foresaw all that you have said, or can say: and tell you again,
that neither your discourse nor your remonstrances shall make me
change my mind. I have told you that you must ask the princess in
marriage for me: it is a favour I desire of you, and I beg of you
not to refuse, unless you would rather see me in my grave, than
by your compliance give me new life."
The good old woman was much embarrassed, when she found Alla ad
Deen obstinately persisting in so wild a design. "My son," said
she again, "I am your mother, who brought you into the world, and
there is nothing that is reasonable but I would readily do for
you. If I were to go and treat about your marriage with some
neighbour's daughter, whose circumstances were equal with yours,
I would do it with all my heart; and even then they would expect
you should have some little estate or fortune, or be of some
trade. When such poor folks as we are wish to marry, the first
thing they ought to think of, is how to live. But without
reflecting on the meanness of your birth, and the little merit
and fortune you have to recommend you, you aim at the highest
pitch of exaltation; and your pretensions are no less than to
demand in marriage the daughter of your sovereign, who with one
single word can crush you to pieces. I say nothing of what
respects yourself. I leave you to reflect on what you have to do,
if you have ever so little thought. I come now to consider what
concerns myself. How could so extraordinary a thought come into
your head, as that I should go to the sultan and make a proposal
to him to give his daughter in marriage to you? Suppose I had,
not to say the boldness, but the impudence to present myself
before the sultan, and make so extravagant a request, to whom
should I address myself to be introduced to his majesty? Do you
not think the first person I should speak to would take me for a
mad woman, and chastise me as I should deserve? Suppose, however,
that there is no difficulty in presenting myself for an audience
of the sultan, and I know there is none to those who go to
petition for justice, which he distributes equally among his
subjects; I know too that to those who ask a favour he grants it
with pleasure when he sees it is deserved, and the persons are
worthy of it. But is that your case? Do you think you have
merited the honour you would have me ask for you? Are you worthy
of it? What have you done to claim such a favour, either for your
prince or country? How have you distinguished yourself? If you
have done nothing to merit so high a distinction, nor are worthy
of it, with what face shall I ask it? How can I open my mouth to
make the proposal to the sultan? His majestic presence and the
lustre of his court would absolutely confound me, who used even
to tremble before my dear husband your father, when I asked him
for any thing. There is another reason, my son, which you do not
think of, which is that nobody ever goes to ask a favour of the
sultan without a present. But what presents have you to make? And
if you had any that were worthy of the least attention of so
great a monarch, what proportion could they bear to the favour
you would ask? Therefore, reflect well on what you are about, and
consider, that you aspire to an object which it is impossible for
you to obtain."
Alla ad Deen heard very calmly all that his mother could say to
dissuade him from his design, and after he had weighed her
representations in all points, replied: "I own, mother, it is
great rashness in me to presume to carry my pretensions so far;
and a great want of consideration to ask you with so much heat
and precipitancy to go and make the proposal to the sultan,
without first taking proper measures to procure a favourable
reception, and therefore beg your pardon. But be not surprised
that through the violence of my passion I did not at first see
every measure necessary to procure me the happiness I seek. I
love the princess, or rather I adore her, and shall always
persevere in my design of marrying her. I am obliged to you for
the hint you have given me, and look upon it as the first step I
ought to take to procure the happy issue I promise myself.
"You say it is not customary to go to the sultan without a
present, and that I have nothing worthy of his acceptance. As to
the necessity of a present, I agree with you, and own that I
never thought of it; but as to what you say that I have nothing
fit to offer, do not you think, mother, that what I brought home
with me the day on which I was delivered from an inevitable
death, may be an acceptable present? I mean what you and I both
took for coloured glass: but now I am undeceived, and can tell
you that they are jewels of inestimable value, and fit for the
greatest monarchs. I know the worth of them by frequenting the
shops; and you may take my word that all the precious stones
which I saw in the most capital jewellers' possessions were not
to be compared to those we have, either for size or beauty, and
yet they value theirs at an excessive price. In short, neither
you nor I know the value of ours; but be it as it may, by the
little experience I have, I am persuaded that they will be
received very favourably by the sultan: you have a large
porcelain dish fit to hold them; fetch it, and let us see how
they will look, when we have arranged them according to their
different colours."
Alla ad Deen's mother brought the china dish, when he took the
jewels out of the two purses in which he had kept them, and
placed them in order according to his fancy. But the brightness
and lustre they emitted in the day-time, and the variety of the
colours, so dazzled the eyes both of mother and son, that they
were astonished beyond measure; for they had only seen them by
the light of a lamp; and though the latter had beheld them
pendant on the trees like fruit beautiful to the eye, yet as he
was then but a boy, he looked on them only as glittering
playthings.
After they had admired the beauty of the jewels some time, Alla
ad Deen said to his mother, "Now you cannot excuse yourself from
going to the sultan, under pretext of not having a present to
make him, since here is one which will gain you a favourable
reception."
Though the good widow, notwithstanding the beauty and lustre of
the precious stones, did not believe them so valuable as her son
estimated them, she thought such a present might nevertheless be
agreeable to the sultan, but still she hesitated at the request.
"My son," said she, "I cannot conceive that your present will
have its desired effect, or that the sultan will look upon me
with a favourable eye; I am sure, that if I attempt to deliver
your strange message, I shall have no power to open my mouth;
therefore I shall not only lose my labour, but the present, which
you say is so invaluable, and shall return home again in
confusion, to tell you that your hopes are frustrated. I have
represented the consequence, and you ought to believe me; but,"
added she, "I will exert my best endeavour to please you, and
wish I may have power to ask the sultan as you would have me; but
certainly he will either laugh at me, send me back like a fool,
or be in so great a rage, as to make us both the victims of his
fury."
She used many other arguments to endeavour to make him change his
mind; but the charms of the princess had made too great an
impression on his heart for him to be dissuaded from his design.
He persisted in importuning his mother to execute his resolution,
and she, as much out of tenderness as for fear he should be
guilty of greater extravagance, complied with his request.
As it was now late, and the time for admission to the palace was
passed, it was put off till the next day. The mother and son
talked of different matters the remaining part of the day; and
Alla ad Deen strove to encourage her in the task she had
undertaken; while she, notwithstanding all his arguments, could
not persuade herself she should succeed; and it must be confessed
she had reason enough to doubt. "Child," said she to Alla ad
Deen, "if the sultan should receive me as favourably as I wish
for your sake, should even hear my proposal with calmness, and
after this scarcely-to-be-expected reception should think of
asking me where lie your riches and your estate (for he will
sooner inquire after these than your person), if, I say, he
should ask me these questions, what answer would you have me
return him?"
"Let us not be uneasy, mother," replied Alla ad Deen, "about what
may never happen. First, let us see how the sultan receives, and
what answer he gives you. If it should so fall out, that he
desires to be informed of what you mention, I have thought of an
answer, and am confident that the lamp which hath supported us so
long will not fail me in time of need."
The tailor's widow could not say any thing against what her son
then proposed; but reflected that the lamp might be capable of
doing greater wonders than just providing victuals for them. This
consideration satisfied her, and at the same time removed all the
difficulties which might have prevented her from undertaking the
service she had promised her son with the sultan. Alla ad Deen,
who penetrated into his mother's thoughts, said to her, "Above
all things, mother, be sure to keep secret our possession of the
lamp, for thereon depends the success we have to expect;" and
after this caution, Alla ad Deen and his mother parted to go to
rest. But violent love, and the great prospect of so immense a
fortune, had so much possessed the son's thoughts, that he could
not repose himself so well as he could have wished. He rose
before day-break, awakened his mother, pressing her to get
herself dressed to go to the sultan's palace, and to get
admittance, if possible, before the grand vizier, the other
viziers, and the great officers of state went in to take their
seats in the divan, where the sultan always assisted in person.
Alla ad Deen's mother took the china dish, in which they had put
the jewels the day before, wrapped in two napkins, one finer than
the other, which was tied at the four corners for more easy
carriage, and set forward for the sultan's palace. When she came
to the gates, the grand vizier, the other viziers and most
distinguished lords of the court, were just gone in; but,
notwithstanding the crowd of people who had business was great,
she got into the divan, a spacious hall, the entrance into which
was very magnificent. She placed herself just before the sultan,
grand vizier, and the great lords, who sat in council, on his
right and left hand. Several causes were called, according to
their order, pleaded and adjudged, until the time the divan
generally broke up, when the sultan rising, returned to his
apartment, attended by the grand vizier; the other viziers and
ministers of state then retired, as also did those whose business
had called them thither; some pleased with gaining their causes,
others dissatisfied at the sentences pronounced against them, and
some in expectation of theirs being heard the next sitting.
Alla ad Deen's mother, seeing the sultan retire, and all the
people depart, judged rightly that he would not sit again that
day, and resolved to go home. When Alla ad Deen saw her return
with the present designed for the sultan, he knew not what to
think of her success, and in his fear lest she should bring him
some ill news, had not courage to ask her any questions; but she,
who had never set foot in the sultan's palace before, and knew
not what was every day practised there, freed him from his
embarrassment, and said to him, with a great deal of simplicity,
"Son, I have seen the sultan, and am very well persuaded he has
seen me too; for I placed myself just before him; but he was so
much taken up with those who attended on all sides of him, that I
pitied him, and wondered at his patience. At last I believe he
was heartily tired, for he rose up suddenly, and would not hear a
great many who were ready prepared to speak to him, but went
away, at which I was well pleased, for indeed I began to lose all
patience, and was extremely fatigued with staying so long. But
there is no harm done; I will go again to-morrow; perhaps the
sultan may not be so busy."
Though his passion was very violent, Alla ad Deen was forced to
be satisfied with this delay, and to fortify himself with
patience. He had at least the satisfaction to find that his
mother had got over the greatest difficulty, which was to procure
access to the sultan, and hoped that the example of those she saw
speak to him would embolden her to acquit herself better of her
commission when a favourable opportunity might offer to speak to
him.
The next morning she repaired to the sultan's palace with the
present, as early as the day before, but when she came there, she
found the gates of the divan shut, and understood that the
council sat but every other day, therefore she must come again
the next. This news she carried to her son, whose only relief was
to guard himself with patience. She went six times afterwards on
the days appointed, placed herself always directly before the
sultan, but with as little success as the first morning, and
might have perhaps come a thousand times to as little purpose, if
luckily the sultan himself had not taken particular notice of
her: for only those who came with petitions approached the
sultan, when each pleaded their cause in its turn, and Alla ad
Deen's mother was not one of them.
On the sixth day, however, after the divan was broken up, when
the sultan returned to his own apartment, he said to his grand
vizier, "I have for some time observed a certain woman, who
attends constantly every day that I give audience, with something
wrapped up in a napkin: she always stands up from the beginning
to the breaking up of the audience, and affects to place herself
just before me. Do you know what she wants?"
"Sir," replied the grand vizier, who knew no more than the sultan
what she wanted, but did not wish to seem uninformed, "your
majesty knows that women often make complaints on trifles;
perhaps she may come to complain to your majesty that somebody
has sold her some bad flour, or some such trifling matter." The
sultan was not satisfied with this answer, but replied, "If this
woman comes to our next audience, do not fail to call her, that I
may hear what she has to say." The grand vizier made answer by
lowering his hand, and then lifting it up above his head,
signifying his willingness to lose it if he failed.
By this time, the tailor's widow was so much used to go to
audience, and stand before the sultan, that she did not think it
any trouble, if she could but satisfy her son that she neglected
nothing that lay in her power to please him: the next audience
day she went to the divan, placed herself in front of the sultan
as usual; and before the grand vizier had made his report of
business, the sultan perceived her, and compassionating her for
having waited so long, said to the vizier, "Before you enter upon
any business, remember the woman I spoke to you about; bid her
come near, and let us hear and dispatch her business first." The
grand vizier immediately called the chief of the mace-bearers who
stood ready to obey his commands; and pointing to her, bade him
go to that woman, and tell her to come before the sultan.
The chief of the officers went to Alla ad Deen's mother, and at a
sign he gave her, she followed him to the foot of the sultan's
throne, where he left her, and retired to his place by the grand
vizier. The old woman, after the example of others whom she saw
salute the sultan, bowed her head down to the carpet, which
covered the platform of the throne, and remained in that posture
till the sultan bade her rise, which she had no sooner done, than
he said to her, "Good woman, I have observed you to stand a long
time, from the beginning to the rising of the divan; what
business brings you here?"
After these words, Alla ad Deen's mother prostrated herself a
second time; and when she arose, said, "Monarch of monarchs,
before I tell your majesty the extraordinary and almost
incredible business which brings me before your high throne, I
beg of you to pardon the boldness or rather impudence of the
demand I am going to make, which is so uncommon, that I tremble,
and am ashamed to propose it to my sovereign." In order to give
her the more freedom to explain herself, the sultan ordered all
to quit the divan but the grand vizier, and then told her she
might speak without restraint.
Alla ad Deen's mother, not content with this favour of the
sultan's to save her the trouble and confusion of speaking before
so many people, was notwithstanding for securing herself against
his anger, which, from the proposal she was going to make, she
was not a little apprehensive of; therefore resuming her
discourse, she said, "I beg of your majesty, if you should think
my demand the least injurious or offensive, to assure me first of
your pardon and forgiveness." "Well," replied the sultan, "I will
forgive you, be it what it may, and no hurt shall come to you:
speak boldly."
When Alla ad Deen's mother had taken all these precautions, for
fear of the sultan's anger, she told him faithfully how Alla ad
Deen had seen the princess Buddir al Buddoor, the violent love
that fatal sight had inspired him with, the declaration he had
made to her of it when he came home, and what representations she
had made "to dissuade him from a passion no less disrespectful,"
said she, "to your majesty, as sultan, than to the princess your
daughter. But," continued she, "my son, instead of taking my
advice and reflecting on his presumption, was so obstinate as to
persevere, and to threaten me with some desperate act, if I
refused to come and ask the princess in marriage of your majesty;
and it was not without the greatest reluctance that I was led to
accede to his request, for which I beg your majesty once more to
pardon not only me, but also Alla ad Deen my son, for
entertaining so rash a project as to aspire to so high an
alliance."
The sultan hearkened to this discourse with mildness, and without
shewing the least anger; but before he gave her any answer, asked
her what she had brought tied up in the napkin. She took the
china dish, which she had set down at the foot of the throne,
before she prostrated herself before him; untied it, and
presented it to the sultan.
The sultan's amazement and surprise were inexpressible, when he
saw so many large, beautiful, and valuable jewels collected in
the dish. He remained for some time motionless with admiration.
At last, when he had recovered himself, he received the present
from Alla ad Deen's mother's hand, crying out in a transport of
joy, "How rich, how beautiful!" After he had admired and handled
all the jewels, one after another, he turned to his grand vizier,
and shewing him the dish, said, "Behold, admire, wonder, and
confess that your eyes never beheld jewels so rich and beautiful
before." The vizier was charmed. "Well," continued the sultan,
"what sayst thou to such a present? Is it not worthy of the
princess my daughter? And ought I not to bestow her on one who
values her at so great price?"
These words put the grand vizier into extreme agitation. The
sultan had some time before signified to him his intention of
bestowing the princess on a son of his; therefore he was afraid,
and not without grounds, that the sultan, dazzled by so rich and
extraordinary a present, might change his mind. Therefore going
to him, and whispering him in the ear, he said, "I cannot but own
that the present is worthy of the princess; but I beg of your
majesty to grant me three months before you come to a final
resolution. I hope, before that time, my son, on whom you have
had the goodness to look with a favourable eye, will be able to
make a nobler present than Alla ad Deen, who is an entire
stranger to Your majesty."
The sultan, though he was fully persuaded that it was not
possible for the vizier to provide so considerable a present for
his son to make the princess, yet as he had given him hopes,
hearkened to him, and granted his request. Turning therefore to
the old widow, he said to her, "Good woman, go home, and tell
your son that I agree to the proposal you have made me; but I
cannot marry the princess my daughter, till the paraphernalia I
design for her be got ready, which cannot be finished these three
months; but at the expiration of that time come again."
Alla ad Deen's mother returned home much more gratified than she
had expected, since she had met with a favourable answer, instead
of the refusal and confusion she had dreaded. From two
circumstances Alla ad Deen, when he saw his mother returning,
judged that she brought him good news; the one was, that she
returned sooner than ordinary; and the other, the gaiety of her
countenance. "Well, mother," said he, "may I entertain any hopes,
or must I die with despair?" When she had pulled off her veil,
and had seated herself on the sofa by him, she said to him, "Not
to keep you long in suspense, son, I will begin by telling you,
that instead of thinking of dying, you have every reason to be
well satisfied." Then pursuing her discourse, she told him, that
she had an audience before everybody else which made her come
home so soon; the precautions she had taken lest she should have
displeased the sultan, by making the proposal of marriage between
him and the princess Buddir al Buddoor, and the condescending
answer she had received from the sultan's own mouth; and that as
far as she could judge, the present had wrought a powerful
effect. "But when I least expected it," said she, "and he was
going to give me an answer, and I fancied a favourable one, the
grand vizier whispered him in the ear, and I was afraid might be
some obstacle to his good intentions towards us, and so it
happened, for the sultan desired me to come to audience again
this day three months."
Alla ad Deen thought himself the most happy of all men at hearing
this news, and thanked his mother for the pains she had taken in
the affair, the good success of which was of so great importance
to his peace. Though from his impatience to obtain the object of
his passion, three months seemed an age, yet he disposed himself
to wait with patience, relying on the sultan's word, which he
looked upon to be irrevocable. But all that time he not only
counted the hours, days, and weeks, but every moment. When two of
the three months were past, his mother one evening going to light
the lamp, and finding no oil in the house, went out to buy some,
and when she came into the city, found a general rejoicing. The
shops, instead of being shut up, were open, dressed with foliage,
silks, and carpeting, every one striving to show their zeal in
the most distinguished manner according to his ability. The
streets were crowded with officers in habits of ceremony, mounted
on horses richly caparisoned, each attended by a great many
footmen. Alla ad Deen's mother asked the oil-merchant what was
the meaning of all this preparation of public festivity." Whence
came you, good woman," said he, "that you don't know that the
grand vizier's son is to marry the princess Buddir al Buddoor,
the sultan's daughter, to-night? She will presently return from
the baths; and these officers whom you see are to assist at the
cavalcade to the palace, where the ceremony is to be solemnized."
This was news enough for Alla ad Deen's mother. She ran till she
was quite out of breath home to her son, who little suspected any
such event. "Child," cried she, "you are undone! You depend upon
the sultan's fine promises, but they will come to nothing." Alla
ad Deen was alarmed at these words. "Mother," replied he, "how do
you know the sultan has been guilty of a breach of promise?"
"This night," answered the mother, "the grand vizier's son is to
marry the princess Buddir al Buddoor." She then related how she
had heard it; so that from all circumstances, he had no reason to
doubt the truth of what she said.
At this account, Alla ad Deen was thunder-struck. Any other man
would have sunk under the shock; but a sudden hope of
disappointing his rival soon roused his spirits, and he bethought
himself of the lamp, which had on every emergence been so useful
to him; and without venting his rage in empty words against the
sultan, the vizier, or his son, he only said, "Perhaps, mother,
the vizier's son may not be so happy to-night as he promises
himself: while I go into my chamber a moment, do you get supper
ready." She accordingly went about it, but guessed that her son
was going to make use of the lamp, to prevent, if possible, the
consummation of the marriage.