FN#220] Then she revived and washed her hands and mouth and said to
Marjanah, "Tell me what hath befallen me." So she told her what had passed and
how she had found her, lying on her back, with the blood running down,
wherefore she knew that King Omar bin al-Nu'uman had lain with her and had
undone her and taken his will of her. At this she grieved with exceeding grief
and retired into privacy, saying to her damsels, "Deny me to whoso would come
in to me and say to him that I am ill, till I see what Allah will do with me."
Presently the news of her sickness came to the King; so he sent her sherbets
and sugar electuaries. Some months she thus passed in solitude, during which
time the King's flame cooled and his desire for her was quenched, so that he
abstained from her. Now she had conceived by him, and when the months of
child-breeding had gone by, her pregnancy appeared and her belly swelled, and the
world was straitened upon her, so she said to her handmaid Marjanah, "Know that
it is not the folk who have wronged me, but I who sinned against my own
self[FN#221] in that I left my father and mother and country. Indeed, I abhor
life, for my spirit is broken and neither courage nor strength is left me. I
used, when I mounted my steed, to have the mastery of him, but now I am unable
to ride. If I be brought to bed among them I shall be dishonoured before my
hand-women and every one in the palace will know that he hath taken my
maidenhead in the way of shame; and if I return to my father, with what face
shall I meet him or with what face shall I have recourse to him? How well
quoth the poet,
'Say, what shall solace one who hath nor home nor stable stead * Nor cup-companion, nor a cup, nor place to house his head?'"
Marjanah answered her, "It is thine to command; I will obey;" and Abrizah said,
"I desire at once to leave this place secretly, so that none shall know of me
but thou; and return to my father and my mother, for when flesh stinketh, there
is naught for it but its own folk and Allah shall do with me e'en as He will."
"O Princess," Marjanah replied, "what thou wouldest do is well." Then she made
matters ready and kept her secret and waited for some days till the King went
out to chase and hunt, and his son Sharrkan betook himself to certain of the
fortresses to sojourn there awhile. Then said she to Marjanah, "I wish to set
out this night, but how shall I do against my destiny? For already I feel the
pangs of labour and child-birth, and if I abide other four or five days, I
shall be brought to bed here, and I shall be unable to travel to my country.
But this is what was written on my forehead." Then she considered awhile, and
said to Marjanah, "Look us out a man who will go with us and serve us by the
way, for I have no strength to bear arms." "By Allah, O my lady," replied
Marjanah, "I know none but a black slave called Al- Ghazbán,[FN#222] who is one
of the slaves of King Omar bin al- Nu'uman; he is a valiant wight, and he
keepeth guard at our palace-gate. The King appointed him to attend us, and
indeed we have overwhelmed him with our favours; so, lookye, I will go out and
speak with him of this matter, and promise him some monies and tell him that,
if he have a mind to tarry with us, I will marry him to whom he will. He told
me before to-day that he had been a highwayman; so if he consent to us we shall
win our wish and reach to our own land." She rejoined, "Call him, that I may
talk with him;" whereupon Marjanah fared forth and said to the slave, 'O
Ghazban, Allah prosper thee, so thou fall in with what my lady saith to thee!"
Then she took him by the hand and brought him to the Princess, whose hands he
kissed, but as she beheld him, her heart took fright at him. "However," she
said to herself, "of a truth, Need giveth the law;" and she approached to speak
with him, yet her heart started away from him. Presently she said, "O Ghazban,
say me, wilt thou help me against the perfidies of Fortune and conceal my
secret if I discover it to thee?" When the slave saw her, his heart was taken
by storm and he fell in love with her forthright and could not but reply; "O my
mistress, whatsoever thou biddest me do, I will not depart therefrom." Quoth
she, "I would have thee take me at this hour and take this my handmaid and
saddle us two camels and two of the King's horses and set on each horse a
saddle-bag of goods and somewhat of provaunt, and go with us to our own
country; where, if thou desire to abide with us, I will marry thee to her thou
shalt choose of my handmaidens; or, if thou prefer return to thine own land, we
will marry thee and give thee whatso thou desirest after thou hast taken of
money what shall satisfy thee." When Al-Ghazban, heard this, he rejoiced with
great joy and replied, "O my lady, I will serve both of you with mine eyes and
will go at once and saddle the horses." Then he went away gladsome and saying
to himself, "I shall get my will of them; and if they will not yield to me, I
will kill them both and take their riches." But he kept this his intent to
himself, and presently returned with two camels and three head of horses, one
of which he rode, and Princess Abrizah made Marjanah mount the second, she
mounting the third, albeit she was in labour-pains and possessed not her soul
for anguish. And the slave ceased not travelling with them night and day
through the passes of the mountains, till there remained but a single march
between them; and their own country; when the travail pangs came upon Abrizah
and she could no longer resist; so she said to Al-Ghazban, "Set me down, for
the pains of labour are upon me;" and cried to Marjanah, "Do thou alight and
sit by me and deliver me." Then Marjanah dismounted from her horse, and
Al-Ghazban did in like sort, and they made fast the bridles and helped the
Princess to dismount, for she was aswoon from excess of anguish. When
Al-Ghazban saw her on the ground, Satan entered into him and he drew his
falchion and brandishing it in her face, said "O my lady, vouchsafe me thy
favours." Hearing these words she turned to him and said, "It remaineth for me
only that I yield me to negro slaves, after having refused Kings and
Braves!"—And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her
permitted say.
When it was the Fifty-second Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Princess Abrizah said to
the black slave Al-Ghazban, "It remaineth for me only that I yield me to negro
slaves, after having refused Kings and Braves!" And she was wroth with him and
cried, "Woe to thee! what words are these thou sayest? Out on thee, and talk
not thus in my presence and know that I will never consent to what thou sayest,
though I drink the cup of death. Wait till I have cast my burden and am
delivered of the after-birth, and then, if thou be able thereto, do with me as
thou wilt; but, an thou leave not lewd talk at this time, assuredly I will slay
myself with my own hand and quit the world and be at peace from all this." And
she began reciting extempore,[FN#223]
"O spare me, thou Ghazban, indeed enow for me * Are heavy strokes of time, mischance and misery!
Whoredom my Lord forfends to all humanity; * Quoth He, 'Who breaks my bidding Hell for home shall see!'
And if thou leave not suing me to whoredom's way * Against th' Almighty's choicest gift, my chastity,
Upon my tribesmen I with might and main will call * And gather all, however far or near they be;
And with Yamáni blade were I in pieces hewn, * Ne'er shall he sight my face who makes for villeiny,
The face of free-born come of noble folk and brave; * What then can be to me the seed of whoreson slave?"
When Ghazban heard these lines he was wroth exceedingly; his eyes reddened with
blood and his face became a dusty-grey[FN#224]; his nostrils swelled, his lips
protruded and the repulsiveness of his aspect redoubled. And he repeated these
couplets,
"Ho thou, Abrizah, mercy! leave me not for I * Of thy love and Yamáni[FN#225] glance the victim lie
My heart is cut to pieces by thy cruelty, * My body wasted and my patience done to die:
From glances ravishing all hearts with witchery * Reason far flies, the while desire to thee draws nigh;
Though at thy call should armies fill the face of earth * E'en now I'd win my wish and worlds in arms defy!"
When Abrizah heard these words, she wept with sore weeping and said to him,
"Woe to thee, O Ghazban! How dareth the like of thee to address me such
demand, O base-born and obscene-bred? Dost thou deem all folk are alike?" When
the vile slave heard this from her, he waxt more enraged and his eyes grew
redder: and he came up to her and smiting her with the sword on her neck
wounded her to the death. Then he drove her horse before him with the treasure
and made off with himself to the mountains. Such was the case with Al-Ghazban;
but as regards Abrizah, she gave birth to a son, like the moon, and Marjanah
took the babe and did him the necessary offices and laid him by his mother's
side; and lo and behold! the child fastened to its mother's breast and she
dying.[FN#226] When Marjanah saw this, she cried out with a grievous cry and
rent her raiment and cast dust on her head and buffeted her cheeks till blood
flowed, saying, "Alas, my mistress! Alas, the pity of it! Thou art dead by
the hand of a worthless black slave, after all thy knightly prowess!" And she
ceased not weeping when suddenly a great cloud of dust arose and walled the
horizon;[FN#227] but, after awhile, it lifted and discovered a numerous
conquering host. Now this was the army of King Hardub, Princess Abrizah's
father, and the cause of his coming was that when he heard of his daughter and
her handmaids having fled to Baghdad, and that they were with King Omar bin al-
Nu'uman, he had come forth, leading those with him, to seek tidings of her from
travellers who might have seen her with the King. When he had gone a single
day's march from his capital, he espied three horse men afar off and made
towards them, intending to ask whence they came and seek news of his daughter.
Now these three whom he saw at a distance were his daughter and Marjanah and
the slave Al- Ghazban; and he made for them to push enquiry. Seeing this the
villain blackamoor feared for himself; so he killed Abrizah and fled for his
life. When they came up, King Hardub saw his daughter lying dead and Marjanah
weeping over her, and he threw himself from his steed and fell fainting to the
ground. All the riders of his company, the Emirs and Wazirs, took foot and
forthright pitched their tents on the mountain and set up for the King a great
pavilion, domed and circular, without which stood the grandees of the realm.
When Marjanah saw her master, she at once recognized him and her tears
redoubled; and, when he came to himself, he questioned her and she told him all
that had passed and said, "Of a truth he that hath slain thy daughter is a
black slave belonging to King Omar bin al-Nu'uman, and she informed him how
Sharrkan's father had dealt with the Princess. When King Hardub heard this,
the world grew black in his sight and he wept with sore weeping. Then he
called for a litter and, therein laying his dead daughter, returned to Cæsarea
and carried her into the palace, where he went in to his mother, Zat al-Dawahi,
and said to that Lady of Calamities, "Shall the Moslems deal thus with my girl?
Verily King Omar bin al-Nu'uman despoiled her of her honour by force, and
after this, one of his black slaves slew her. By the truth of the Messiah, I
will assuredly take blood-revenge for my daughter and clear away from mine
honour the stain of shame; else will I kill myself with mine own hand!" And he
wept passing sore. Quoth his mother, "None other than Marjanah killed thy
daughter, for she hated her in secret;" and she continued to her son, "Fret not
for taking the blood-wit of thy daughter, for, by the truth of the Messiah, I
will not turn back from King Omar bin al-Nu'uman till I have slain him and his
sons; and of a very truth I will do with him a deed, passing the power of Sage
and Knight, whereof the chroniclers shall tell chronicles in all countries and
in every place: but needs must thou do my bidding in all I shall direct, for
whoso be firmly set on the object of his desire shall surely compass his
desire." "By the virtue of the Messiah," replied he, "I will not cross thee in
aught thou shalt say." Then quoth she, "Bring me a number of handmaids,
high-bosomed virgins, and summon the wise men of the age and let them teach them
philosophy and the rules of behaviour before Kings, and the art of conversation
and making verses; and let them talk with them of all manner science and
edifying knowledge. And the sages must be Moslems, that they may teach them
the language and traditions of the Arabs, together with the history of the
Caliphs and the ancient annals of the Kings of Al-Islam; and if we persevere in
this for four years' space, we shall gain our case. So possess thy soul in
patience and wait; for one of the Arabs saith, 'If we take man-bote after years
forty the time were short to ye.' When we have taught the girls these things,
we shall be able to work our will with our foe, for he doteth on women and he
hath three hundred and sixty concubines, whereto are now added an hundred of
the flowers of thy handmaidens who were with thy daughter, she that hath found
mercy.[FN#228] As soon as I have made an end of their education, as described
to thee, I will take them; and set out with them in person." When King Hardub
heard his mother's words, he rejoiced and arose and kissed her head; and at
once despatched messengers and couriers to lands sundry and manifold to fetch
him Moslem sages. They obeyed his commands and fared to far countries and
thence brought him the sages and the doctors he sought. When these came into
presence, he honoured them with notable honours and bestowed dresses on them
and appointed to them stipends and allowances and promised them much money
whenas they should have taught the damsels. Then he committed the handmaidens
to their hands—And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her
permitted say.
When it was the Fifty-third Night.
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the sages and the
doctors stood in presence of King Hardub, he honoured them with notable honours
and committed the handmaidens to their hands, enjoining that these be
instructed in all manner of knowledge, philosophy and polite accomplishments;
and they set themselves to do his bidding. Such was the case with King Hardub;
but as for King Omar bin al Nu'uman, when he returned from coursing and hunting
and entered his palace, he sought Princess Abrizah but found her not, nor any
one knew of her nor could any give him news of her. This was grievous to him
and he said, "How could the lady leave the palace unknown of any? Had my
kingdom been at stake in this case, it were in perilous condition there being
none to govern it! I will never again go to sport and hunt till I have
stationed at the gates those who shall keep good guard over them!" And he was
sore vexed and his breast was straitened for the loss of Princess Abrizah.
Hereupon behold, his son Sharrkan returned from his journey; and the father
told him what had happened, and informed him how the lady had fled, whilst he
was chasing and hunting, whereat he grieved with exceeding grief. Then King
Omar took to visiting his children every day and making much of them; and
brought them learned men and doctors to teach them, appointing for them
stipends. When Sharrkan saw this, he raged with exceeding rage and envied
thereupon his brother and sister till the signs of chagrin appeared in his face
and he ceased not to languish by reason of this matter: so one day his father
said to him, "Why do I see thee grown weak in body and yellow of face?" "O my
father," replied Sharrkan, "every time I see thee fondle my brother and sister
and make much of them, jealousy seizeth on me, and I fear lest it grow on me
till I slay them; and thou slay me in return. And this is the reason of my
weakness of body and change of complexion. But now I crave of thy favour that
thou give me one of thy castles outlying the rest, that I may abide there the
remnant of my life, for as the sayer of bywords saith, 'Absence from my friend
is better and fitter for me'; and, 'Whatso eye doth not perceive, that garreth
not heart to grieve.'" And he bowed his head towards the ground. When King
Omar bin al-Nu'uman heard his words and knew the cause of his ailment and of
his being broken down, he soothed his heart and said to him, "O my son, I grant
thee this and I have not in my reign a greater than the Castle of Damascus, and
the government of it is thine from this time." Thereupon he forthright summoned
his secretaries of state and bade them write Sharrkan's patent of investiture
to the viceroyalty of Damascus of Syria. And when they had written it, he
equipped him and sent with him the Wazir Dandan, and invested him with the rule
and government and gave him instructions as to policy and regulations; and took
leave of him, and the grandees and officers of state did likewise, and he set
out with his host. When he arrived at Damascus, the townspeople beat the drums
and blew the trumpets and decorated the city and came out to meet him in great
state; whilst all the notables and grandees paced in procession, and those who
stood to the right of the throne walked on his right flank, and the others to
the left. Thus far concerning Sharrkan; but as regards his father, Omar bin
al- Nu'uman, soon after the departure of his son, the children's tutors and
governors presented themselves before him and said to him, "O our lord, thy
children have now learnt knowledge and they are completely versed in the rules
of manners and the etiquette of ceremony." The King rejoiced thereat with
exceeding joy and conferred bountiful largesse upon the learned men, seeing Zau
al- Makan grown up and flourishing and skilled in horsemanship. This Prince had
reached the age of fourteen and he occupied himself with piety and prayers,
loving the poor, the Olema and the Koran-students, so that all the people of
Baghdad loved him, men and women. One day, the procession of the
Mahmil[FN#229] of Irák passed round Baghdad before its departure for the
pilgrimage to Meccah and visitation of the tomb of the Prophet (whom Allah
bless and preserve!). When Zau al-Makan saw the Mahmil procession he was seized
with longing desire to become a pilgrim,[FN#230] so he went in to his sire and
said, "I come to ask thy leave to make the pilgrimage." But his father forbade
him saying, "Wait till next year and I will go and thou too." When the Prince
saw that the matter was postponed, he betook himself to his sister Nuzhat
al-Zaman, whom he found standing at prayer. As soon as she had ended her
devotions he said to her, "I am dying with desire of pilgrimage to the Holy
House of Allah at Meccah and to visit the tomb of the Prophet, upon whom be
peace! I asked my father's leave, but he forbade me that, so I mean to take
privily somewhat of money and set out on the pilgrimage without his knowledge."
"Allah upon thee," exclaimed she, "take me with thee and deprive me not of
visitation to the tomb of the Prophet, whom Allah bless and keep!" And he
answered, "As soon as it is dark night, do thou come forth from this place,
without telling any." Accordingly, when it was the middle of the night she arose
and took somewhat of money and donned a man's habit; and she ceased not walking
to the palace-gate, where she found Zau al-Makan with camels ready for
marching. So he mounted and mounted her; and the two fared on till they were
in the midst of the Iraki[FN#231] pilgrim-party, and they ceased not marching
and Allah wrote safety for them, till they entered Meccah the Holy and stood
upon Arafát and performed the pilgrimage-rites. Then they made a visitation to
the tomb of the Prophet (whom Allah bless and assain!) and thought to return
with the pilgrims to their native land. But Zau al-Makan said to his sister,
"O my sister, it is in my mind to visit the Holy House,[FN#232] Jerusalem, and
Abraham the Friend of Allah[FN#233] (on whom be peace!)." "I also desire so to
do," replied she. So they agreed upon this and he fared forth and took passage
for himself and her and they made ready and set out in the ship with a company
of Jerusalem palmers. That very night the sister fell sick of an aguish chill,
and was grievously ill but presently recovered, after which the brother also
sickened. She tended him during his malady and they ceased not wayfaring till
they arrived at Jerusalem, but the fever increased on him and he grew weaker
and weaker. They alighted at a Khan and there hired a lodging; but Zau al-
Makan's sickness ceased not to increase on him, till he was wasted with
leanness and became delirious. At this, his sister was greatly afflicted and
exclaimed, "There is no Majesty and there is no Might save in Allah, the
Glorious, the Great! This is the decree of Allah!" They sojourned in that place
awhile, his weakness ever increasing and she attending him and buying
necessaries for him and for herself, till all the money she had was expended
and she became so poor that she had not so much as a dirham left. Then she
sent a servant of the Khan to the bazar with some of her clothes, and he sold
them; and she spent the price upon her brother; then sold she something more and
she ceased not selling all she had, piece by piece, till nothing was left but
an old rug. Whereupon she wept and exclaimed, "Verily is Allah the Orderer of
the past and the future!" Presently her brother said to her, "O my sister, I
feel recovery drawing near and my heart longeth for a little roast meat." "By
Allah! O my brother," replied she, "I have no face to beg; but To-morrow I will
enter some rich man's house and serve him and earn somewhat for our living."
Then she bethought herself awhile and said, "Of a truth 'tis hard for me to
leave thee and thou in this state, but I must despite myself!" He rejoined,
"Allah forbid! Thou wilt be put to shame; but there is no Majesty and there is
no Might save in Allah!" And he wept and she wept too. Then she said, "O my
brother, we are strangers who have dwelt here a full year, but none hath yet
knocked at our door. Shall we then die of hunger? I know no resource but that
I go out and do service and earn somewhat to keep us alive, till thou recover
from thy sickness, when we will travel back to our native land." She sat
weeping awhile and he wept too, propped upon his elbow. Then Nuzhat al-Zaman
arose and, veiling her head with a bit of camlet,[FN#234] which had been of the
cameleer's clothes and which the owner had forgotten and left with them; she
kissed the head of her brother and embraced him and went forth from him,
weeping and knowing not whither she should wend. And she stinted not going and
her brother Zau al-Makan awaiting her return till the supper-time; but she came
not, and he watched for her till the morning morrowed but still she returned
not; and this endured till two days went by. He was greatly troubled thereat
and his heart fluttered for her, and hunger was sore upon him. At last he left
the chamber and, calling the servant of the caravanserai, said, "I wish thee to
bear me to the bazar." So he carried him to the market-street and laid him down
there; and the people of Jerusalem gathered round him and were moved to tears
seeing his condition. He signed to them begging for somewhat to eat; so they
brought him some money from certain of the merchants who were in the bazar, and
bought food and fed him therewith; after which they carried him to a shop,
where they spread him a mat of palm-leaves and set an ewer of water at his
head. When night fell, all the folk went away, sore concerned for him and, in
the middle of the night, he called to mind his sister and his sickness
redoubled on him, so that he abstained from eating and drinking and became
insensible to the world around him. Then the bazar-people arose and took for
him from the merchants thirty-seven dirhams, and hiring a camel, said to the
driver, "Carry this sick man to Damascus and leave him in the hospital; haply
he may be cured and recover health." "On my head be it!" replied the camel-man;
but he said to himself, "How shall I take this sick man to Damascus, and he
nigh upon death?" So he carried him away to a place and hid with him till the
night, when he threw him down on the ash-heap near the fire-hole of a Hammam
and went his way. When morning dawned the Stoker[FN#235] of the bath came to
his work and, finding Zau al-Makan cast on his back, exclaimed, "Why did they
not throw their dead body any where but here?" So saying, he gave him a kick and
he moved; whereupon quoth the Fireman, "Some one of you who hath eaten a bit of
Hashish and hath thrown himself down in whatso place it be!" Then he looked at
his face and saw his hairless cheeks and his grace and comeliness; so he took
pity on him and knew that he was sick and a stranger in the land. And he
cried, "There is no Majesty and there is no Might save in Allah! verily, I
have sinned against this youth, for indeed the Prophet (whom Allah bless and
keep!) enjoineth honour to the stranger, more especially when the stranger is
sick." Then he carried him home and went in with him to his wife and bade her
tend him. So she spread him a sleeping-rug and set a cushion under his head,
then warmed water for him and washed therewith his hands and feet and face.
Meanwhile, the Stoker went to the market and bought some rose-water and sugar,
and sprinkled Zau al-Makan's face with the water and gave him to drink of the
sherbet. Then he fetched a clean shirt and put it on him. With this, Zau
al-Makan sniffed the zephyr of health and recovery returned to him; and he sat
up and leant against the pillow. Hereat the Fireman rejoiced and exclaimed,
"Praise be to Allah for the welfare of this youth! O Allah, I beseech Thee by
Thy knowledge of hidden things, that Thou make the salvation of this youth to
be at my hands!"—And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her
permitted say.
When it was the Fifty-fourth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the Fireman exclaimed, "O
Allah, I beseech Thee of Thy knowledge of hidden things, that Thou make this
young man's life the work of my hands!" And he ceased not to nurse him for
three days, giving him to drink of sherbet of sugar and willow-flower water and
rose-water; and doing him all manner of service and kindness, till health began
to return to his body and Zau al-Makan opened his eyes. Presently came in the
Fireman and, seeing him sitting up and showing signs of amendment, said to him,
"What is now thy state, O my son?" "Praise be to Allah," replied Zau al-Makan,
"I am well and like to recover, if such be the will of Allah Almighty at this
time." The Stoker praised the Lord of All for this and, wending fast to the
market, bought ten chickens, which he carried to his wife and said, "Kill two
of these for him every day, one at dawn of day and the other at fall of day."
So she rose up and killed a fowl and brought it to him boiled, and fed him with
the flesh and made him drink its broth. When he had done eating, she fetched
hot water and he washed his hands and lay back upon the pillow, whereupon she
covered him up with the coverlet, and he slept till the time of the mid-afternoon
prayer. Then she arose and killed another fowl and boiled it; after
which she cut it up and, bringing it to Zau al-Makan, said, "Eat, O my son!"
While he was eating; behold, her husband entered and seeing her feeding him,
sat down at his head and said to him, "How is it with thee now, O my son?"
"Thanks be to Allah for recovery!" he replied: "may the Almighty requite thee
thy kindness to me." At this the Fireman rejoiced and going out, bought sherbet
of violets and rose-water and made him drink it. Now the Stoker used to work
at the Hammam all day for a wage of five dirhams, whereof he spent every day,
for Zau al-Makan, one dirham upon sugar and sherbet of rose-water and
willow-flower water,[FN#236] and another dirham for fowls; and he ceased not to
entreat him thus kindly during a whole month, till the traces of illness ceased
from him and he was once more sound and whole. Thereupon the Fireman and his
wife rejoiced and asked him, "O my son, wilt thou go with me to the bath?";
whereto he answered, "Yes!" So the Stoker went to the bazar and fetched a
donkey-boy, and he mounted Zau al-Makan on the ass and supported him in the
saddle till they came to the bath. Then he made him sit down and seated the
donkey-boy in the furnace-room and went forth to the market and bought lote-leaves
and lupin-flour,[FN#237] with which he returned to the bath and said to
Zau al-Makan, "O my master, in Allah's name, walk in and I will wash thy body."
So they entered the inner room of the bath, and the Fireman took to rubbing Zau
al-Makan's legs and began to wash his body with the leaves and meal, when there
came to them a bathman, whom the bath-keeper had sent to Zau al-Makan; and he,
seeing the Stoker washing and rubbing him, said, "This is doing injury to the
keeper's rights." Replied the Fireman, "The master overwhelmeth us with his
favours!" Then the bathman proceeded to shave Zau al-Makan's head, after which
he and the Stoker washed themselves and returned to the house, where he clad
Zau al-Makan in a shirt of fine stuff and a robe of his own; and gave him a
handsome turband and girdle and a light kerchief which he wound about his neck.
Meanwhile the Fireman's wife had killed and cooked two chickens; so, as soon as
Zau al-Makan entered and seated himself on the carpet, the husband arose and,
dissolving sugar in willow-flower water, made him drink of it. Then he brought
the food-tray and, cutting up the chickens, fed him with the flesh and gave him
the broth to drink till he was satisfied; when he washed his hands and praised
Allah for recovery, and said to the Fireman, "Thou art he whom the Almighty
vouchsafed to me and made the cause of my cure!" "Leave this talk," replied the
other, "and tell us the cause of thy coming to this city and whence thou art.
Thy face showeth signs of gentle breeding." "Tell me first how thou camest to
fall in with me," said Zau al-Makan; "and after I will tell thee my story."
Rejoined the Fireman, "As for that, I found thee lying on the rubbish-heap by
the door of the fire-house, as I went to my work near the morning, and knew not
who had thrown thee there. So I carried thee home with me; and this is all my
tale." Quoth Zau al-Makan, "Glory to Him who quickeneth the bones, though they
be rotten! Indeed, O my brother, thou hast not done good save to one worthy of
it, and thou shalt presently gather its fruitage." And he added, "But where am
I now?" "Thou art in the city of Jerusalem," replied the Stoker; whereupon Zau
al-Makan called to mind his strangerhood and remembered his separation from his
sister and wept. Then he discovered his secret to the Fireman and told him his
story and began repeating,
"In love they bore me further than my force would go, * And for them made me suffer resurrection-throe:
Oh, have compassion, cruel! on this soul of mine * Which, since ye fared, is pitied by each envious foe;
Nor grudge the tender mercy of one passing glance * My case to lighten, easing this excess of woe:
Quoth I 'Heart, bear this loss in patience!' Patience cried * 'Take heed! no patience in such plight I'm wont to show.' "
Then he redoubled his weeping, and the Fireman said to him, "Weep not, but
rather praise Allah for safety and recovery." Asked Zau al-Makan, "How far is
it hence to Damascus?" Answered the other, "Six days' journey." Then quoth Zau
al-Makan, "Wilt thou send me thither?" "O my lord," quoth the Stoker, "how can
I allow thee to go alone, and thou a youth and a stranger to boot? If thou
would journey to Damascus, I am one who will go with thee; and if my wife will
listen to and obey me and accompany me, I will take up my abode there; for it
is no light matter to part with thee." Then said he to his wife, "Wilt thou
travel with me to Damascus of Syria or wilt thou abide here, whilst I lead this
my lord thither and return to thee? For he is bent upon going to Damascus of
Syria and, by Allah, it is hard to me to part with him, and I fear for him from
highway men." Replied she, "I will go with you both;" and he rejoined, "Praised
be Allah for accord, and we have said the last word!" Then he rose and selling
all his own goods and his wife's gear,—And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day
and ceased saying her permitted say,
When it was the Fifty-fifth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the Fire man and his wife
agreed with Zau al-Makan to travel with him Damascus wards. Then the Stoker
sold his goods and his wife's gear and bought a camel and hired an ass for Zau
al-Makan; and they set out, and ceased not wayfaring for six days till they
reached Damascus. And they arrived there towards eventide; when the Fireman
went forth and, as was his wont, bought some meat and drink. They had dwelt
but five days in Damascus, when his wife sickened and, after a short illness,
was translated to the mercy of Almighty Allah. Her death was a heavy matter to
Zau al-Makan, for he was grown used to her as she had tended him assiduously;
and the Fireman grieved for her with excessive grief. Presently the Prince
turned to the Stoker and finding him mourning, said to him, "Grieve not, for at
this gate we must all go in." Replied he, "Allah make weal thy lot, O my son!
Surely He will compensate us with His favours and cause our mourning to cease.
What sayst thou, O my son, about our walking abroad to view Damascus and cheer
thy spirits?" Replied Zau al-Makan, "Thy will is mine." So the Fireman arose
and placed his hand in that of Zau al- Makan and the two walked on till they
came to the stables of the Viceroy of Damascus, where they found camels laden
with chests and carpets and brocaded stuffs, and horses ready saddled and
Bactrian dromedaries, while Mamelukes and negro slaves and folk in a hubbub
were running to and fro. Quoth Zau al-Makan, "I wonder to whom belong all
these chattels and camels and stuffs!" So he asked one of the eunuchs, "Whither
this dispatching?'' and he answered, "These are presents sent by the Emir of
Damascus to King Omar bin al-Nu'uman, with the tribute of Syria." Now when Zau
al-Makan heard his father's name his eyes brimmed over with tears, and he began
repeating,
"Oh ye gone from the gaze of these ridded eyne, * Ye whose sight in my spirit shall ever dwell!
Your charms are gone, but this heart of me * Hath no sweet, and no pleasures its sour dispel;
If Allah's grace make us meet again, * In long drawn love-tale my love I'll tell."
And when he had ended his verse, he wept and the Fireman said to him, "O my
son, we hardly believed that thy health had returned;[FN#238] so take heart and
do not weep, for I fear a relapse for thee." And he ceased not comforting and
cheering him, whilst Zau al-Makan sighed and moaned over his strangerhood and
separation from his sister and his family; and tears streamed from his eyes and
he recited these couplets,
"Get thee provaunt in this world ere thou wend upon thy way, * And know how surely Death descends thy life lot to waylay:
All thy worldly goods are pride and the painfullest repine; * All thy worldly life is vexing, of thy soul in vain display:
Say is not worldly wone like a wanderer's place of rest, * Where at night he 'nakhs'[FN#239] his camels and moves off at dawn of day?"
And he continued to weep and wail over his separation; whilst the Fireman also
bewept the loss of his wife, yet ceased not to comfort Zau al-Makan till
morning dawned. When the sun rose, he said to him, "Meseemeth thou yearnest
for thy native land?" "Yes," replied Zau al-Makan, "and I can no longer tarry
here; so I will commend thee to Allah's care and set out with these folk and
journey with them, little by little, till I come to my mother land." Said the
Stoker, "And I with thee; for of a truth I cannot bear to part with thee. I
have done thee kindly service and I mean to complete it by tending thee on thy
travel." At this, Zau al-Makan rejoiced and said, "Allah abundantly requite
thee for me!" and was pleased with the idea of their travelling together. The
Fireman at once went forth and bought another ass, selling the camel; and laid
in his provaunt and said to Zau al-Makan, "This is for thee to ride by the way;
and, when thou art weary of riding, thou canst dismount and walk." Said Zau
al-Makan, "May Allah bless thee and aid me to requite thee! for verily thou
hast dealt with me more lovingly than one with his brother." Then he waited
till it was dark night, when he laid the provisions and baggage on that ass and
set forth upon their journey. This much befel Zau al-Makan and the Fireman;
but as regards what happened to his sister Nuzhat al-Zaman, when she left her
brother in the Khan where they abode and, wrapped in the old camlet, went out
to seek service with some one, that she might earn wherewithal to buy him the
roast meat he longed for, she fared on, weeping and knowing not whither to go,
whilst her mind was occupied with thoughts of her brother and of her family and
her native land. So she implored Allah Almighty to do away with these
calamities from them; and began versifying,
"Dark falls the night and Passion comes sore pains to gar me dree, * And pine upstirs those ceaseless pangs which work my tormentry,
And cease not separation flames my vitals to consume, * And drives me on destruction way this sorrow's ecstacy
And longing breeds me restlessness; desire for ever fires, * And tears to all proclaim what I would keep in secrecy
No cunning shift is known to me a meeting to secure, * That I may quit this sickly state, may cure my malady:
The love which blazeth in my heart is fed with fancy fuel, * The lover from its hell of fire must bear Hell's agony![FN#240]
O thou who blamest me for all befel me, 'tis enough, * Patient I bear what ever wrote the Reed of Doom for me:
By Love I swear I'll never be consoled, no, never more; * I swear the oath of Love's own slaves who know no perjury:
O Night, to chroniclers of Love the news of me declare; * That sleep hath fed mine eyelids of thy knowledge witness bear!"
Then she walked on, weeping and turning right and left as she went, when
behold, there espied her an old Badawi[FN#241] who had come into the town from
the desert with wild Arabs other five. The old man took note of her and saw
that she was lovely, but she had nothing on her head save a piece of camlet,
and, marvelling at her beauty, he said to himself, "This charmer dazzleth men's
wits but she is in squalid condition, and whether she be of the people of this
city or she be a stranger, I needs must have her." So he followed her, little
by little, till he met her face to face and stopped the way before her in a
narrow lane, and called out to her, asking her case, and said, "Tell me, O my
little daughter! art thou a free woman or a slave?" When she heard this, she
said to him, "By thy life, do not add to my sorrows!" Quoth he, "Allah hath
blessed me with six daughters, of whom five died and only one is left me, the
youngest of all; and I came to ask thee if thou be of the folk of this city or
a stranger; that I might take thee and carry thee to her, to bear her company
so as to divert her from pining for her sisters. If thou have no kith and kin,
I will make thee as one of them; and thou and she shall be as my two children."
Nuzhat al-Zaman bowed her head in bashfulness when she heard what he said and
communed with herself, "Haply I may trust myself to this old man." Then she
said to him, "O nuncle, I am a maiden of the Arabs and a stranger and I have a
sick brother; but I will go with thee to thy daughter on one condition, which
is, that I may spend only the day with her and at night may return to my
brother. If thou strike this bargain I will fare with thee, for I am a
stranger and I was high in honour among my tribe, and I awoke one morning to
find myself vile and abject. I came with my brother from the land of Al-Hijaz
and I fearless he know not where I am." When the Badawi heard this, he said to
himself, "By Allah, I have got my desire!" Then he turned to her and replied,
"There shall none be dearer to me than thou; I wish thee only to bear my
daughter company by day and thou shalt go to thy brother at earliest nightfall.
Or, if thou wilt, bring him over to dwell with us." And the Badawi ceased not
to console her heart and coax her, till she trusted in him and agreed to serve
him. Then he walked on before her and, when she followed him, he winked to his
men to go in advance and harness the dromedaries and load them with their packs
and place upon them water and provisions, ready for setting out as soon as he
should come up with the camels. Now this Badawi was a base born churl, a
highway thief and a traitor to the friend he held most fief, a rogue in grain,
past master of plots and chicane. He had no daughter and no son and was only
passing through the town when, by the decree of the Decreer, he fell in with
this unhappy one. And he ceased not to hold her in converse on the highway
till they came without the city of Jerusalem and, when outside, he joined his
companions and found they had made ready the dromedaries. So the Badawi
mounted a camel, having seated Nuzhat al-Zaman behind him and they rode on all
night. Then she knew that the Badawi's proposal was a snare and that he had
tricked her; and she continued weeping and crying out the whole night long,
while they journeyed on making for the mountains, in fear any should see them.
Now when it was near dawn, they dismounted from their dromedaries and the
Badawi came up to Nuzhat al-Zaman and said to her, "O city strumpet, what is
this weeping? By Allah, an thou hold not thy peace, I will beat thee to death,
O thou town filth!" When she heard this she loathed life and longed for death;
so she turned to him and said, "O accursed old man, O gray beard of hell, how
have I trusted thee and thou hast played me false, and now thou wouldst torture
me?" When he heard her reply he cried out, "O lazy baggage, dost thou dare to
bandy words with me?" And he stood up to her and beat her with a whip, saying,
"An thou hold not thy peace, I will kill thee!" So she was silent awhile, then
she called to mind her brother and the happy estate she had been in and she
shed tears secretly. Next day, she turned to the Badawi and said to him, "How
couldst thou play me this trick and lure me into these bald and stony
mountains, and what is thy design with me?" When he heard her words he hardened
his heart and said to her, "O lazy baggage of ill omen and insolent! wilt thou
bandy words with me?" and he took the whip and came down with it on her back
till she felt faint. Then she bowed down over his feet and kissed[FN#242]
them; and he left beating her and began reviling her and said, "By the rights
of my bonnet,[FN#243] if I see or hear thee weeping, I will cut out thy tongue
and stuff it up thy coynte, O thou city filth!" So she was silent and made him
no reply, for the beating pained her; but sat down with her arms round her
knees and, bowing her head upon her collar, began to look into her case and her
abasement after her lot of high honour; and the beating she had endured; and
she called to mind her brother and his sickness and forlorn condition, and how
they were both strangers in a far country, which drave her tears down her
cheeks and she wept silently and began repeating,
"Time hath for his wont to upraise and debase, * Nor is lasting condition for human race:
In this world each thing hath appointed turn; * Nor may man transgress his determined place:
How long these perils and woes? Ah woe * For a life, all woeful in parlous case!
Allah bless not the days which have laid me low * I' the world, with disgrace after so much grace!
My wish is baffled, my hopes cast down, * And distance forbids me to greet his face:
O thou who passeth that dear one's door, * Say for me, these tears shall flow evermore!"
When she had finished her verses, the Badawi came up to her and, taking
compassion on her, bespoke her kindly and wiped away her tears. Then he gave
her a barley scone and said, "I love not one who answereth at times when I am
in wrath: so henceforth give me no more of these impertinent words and I will
sell thee to a good man like myself, who will do well with thee, even as I have
done." "Yes; whatso thou doest is right," answered she; and when the night was
longsome upon her and hunger burnt her, she ate very little of that barley
bread. In the middle of the night the Badawi gave orders for departure,—And
Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
When it was the Fifty-sixth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the Badawi gave the
barley scone to Nuzhat al-Zaman and promised he would sell her to a good man
like himself, she replied, "Whatso thou doest is right!" and, about midnight
when hunger burned her,[FN#244] she ate a very little of that barley bread and
the Badawi ordered his party to set out; so they loaded their loads and he
mounted a camel setting Nuzhat al-Zaman behind him. Then they journeyed and
ceased not journeying for three days, till they entered the city of Damascus
and alighted at the Sultan's Khan, hard by the Viceroy's Gate. Now she had
lost her colour by grief and the fatigue of such travelling, and she ceased not
to weep over her misfortunes. So the Badawi came up to her and said, "O thou
city filth, by the right of my bonnet, if thou leave not this weeping, I will
sell thee to none but a Jew!" Then he arose and took her by the hand and
carried her to a chamber, and walked off to the bazar, and he went round to,
the merchants who dealt in slave-girls, and began to parley with them, saying,
"I have brought a slave girl whose brother fell ill, and I sent him to my
people about Jerusalem, that they might tend him till he is cured. As for her
I want to sell her, but after the dog her brother fell sick, the separation
from him was grievous to her, and since then she doth nothing but weep, and now
I wish that whoso is minded to buy her of me speak softly to her and say, 'Thy
brother is with me in Jerusalem ill'; and I will be easy with him about her
price." Then one of the merchants came up to him and asked, "How old is she?"
He answered "She is a virgin, just come to marriageable age, and she is endowed
with sense and breeding and wit and beauty and loveliness. But from the day I
sent her brother to Jerusalem, her heart hath been yearning for him, so that
her beauty is fallen away and her value lessened." Now when the merchant heard
this, he set forth with the Badawi and said, "O Shaykh[FN#245] of the Arabs, I
will go with thee and buy of thee this girl whom thou praisest so highly for
wit and manners and beauty and loveliness; and I will pay thee her price but it
must be upon conditions which if thou accept, I will give thee ready money, and
if thou accept not I will return her to thee." Quoth the Badawi, "An thou wilt,
take her up to the Sultan Sharrkan, son of Omar bin al-Nu'uman lord of Baghdad
and of the land of Khorasan, and condition me any conditions thou likest, for
when thou hast brought her before King Sharrkan, haply she will please him, and
he will pay thee her price and a good profit for thyself to boot." Rejoined the
merchant, "It happens that I have just now something to ask from him, and it is
this that he write me an order upon the office, exempting me from custom dues
and also that he write me a letter of recommendation to his father, King Omar
bin al-Nu'uman. So if he take the girl, I will weigh[FN#246] thee out her
price at once." "I agree with thee to this condition," answered the Badawi. So
they returned together to the place where Nuzhat al-Zaman was and the wild Arab
stood at the chamber door and called out, saying, "O Nájiyah[FN#247]!" which
was the name wherewith he had named her. When she heard him, she wept and made
no answer. Then he turned to the merchant and said to him, "There she sitteth;
go to her and look at her and speak to her kindly as I enjoined thee." So the
trader went up to her in courteous wise and saw that she was wondrous beautiful
and loveable, especially as she knew the Arabic tongue; and he said to the
Badawi, "If she be even as thou saddest, I shall get of the Sultan what I will
for her." Then he bespake her, "Peace be on thee, my little maid! How art
thou?" She turned to him and replied, "This also was registered in the Book of
Destiny." Then she looked at him and, seeing him to be a man of respectable
semblance with a handsome face, she said to herself, "I believe this one cometh
to buy me;" and she continued, "If I hold aloof from him, I shall abide with my
tyrant and he will do me to death with beating. In any case, this person is
handsome of face and maketh me hope for better treatment from him than from my
brute of a Badawi. May be he cometh only to hear me talk; so I will give him a
fair answer." All this while her eyes were fixed on the ground; then she raised
them to him and said in a sweet voice, "And upon thee be peace, O my lord, and
Allah's mercy and His benediction![FN#248] This is what is commanded of the
Prophet, whom Allah bless and preserve! As for thine enquiry how I am, if thou
wouldst know my case, it is such as thou wouldst not wish but to thy foe." And
she held her peace. When the merchant heard what she said, his fancy took
wings for delight in her and, turning to the Badawi, he asked him, "What is her
price, for indeed she is noble?" Thereupon the Badawi waxed angry and answered,
"Thou wilt turn me the girl's head with this talk! Why dost thou say that she
is noble,[FN#249] while she is of the scum of slave-girls and of the refuse of
folk? I will not sell her to thee!" When the merchant heard this, he knew the
man to be weak of wits and said to him, "Calm thyself, for I will buy her of
thee with these blemishes thou mentionest." "And how much wilt thou give me for
her?" enquired the Badawi. Replied the merchant, "Name thy price for her: none
should name the son save his sire." Rejoined the Badawi, "None shall name it
but thou thyself." Quoth the merchant to himself, "This wildling is a rudesby
and a maggotty head. By Allah, I cannot tell her price, for she hath won my
heart with her fair speech and good looks; and, if she can read and write, it
will be complete fair luck to her and to her purchaser. But this Badawi does
not know her worth." Then he turned and said to him, "O Shaykh of the Arabs, I
will give thee in ready money, clear of the tax and the Sultan's dues, two
hundred gold pieces." Now when the Badawi heard this, he flew into a violent
rage and cried at the merchant, saying, "Get up and go thy ways! By Allah,
wert thou to offer me two hundred dinars for the bit of camlet she weareth, I
would not sell it to thee. And now I will not sell her, but will keep her by
me, to pasture the camels and grind my grist." And he cried out to her, saying,
"Come here, thou stinkard! I will not sell thee." Then he turned to the
merchant and said to him, "I used to think thee a man of judgment; but, by the
right of my bonnet, if thou begone not from me, I will let thee hear what shall
not please thee!" Quoth the merchant to himself, "Of a truth this Badawi is mad
and knoweth not her value, and I will say no more to him about her price at the
present time; for by Allah, were he a man of sense, he would not say, 'By the
rights of my bonnet!' By the Almighty, she is worth the kingdom of the Chosroës
and I have not her price by me, but if he ask even more, I will give him what
he will, though it be all my goods." Then he turned and said to him, "O Shaykh
of the Arabs, take patience and calm thyself and tell me what clothes she hath
with thee?" Cried the Badawi, "And what hath the baggage to do with clothes?
By Allah, this camlet in which she is wrapped is ample for her." "With thy
leave," said the merchant, "I will unveil her face and examine her even as folk
examine slave-girls whom they think of buying."[FN#250] Replied the other, "Up
and do what thou wilt and Allah keep thy youth! Examine her outside and inside
and, if thou wilt, strip off her clothes and look at her when she is naked."
Quoth the trader, "Allah forfend! I will look at naught save her
face."[FN#251] Then he went up to her and was put to shame by her beauty and
loveliness,—And Shahrazed perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her
permitted say.
When it was the Fifty-seventh Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the merchant went up to
Nuzhat al-Zaman and was put to shame by her beauty and loveliness, so he sat by
her side and asked her, "O my mistress, what is thy name?" She answered, "Doss
thou ask what is my name this day or what it was before this day?" Thereupon
the merchant enquired, "Hast thou then two names: to-day's and yesterday's?"
"Yes," replied she, "my name in the past was Nuzhat al-Zaman, the Delight of
the Age; but my name at this present is Ghussat[FN#252] al-Zaman, the Despight
of the Age." When the merchant heard this his eyes brimmed over with tears and
quoth he to her, "Hast thou not a sick brother?" "Ay by Allah, O my lord, I
have," quoth she, "but fortune hath parted me and him and he lieth sick in
Jerusalem." The merchant's head was confounded at the sweetness of her speech
and he said to himself, "Verily, the Badawi spake the truth of her." Then she
called to mind her brother and his sickness and his strangerhood and her
separation from him in his hour of weakness and her not knowing what had
befallen him; and she thought of all that had happened to her with the Badawi
and of her severance from her mother and father and native land; and the tears
coursed down her cheeks and fast as they started they dropped; and she began
reciting,
"Allah, where'er thou be, His aid impart * To thee, who distant dwellest in my heart!
Allah be near thee how so far thou fare; * Ward off all shifts of Time, all dangers thwart!
Mine eyes are desolate for thy vanisht sight, * And start my tears-ah me, how fast they start!
Would Heaven I kenned what quarter or what land * Homes thee, and in what house and tribe thou art
An fount of life thou drain in greenth of rose, * While drink I tear drops for my sole desert?
An thou 'joy slumber in those hours, when I * Peel 'twixt my side and couch coals' burning smart?
All things were easy save to part from thee, * For my sad heart this grief is hard to dree."
When the merchant heard her verses, he wept and put out his hand to wipe away
the tears from her cheeks; but she let down her veil over her face, saying,
"Heaven forbid, O my lord!''[FN#253] Then the Badawi, who was sitting at a
little distance watching them, saw her cover her face from the merchant while
about to wipe the tears from her cheeks; and he concluded that she would have
hindered him from handling her: so he rose and running to her, dealt her, with
a camel's halter he had in his hand, such a blow on the shoulders that she fell
to the ground on her face. Her eyebrow struck a stone which cut it open, and
the blood streamed down her cheeks; whereupon she screamed a loud scream and
felt faint and wept bitterly. The merchant was moved to tears for her and said
in himself, "There is no help for it but that I buy this damsel, though at her
weight in gold, and free her from this tyrant." And he began to revile the
Badawi whilst Nazhat al- Zaman lay in sensible. When she came to herself, she
wiped away the tears and blood from her face; and she bound up her head: then,
raising her glance to heaven, she besought her Lord with a sorrowful heart and
began repeating,
"And pity one who erst in honour throve, * And now is fallen into sore disgrace.
She weeps and bathes her cheeks with railing tears, * And asks 'What cure can meet this fatal case?'"
When she had ended her verse, she turned to the merchant and said in an
undertone, "By the Almighty, do not leave me with a tyrant who knoweth not
Allah the Most High! If I pass this night in his place, I shall kill myself
with my own hand: save me from him, so Allah save thee from Gehenna-fire." Then
quoth the merchant to the Badawi, "O Shaykh of the Arabs, this slave is none of
thine affair; so do thou sell her to me for what thou wilt." "Take her," quoth
the Badawi, "and pay me down her price, or I will carry her back to the camp
and there set her to feed the camels and gather their dung."[FN#254] Said the
merchant, "I will give thee fifty thousand dinars for her." "Allah will
open!"[FN#255] replied the Badawi. "Seventy thousand," said the merchant.
"Allah will open!" repeated the Badawi: "this is not the capital spent upon
her, for she hath eaten with me barley bread to the value of ninety thousand
gold pieces." The merchant rejoined, "Thou and thine and all thy tribe in the
length of your lives have not eaten a thousand ducats' worth of barley; but I
will say thee one word, wherewith if thou be not satisfied, I will set the
Viceroy of Damascus on thee and he will take her from thee by force." The
Badawi continued, "Say on!" "An hundred thousand," quoth the merchant. "I have
sold her to thee at that price," answered the Badawi; "I shall be able to buy
salt with her." The merchant laughed and, going to his lodgings, brought the
money and put it into the hand of the Badawi, who took it and made off, saying
to himself, "Needs must I go to Jerusalem where, haply, I shall happen on her
brother, and I will bring him here and sell him also." So he mounted and
journeyed till he arrived at Jerusalem, where he went to the Khan and asked for
Zau al-Makan, but could not find him. Such was the case with him; but for what
regards the merchant and Nazhat al-Zaman, when he took her he threw some of his
clothes over her and carried her to his lodgings,—And Shahrazad perceived the
dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
When it was the Fifty-eighth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the trader saved
Nuzhat al-Zaman from the Badawi and bore her to his lodgings and robed her in
the richest raiment, he went down with her to the bazar, where he bought her
what ornaments she chose and put them in a satin bag, which he set before her,
saying, "All is for thee and I ask nothing of thee in return but that, when I
lead thee to the Sultan, Viceroy of Damascus, thou acquaint him with the price
I paid for thee, albeit it was little compared with thy value: and, if seeing
thee he buy thee of me, thou tell him how I have dealt with thee and ask of him
for me a royal patent, and a written recommendation wherewith I can repair to
his father, King Omar bin al-Nu'uman, Lord of Baghdad, to the intent that he
may forbid the tax on my stuffs or any other goods in which I traffic." When
she heard his words, she wept and sobbed, and the merchant said to her, "O my
lady, I observe that, every time I mention Baghdad, thine eyes are tearful: is
there any one there whom thou lovest? If it be a trader or the like, tell me;
for I know all the merchants and so forth there and, if thou wouldst send him a
message, I will bear it for thee." Replied she, "By Allah, I have no
acquaintance among merchant folk and the like! I know none there but King Omar
bin Nu'uman, Lord of Baghdad." When the merchant heard her words, he laughed
and rejoiced with exceeding joy and said in himself, "By Allah, I have won my
wish!" Then he said to her, "Hast thou been shown to him in time past?" She
answered, "No, but I was brought up with his daughter and he holdeth me dear
and I have high honour with him; so if thou wouldst have the King grant thee
thy desire, give me ink case and paper and I will write thee a letter; and when
thou reachest the city of Baghdad, do thou deliver it into the hand of King
Omar bin al-Nu'uman and say to him, 'Thy handmaid, Nuzhat al-Zaman, would have
thee to know that the chances and changes of the nights and days have struck
her as with a hammer, and have smitten her so that she hath been sold from
place to place, and she sendeth thee her salams.' And, if he ask further of
her, say that I am now with the Viceroy at Damascus." The merchant wondered at
her eloquence, and his affection for her increased and he said to her I cannot
but think that men have played upon thine understanding and sold thee for
money. Tell me, dost thou know the Koran by heart?" "Yes," answered she; "and
I am also acquainted with philosophy and medicine and the prolegomena of
science and the commentaries of Galen, the physician, on the canons of
Hippocrates; and I have commented him and I have read the Tazkirah and have
commented the Burhán; and I have studied the Simples of Ibn Baytár, and I have
something to say of the canon of Meccah, by Avicenna. I can ree riddles and
can solve ambiguities, and discourse upon geometry and am skilled in anatomy I
have read the books of the Sháfi'í[FN#256] school and the Traditions of the
Prophet and syntax; and I can argue with the Olema and discourse of all manner
learning. Moreover I am skilled in logic and rhetoric and arithmetic and the
making of talismans and almanacs, and I know thoroughly the Spiritual
Sciences[FN#257] and the times appointed for religious duties and I understand
all these branches of knowledge." Then quoth she to the merchant, "Bring me
ink case and paper, that I write thee a letter which shall aid thee on thy
journey to Baghdad and enable thee to do without passports." Now when the
merchant heard this, he cried out "Brava! Brava![FN#258] Then O happy he in
whose palace thou shalt! Thereupon he brought her paper and ink case and a pen
of brass and bussed the earth before her face to do her honour. She took a
sheet and handled the reed and wrote therewith these verses,
"I see all power of sleep from eyes of me hath flown; * Say, did thy parting teach these eyne on wake to wone?
What makes thy memory light such burnings in my heart? * Hath every lover strength such memories to own?
How sweet the big dropped cloud which rained on summer day; * 'Tis gone and ere I taste its sweets afar 'tis flown:
I pray the wind with windy breath to bring some news * From thee, to lover wightwi' love so woe begone
Complains to thee a lover of all hope forlorn, * For parting pangs can break not only heart but stone."
And when she had ended writing the verses she continued, "These words are from
her who saith that melancholy destroyeth her and that watching wasteth her; in
the murk of whose night is found no light and darkness and day are the same in
her sight. She tosseth on the couch of separation and her eyes are blackened
with the pencils of sleeplessness; she watcheth the stars arise and into the
gloom she strains her eyes: verily, sadness and leanness have consumed her
strength and the setting forth of her case would run to length. No helper hath
she but tears and she reciteth these verses,
'No ring dove moans from home on branch in morning light, * But shakes my very frame with sorrow's killing might:
No lover sigheth for his love or gladdeth heart * To meet his mate, but breeds in me redoubled blight
I bear my plaint to one who has no ruth for me, * Ah me, how Love can part man's mortal frame and sprite!' "
Then her eyes welled over with tears, and she wrote also these two couplets,
"Love smote my frame so sore on parting day, * That severance severed sleep and eyes for aye.
I waxt so lean that I am still a man, * But for my speaking, thou wouldst never say."