charged the King’s son, saying, “I will let thee know two days
beforehand of the King’s daughter going down to the garden: do thou hide
thee in some place or other; and, when thou espiest her, come forth and
show thyself to her. When she seeth thee, she will fall in love with
thee; for thou art fair to look upon and love covereth all things. So
keep thine eyes cool and clear[278] and be of good cheer, O my son, for
needs must I bring about union between thee and her.” The young Prince
kissed her hand and thanked her and gave her three pieces of Alexandrian
silk and three of satin of various colours, and with each piece, linen
for shifts and stuff for trousers and a kerchief for the turband and
fine white cotton cloth of Ba’albak for the linings, so as to make her
six complete suits, each handsomer than its sister. Moreover, he gave
her a purse containing six hundred gold pieces and said to her, “This is
for the tailoring.” She took the whole and said to him, “O my son, art
thou not pleased to acquaint me with thine abiding-place and I also will
show thee the way to my lodging?” “Yes,” answered he and sent a Mameluke
with her to note her home and show her his own house. Then he rose and
bidding his slaves shut the shop, went back to the Wazir, to whom he
related all that had passed between him and the old woman, from first to
last. Quoth the Minister, “O my son, should the Princess Hayat al-Nufus
come out and look upon thee and thou find no favour with her what wilt
thou do?” Quoth Ardashir, “There will be nothing left but to pass from
words to deeds and risk my life with her; for I will snatch her up from
amongst her attendants and set her behind me on a swift horse and make
for the wildest of the wold. If I escape, I shall have won my wish and
if I perish, I shall be at rest from this hateful life.” Rejoined the
Minister, “O my son, dost thou think to do this thing and live? How
shall we make our escape, seeing that our country is far distant, and
how wilt thou deal thus with a King of the Kings of the Age, who hath
under his hand an hundred thousand horse, nor can we be sure but that he
will despatch some of his troops to cut off our way? Verily, there is no
good in this project which no wise man would attempt.” Asked Ardashir,
“And how then shall we do, O Wazir of good counsel? For unless I win her
I am a dead man without a chance.” The Minister answered, “Wait till
to-morrow when we will visit this garden and note its condition and see
what betideth us with the care-taker.” So when the morning morrowed they
took a thousand dinars in a poke and, repairing to the garden, found it
compassed about with high walls and strong, rich in trees and rill-full
leas and goodly fruiteries. And indeed its flowers breathed perfume and
its birds warbled amid the bloom as it were a garden of the gardens of
Paradise. Within the door sat a Shaykh, an old man on a stone bench and
they saluted him. When he saw them and noted the fairness of their
favour, he rose to his feet after returning their salute, and said, “O
my lords, perchance ye have a wish which we may have the honour of
satisfying?” Replied the Wazir, “Know, O elder, that we are strangers
and the heat hath overcome us: our lodging is afar off at the other end
of the city; so we desire of thy courtesy that thou take these two
dinars and buy us somewhat of provaunt and open us meanwhile the door of
this flower garden and seat us in some shaded place, where there is cold
water, that we may cool ourselves there, against thou return with the
provision, when we will eat, and thou with us, and then, rested and
refreshed, we shall wend our ways.” So saying, he pulled out of his
pouch a couple of dinars and put them into the keeper’s hand. Now this
care-taker was a man aged threescore and ten, who had never in all his
life possessed so much money: So, when he saw the two dinars in his
hand, he was like to fly for joy and rising forthwith opened the garden
gate to the Prince and the Wazir, and made them enter and sit down under
a wide-spreading, fruit-laden, shade-affording tree, saying, “Sit ye
here and go no further into the garden, for it hath a privy door
communicating with the palace of the Princess Hayat al-Nufus.” They
replied, “We will not stir hence.” Whereupon he went out to buy what
they had ordered and returned after awhile, with a porter bearing on his
head a roasted lamb and bread. They ate and drank together and talked
awhile, till, presently, the Wazir, looking about him in all corners
right and left, caught sight of a lofty pavilion at the farther end of
the garden; but it was old and the plaster was peeled from its walls and
its buttresses were broken down. So he said to the Gardener, “O Shaykh,
is this garden thine own or dost thou hire it?”; and he replied, “I am
neither owner nor tenant of the garden, only its care-taker.” Asked the
Minister, “And what is thy wage?” whereto the old man answered, “A dinar
a month,” and quoth the Wazir, “Verily they wrong thee, especially an
thou have a family.” Quoth the elder, “By Allah, O my lord; I have eight
children and I”—The Wazir broke in, “There is no Majesty and there is no
Might save in Allah, the Glorious, the Great! Thou makest me bear thy
grief my poor fellow! What wouldst thou say of him who should do thee a
good turn, on account of this family of thine?” Replied the old man, “O
my lord, whatsoever good thou dost shall be garnered up for thee with
God the Most High!” Thereupon said the Wazir, “O Shaykh, thou knowest
this garden of thine to be a goodly place; but the pavilion yonder is
old and ruinous. Now I mean to repair it and stucco it anew and paint it
handsomely, so that it will be the finest thing in the garth; and when
the owner comes and finds the pavilion restored and beautified, he will
not fail to question thee concerning it. Then do thou say:—O my lord, at
great expense I set it in repair, for that I saw it in ruins and none
could make use of it nor could anyone sit therein. If he says:—Whence
hadst thou the money for this? reply, I spent of my own money upon the
stucco, thereby thinking to whiten my face with thee and hoping for thy
bounties. And needs must he recompense thee fairly over the extent of
thine expenses. To-morrow I will bring builders and plasterers and
painters to repair this pavilion and will give thee what I promised
thee.” Then he pulled out of his poke a purse of five hundred dinars and
gave it to the Gardener, saying, “Take these gold pieces and expend them
upon thy family and let them pray for me and for this my son.” Thereupon
the Prince asked the Wazir, “What is the meaning of all this?” and he
answered, “Thou shalt presently see the issue thereof.”——And Shahrazad
perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
Now when it was the Seven Hundred and Twenty-sixth Night,
She resumed, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the Wazir
gave five hundred ducats to the old Gardener, saying, “Take these gold
pieces and expend them upon thy family and let them pray for this my
son,” the old man looked at the gold and his wits fled; so he fell down
at the Wazir’s feet, kissing them and invoking blessings on him and his
son; and when they went away, he said to them, “I shall expect you
to-morrow: for by Allah Almighty, there must be no parting between us,
night or day.” Next morning the Wazir went to the Prince’s shop and sent
for the syndic of the builders; then he carried him and his men to the
garth, where the Gardener rejoiced in their sight. He gave them the
price of rations[279] and what was needful to the workmen for the
restoration of the pavilion, and they repaired it and stucco’d it and
decorated it. Then said the Minister to the painters, “Harkye, my
masters, listen to my words and apprehend my wish and my aim. Know that
I have a garden like this, where I was sleeping one night among the
nights and saw in a dream a fowler set up nets and sprinkle corn
thereabout. The birds flocked to pick up the grain, and a cock-bird fell
into the net, whereupon the others took fright and flew away, and
amongst the rest his mate: but, after awhile, she returned alone and
picked at the mesh that held his feet, till she set him free and they
flew away together. Now the fowler had fallen asleep and, when he awoke,
he found the net empty; so he mended it and strewing fresh grain sat
down afar off, waiting for game to fall into that snare. Presently the
birds assembled again to pick up the grains, and amongst the rest the
two pigeons. By-and-by, the hen-bird fell into the net, when all the
other birds took fright at her and flew away, and her husband flew with
them and did not return; whereupon the fowler came up and taking the
quarry, cut her throat. Now, when her mate flew away with the others, a
bird of raven seized him and slew him and ate his flesh and drank his
blood, and I would have you pourtray me the presentment of this my
dream, even as I have related it to you, in the liveliest colours,
laying the fair scene in this rare garden, with its walls and trees and
rills, and dwell especially on the fowler and the falcon. If ye do this
I have set forth to you and the work please me, I will give you what
shall gladden your hearts, over and above your wage.” The painters,
hearing these words, applied themselves with all diligence to do what he
required of them and wrought it out in masterly style; and when they had
made an end of the work, they showed it to the Wazir who, seeing his
so-called dream set forth as it was[280] was pleased and thanked them
and rewarded them munificently. Presently, the Prince came in, according
to his custom, and entered the pavilion, unweeting what the Wazir had
done. So when he saw the portraiture of the fowler and the birds and the
net and beheld the male pigeon in the clutches of the hawk, which had
slain him and was drinking his blood and eating his flesh, his
understanding was confounded and he returned to the Minister and said,
“O Wazir of good counsel, I have seen this day a marvel which, were it
graven with needle-gravers on the eye-corners would be a warner to whoso
will be warned?” Asked the Minister, “And what is that, O my lord?”; and
the Prince answered, “Did I not tell thee of the dream the Princess had
and how it was the cause of her hatred for men?” “Yes,” replied the
Wazir; and Ardashir rejoined, “By Allah, O Minister, I have seen the
whole dream pourtrayed in painting, as I had eyed it with mine own eyes;
but I found therein a circumstance which was hidden from the Princess,
so that she saw it not, and ’tis upon this that I rely for the winning
of my wish.” Quoth the Wazir, “And what is that, O my son?”; and quoth
the Prince, “I saw that, when the male bird flew away; and, leaving his
mate entangled in the net, failed to return and save her, a falcon
pounced on him and slaying him, ate his flesh and drank his blood. Would
to Heaven the Princess had seen the whole of the dream and had beheld
the cause of his failure to return and rescue her!” Replied the Wazir,
“By Allah, O auspicious King, this is indeed a rare thing and a
wonderful!” And the King’s son ceased not to marvel at the picture and
lament that the King’s daughter had not beheld the dream to its end,
saying in himself, “Would she had seen it to the last or might see the
whole over again, though but in the imbroglio of sleep!” Then quoth the
Wazir to him, “Thou saidst to me:—Why wilt thou repair the pavilion?;
and I replied:—Thou shalt presently see the issue thereof. And behold,
now its issue thou seest; for it was I did this deed and bade the
painters pourtray the Princess’s dream thus and paint the male bird in
the pounces of the falcon which eateth his flesh and drinketh his blood;
so that when she cometh to the pavilion, she will behold her dream
depicted and see how the cock-pigeon was slain and excuse him and turn
from her hate for men.” When the Prince heard the Wazir’s words, he
kissed his hands and thanked him, saying, “Verily, the like of thee is
fit to be Minister to the most mighty King, and, by Allah, an I win my
wish and return to my sire, rejoicing, I will assuredly acquaint him
with this, that he may redouble in honouring thee and advance thee in
dignity and hearken to thine every word.” So the Wazir kissed his hand
and they both went to the old Gardener and said, “Look at yonder
pavilion and see how fine it is!” And he replied, “This is all of your
happy thought.” Then said they, “O elder, when the owners of the place
question thee concerning the restoration of the pavilion, say
thou:—’Twas I did it of my own monies; to the intent that there may
betide thee fair favour and good fortune.” He said, “I hear and I obey”;
and the Prince continued to pay him frequent visits. Such was the case
with the Prince and the Wazir; but as regards Hayat al-Nufus, when she
ceased to receive the Prince’s letters and messages and when the old
woman was absent from her, she rejoiced with joy exceeding and concluded
that the young man had returned to his own country. One day, there came
to her a covered tray from her father; so she uncovered it and finding
therein fine fruits, asked her waiting-women, “Is the season of these
fruits come?” Answered they, “Yes.” Thereupon she cried, “Would we might
make ready to take our pleasure in the flower-garden!”——And Shahrazad
perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
Now when it was the Seven Hundred and Twenty-seventh Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the Princess,
after receiving the fruit from her sire, asked, “Is the season of these
fruits set in?”; and they answered, “Yes!” Thereupon she cried, “Would
we might make ready to take our pleasure in the flower-garden!” “O my
lady,” they replied, “thou sayest well, and by Allah, we also long for
the garden!” So she enquired, “How shall we do, seeing that every year
it is none save my nurse who taketh us to walk in the garden and who
pointeth out to us the various trees and plants; and I have beaten her
and forbidden her from me? Indeed, I repent me of what was done by me to
her, for that, in any case, she is my nurse and hath over me the right
of fosterage. But there is no Majesty and there is no Might save in
Allah, the Glorious, the Great!” When her handmaids heard this, they all
sprang up; and, kissing the ground between her hands, exclaimed, “Allah
upon thee, O my lady, do thou pardon her and bid her to the presence!”;
and quoth she, “By Allah, I am resolved upon this; but which of you will
go to her, for I have prepared her a splendid robe of honour?” Hereupon
two damsels came forward, by name Bulbul and Siwád al-’Ayn, who were
comely and graceful and the principals among the Princess’s women, and
her favourites. And they said, “We will go to her, O King’s daughter!”;
and she said, “Do what seemeth good to you.” So they went to the house
of the nurse and knocked at the door and entered; and she, recognising
the twain, received them with open arms and welcomed them. When they had
sat awhile with her, they said to her, “O nurse, the Princess pardoneth
thee and desireth to take thee back into favour.” She replied, “This may
never be, though I drink the cup of ruin! Hast thou forgotten how she
put me to shame before those who love me and those who hate me, when my
clothes were dyed with my blood and I well nigh died for stress of
beating, and after this they dragged me forth by the feet, like a dead
dog, and cast me without the door? So by Allah, I will never return to
her nor fill my eyes with her sight!” Quoth the two girls, “Disappoint
not our pains in coming to thee nor send us away unsuccessful. Where is
thy courtesy uswards? Think but who it is that cometh in to visit thee:
canst thou wish for any higher of standing than we with the King’s
daughter?” She replied, “I take refuge with Allah: well I wot that my
station is less than yours; were it not that the Princess’s favour
exalted me above all her women, so that, were I wroth with the greatest
of them, she had died in her skin of fright.” They rejoined, “All is as
it was and naught is in anywise changed. Indeed, ’tis better than
before, for the Princess humbleth herself to thee and seeketh a
reconciliation without intermediary.” Said the old woman, “By Allah,
were it not for your presence and intercession with me, I had never
returned to her; no, not though she had commanded to slay me!” They
thanked her for this and she rose and dressing herself accompanied them
to the palace. Now when the King’s daughter saw her, she sprang to her
feet in honour, and the old woman said, “Allah! Allah! O King’s
daughter, say me, whose was the fault, mine or thine?” Hayat al-Nufus
replied, “The fault was mine, and ’tis thine to pardon and forgive. By
Allah, O my nurse, thy rank is high with me and thou hast over me the
right of fosterage; but thou knowest that Allah (extolled and exalted be
He!) hath allotted to His creatures four things, disposition, life,
daily bread and death; nor is it in man’s power to avert that which is
decreed. Verily, I was beside myself and could not recover my senses;
but, O my nurse, I repent of what deed I did.” With this, the crone’s
anger ceased from her and she rose and kissed the ground before the
Princess, who called for a costly robe of honour and threw it over her,
whereat she rejoiced with exceeding joy in the presence of the
Princess’s slaves and women. When all ended thus happily, Hayat al-Nufus
said to the old woman, “O my nurse, how go the fruits and growths of our
garth?”; and she replied, “O my lady, I see excellent fruits in the
town; but I will enquire of this matter and return thee an answer this
very day.” Then she withdrew, honoured with all honour and betook
herself to Ardashir, who received her with open arms and embraced her
and rejoiced in her coming, for that he had expected her long and
longingly. She told him all that had passed between herself and the
Princess and how her mistress was minded to go down into the garden on
such a day.——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say
her permitted say.
Now when it was the Seven Hundred and Twenty-eighth Night,
She continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the old woman
betook herself to the Prince and told him all that had passed between
herself and the Princess Hayat al-Nufus; and how her mistress was minded
to go down into the garden on such a day and said to him, “Hast thou
done as I bade thee with the Warder of the garden and hast thou made him
taste of thy bounties?” He replied, “Yes, and the oldster is become my
good friend: my way is his way and he would well I had need of him.”
Then he told her all that had happened and of the dream-paintings which
the Wazir had caused to be limned in the pavilion; especially of the
fowler, the net and the falcon: whereat she joyed with great joy and
said, “Allah upon thee, do thou set thy Minister midmost thy heart, for
this that he hath done pointeth to the keenness of his wit and he hath
helped thee to the winning thy wish. So rise forthright, O my son, and
go to the Hammam-bath and don thy daintiest dress, wherein may be our
success. Then fare thou to the Gardener and make shift to pass the night
in the garden, for though he should give the earth full of gold none may
win to pass into it, whilst the King’s daughter is therein. When thou
hast entered, hide thee where no eye may espy thee and keep concealed
till thou hear me cry:—O Thou whose boons are hidden, save us from that
we fear! Then come forth from thine ambush and walk among the trees and
show thy beauty and loveliness which put the moons to shame, to the
intent that Princess Hayat al-Nufus may see thee and that her heart and
soul may be filled with love of thee; so shalt thou attain to thy wish
and thy grief be gone.” “To hear is to obey,” replied the young Prince
and gave her a purse of a thousand dinars, which she took and went away.
Thereupon Ardashir fared straight for the bath and washed; after which
he arrayed himself in the richest of robes of the apparel of the Kings
of the Chosroës and girt his middle with a girdle wherein were conjoined
all manner precious stones and donned a turband inwoven with red gold
and purfled with pearls and gems. His cheeks shone rosy-red and his lips
were scarlet; his eyelids like the gazelle’s wantoned; like a
wine-struck wight in his gait he swayed; beauty and loveliness garbed
him, and his shape shamed the bowing of the bough. Then he put in his
pocket a purse containing a thousand dinars and, repairing to the
flower-garden, knocked at the door. The Gardener opened to him and
rejoicing with great joy salamed to him in most worshipful fashion;
then, observing that his face was overcast, he asked him how he did. The
King’s son answered, “Know, O elder, that I am dear to my father and he
never laid his hand on me till this day, when words arose between us and
he abused me and smote me on the face and struck me with his staff and
drave me away. Now I have no friend to turn to and I fear the perfidy of
Fortune, for thou knowest that the wrath of parents is no light thing.
Wherefore I come to thee, O uncle, seeing that to my father thou art
known, and I desire of thy favour that thou suffer me abide in the
garden till the end of the day, or pass the night there, till Allah
grant good understanding between myself and my sire.” When the old man
heard these words he was concerned anent what had occurred and said, “O
my lord, dost thou give me leave to go to thy sire and be the means of
reconciliation between thee and him?” Replied Ardashir, “O uncle, thou
must know that my father is of impatient nature, and irascible; so an
thou proffer him reconciliation in his heat of temper he will make thee
no answer; but when a day or two shall have passed, his heat will
soften. Then go thou in to him and thereupon he will relent.”
“Hearkening and obedience,” quoth the Gardener; “but, O my lord, do thou
come with me to my house, where thou shalt night with my children and my
family and none shall reproach this to us.” Quoth Ardashir, “O uncle, I
must be alone when I am angry.”[281] The old man said, “It irketh me
that thou shouldst lie solitary in the garden, when I have a house.” But
Ardashir said, “O uncle, I have an aim in this, that the trouble of my
mind may be dispelled from me and I know that in this lies the means of
regaining his favour and softening his heart to me.” Rejoined the
Gardener, “I will fetch thee a carpet to sleep on and a coverlet
wherewith to cover thee;” and the Prince said, “There is no harm in
that, O uncle.” So the keeper rose and opened the garden to him, and
brought him the carpet and coverlet, knowing not that the King’s
daughter was minded to visit the garth. On this wise fared it with the
Prince; but as regards the nurse, she returned to the Princess and told
her that the fruits were kindly ripe on the garden trees; whereupon she
said, “O my nurse, go down with me to-morrow into the garden, that we
may walk about in it and take our pleasure,—Inshallah; and send
meanwhile to the Gardener, to let him know what we purpose.” So she sent
to the Gardener to say:—The Princess will visit the parterre to-morrow,
so leave neither water-carriers nor tree-tenders therein, nor let one of
Allah’s creatures enter the garth. When word came to him, he set his
water-ways and channels in order and, going to Ardashir, said to him, “O
my lord, the King’s daughter is mistress of this garden; and I have only
to crave thy pardon, for the place is thy place and I live only in thy
favours, except that my tongue is under thy feet.[282] I must tell thee
that the Princess Hayat al-Nufus hath a mind to visit it to-morrow at
the first of the day and hath bidden me leave none therein who might
look upon her. So I would have thee of thy favour go forth of the garden
this day, for the Queen will abide only in it till the time of
mid-afternoon prayer and after it shall be at thy service for se’nnights
and fortnights, months and years.” Ardashir asked, “O elder, haply we
have caused thee some mishap?”; and the other answered, “By Allah, O my
lord, naught hath betided me from thee but honour!” Rejoined the Prince,
“An it be so, nothing but all good shall befal thee through us; for I
will hide in the garden and none shall espy me, till the King’s daughter
hath gone back to her palace.” Said the Gardener, “O my lord, an she
espy the shadow of a man in the garden or any of Allah’s male creatures
she will strike off my head;”——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day
and ceased saying her permitted say.
Now when it was the Seven Hundred and Twenty-ninth Night,