themselves like icicles through stones glittering with ore, the lovely
Gulhyndi for the first time reopened her eyes, being roused by a
rippling spring in the back ground, which gushed down into a basin of
polished jasper. The limpid stream served her as a mirror when she
awoke, and there she saw herself reflected in the most charming
morning-dress. After having contemplated herself for a moment, she
uttered a sigh of wonder: all around her became animated. From the
streamlet rose nymphs with rushes in their hair, the water still
flowing from their snowy bosoms; in their hands they had instruments
which they held against the rippling of the stream, and these struck
the cords and produced wonderful sounds. In the trees hung beautiful
boys with wings of splendid colours; their golden locks flowed from
their heads like foliage, and a glow like that of the rising sun beamed
from their rosy cheeks. From the clefts in the rocks fantastic figures
stretched forth their faces, pale, mournful faces, with crowns of gold
and precious stones on their heads, holding silver gongs in their
hands, on which were suspended silver bells, which they struck.
Gulhyndi’s astonishment was at its height, when she heard these
singular creatures sing the following words:
“Mountains, rivers, breezes fleet,
Greet thee, sweet.
Greet thee in the dew drop’s bright,
Queen of light.
The night has lull’d the rose’s child,
Soft and mild,
Has she wrapp’d it in her veil,
But its leaves are opened all
When sunbeams fall
Warmly at morn into the vale.
And thy fate has been the same.
Thy soft frame
Died away in slumber deep.
Soon has sleep
Colour’d thy fair cheeks again.
The wild bird’s strain
Wakes thee from thy sweet repose.
In the fresh-blooming lap of nature
Thou hast gained new charms, fair creature,
Like the rose.”
Then these fantastic forms vanished again, and she heard the spring
ripple, as before the rustling of the trees, and the echoes through the
vaults of the cavern. Soon a troop of girls dressed in white came into
the grotto, spread a carpet, and put upon it the most exquisite viands,
placed two cushions, one for her, and another for a second person, and
then bowed and said, “Your guardian angel is coming.”
Gulhyndi had scarcely recovered from her astonishment, than, amidst a
train of singing and dancing creatures, a handsome youth entered,
dressed far more splendidly than the Caliph of Bagdad himself. A
mantle of the finest purple hung down from his shoulders, the rest of
his attire was of snow-white silk, and he had a crown of glittering
rubies on his head. He sat down, and asked Gulhyndi to do the same.
When the dancers and singers had retired, he said, “Gulhyndi is now in
the bliss of Paradise.”
She was silent and trembled. The splendid king begun to take some of
the meats that were served up, and said, after a short silence,
“Gulhyndi is in the abode of enjoyment, let her enjoy without fear.”
Upon this she rose and fell down at his feet, saying, “Powerful being,
I cannot enjoy any thing; my enjoyments were few when I was living,
they are still less now that a superior power has placed me in your
Eden. Give me back my Ali when he has ended his days; until then my
dreams within these sacred shades shall recall to me the past and
prepare me for a blissful eternity.”
“Am I less ethereal than you?” said the young king, “and do I not
participate in these things? Take one of these fruits, its juice is
heavenly, its enjoyment spiritual.”
Gulhyndi bowed low, but found it impossible to accept the fruit he
offered her; for, notwithstanding his beauty, there was something in
his features that inspired her with terror and warned her not to accept
it.
At this he smiled and rose, saying, as he retired: “This earthly nature
must be purified.”
Gulhyndi was alone all day. She went out of the grotto to walk about
in the beautiful country around. Towards sunset she was tormented with
hunger and said to herself: “Can one really feel such an earthly
appetite in a state of bliss? But, alas! I am not in a state of
bliss; I feel as earthly as I did before; deep melancholy and yearning
are gnawing my heart.” As she said these words her eyes glanced at a
bread tree which overhung a fountain. It looked so innoxious that she
plucked some fruit, ate it, took some water in the hollow of her hands
and drank. She felt herself refreshed and invigorated by her scanty
repast, and her heart felt lighter. The setting sun shone kindly on
her through the deep clefts of the snow-capped mountains that bounded
the horizon, as he cast his beams on the gold leaved shrub, called
_Dsaac_, which bloomed on the brink. Flying fish moved their silver
fins in his last rays. Gulhyndi walked peacefully back to her grotto
amid the evening song of the twittering birds. A sweet slumber soon
came over her as she reclined on her couch, during which a pleasant
dream showed her her beloved Ali.
For some days she repeated her walk, and at evening returned to her
grotto. The young king came daily with increased pomp; he spoke kindly
to Gulhyndi, had dances and music performed, and sang himself, whilst
his eyes tenderly contemplated her charms. She continued taciturn and
reserved; she touched none of the dainties that were placed before her,
and opened neither her ear nor her heart to his singing. He always
smiled when he departed and said: “The earthly nature must be purified.”
Gulhyndi was delighted when he was gone, for she could then wander
about in the delightful and verdant region. Oh, how much did she wish
that her Ali was with her! The beauties of nature were here greater
than imagination could conceive. Among the many variegated birds she
was particularly pleased with a pheasant of the Argus species; she
tamed him in the few first days; he walked by her side, stood before
her in the sun, with his yellow body and black spots on his wings; his
head and neck were red, and the former was adorned by a blue crest.
When she stroked him he spread out his long wings with orange feathers
like a fan, which glittered with large oval eyes. In the fresh green
meadows she found a quantity of the fine plant called _ginseng_, which
the eastern nations so highly esteem, because it cures all diseases.
She had no doubt that she was in Paradise; but for the angel, as he was
called, she could feel no affection, having, on the contrary, a dislike
to him. He seemed to be a sensual spirit, and though so handsome she
thought she discovered features which reminded her of a man of hideous
appearance whom she had seen once or twice in her life, namely,
Lockman, Ali’s slave. Once while she was walking across a field
leading to a forest, a dreadful tiger came running towards her with
open jaws; he stopped on coming quite close, couched down and stared at
her, as if he were going to pounce on her and tear her to pieces. At
first Gulhyndi was terrified, but soon recovered herself. At this
moment the young king, returning from hunting amid the sounds of
bugles, approached, and seeing the tiger in this menacing attitude
before her, hastened to kill him with his spear. “I have saved your
life, fair maiden,” said he.
“Impossible, sir,” she replied; “my earthly life, as you have before
told me, I have lost already, and my eternal life I can obtain only by
a good conscience, and lose only by sinful thoughts, from which may
Allah preserve me!”
“I appreciate your courage and sagacity,” said the young king, vexed,
and he left her in anger.
After several days had passed, and Gulhyndi still continued the same,
the young king said, “It is my duty, fair Gulhyndi, to show you what
you do not desire to see. You are lavishing your affections on an
unworthy mortal, and thereby render yourself unfit for joys of a higher
order. Are you desirous of seeing your Ali once more?”
“Oh!” cried she, “favour me with this blessed sight, and you shall reap
my eternal gratitude.”
“You shall see him this very night in your grotto,” replied he.
In the evening, shortly after sunset, while the moon shed her beams on
the grotto, he came again, dressed as when she first saw him, in his
purple mantle, and with a crown of rubies on his head, which sparkled
brightly in the moon’s rays. “Look into the depth of the cavern while
all is dark,” he said, “but take care not to look at me during the
appearance of the apparition, otherwise all will suddenly vanish.”
He now waved his wand, and Gulhyndi saw through a bright opening, her
Ali in the deep recess, in the arms of a beautiful young girl, and she
heard him say, “Fair Zulima! can you love me: Gulhyndi is dead, and my
love has expired with her.” On hearing these words Gulhyndi grew pale,
but recovering herself suddenly, and remembering the warning of the
young king, she turned her head quickly, without being observed, and
now beheld by her side, instead of the beautiful youth, Lockman, with
his hideous humps, squinting eyes, and cock’s feathers, on his pointed
hat. He no sooner perceived that she was looking at him, than the
apparition disappeared, and he again stood before her in his former
beauty.
“Holy Allah! Mighty prophet!” exclaimed she, falling on her knees and
extending her white arms towards the moon, “save me from this fiend!
Remove this seducer who harasses me!” As she uttered these words the
young king vanished, and her faithful Argus came in and sat down at her
side. The birds were singing in the bushes; the fountain, which had
ceased flowing, again murmured, and Gulhyndi fell into a sweet slumber,
during which a dream showed her Ali, with his hand on his heart,
saying, “I am faithful.” From this time she saw the young king no
more. She lived on the roots of the earth, the fruit of the trees, and
drank from the fountain. No nymph or other creature appeared again.
Her heart being tranquilised, hope revived again in her soul, and she
bloomed like the rose in the valley. She tamed many pretty animals,
and lived among them like a shepherdess, praying night and morning to
Allah, that he might show her Ali, who appeared nightly, in her most
pleasing dreams.
While the fair Gulhyndi thus lived happily, her father, on awaking,
found himself in a condition quite the reverse of hers. When he opened
his eyes, he was stretched on a barren rock, under a burning sun, and
with the cord still round his neck. Stung by an innumerable quantity
of gnats and flies, that were buzzing round him, he sprung up, and with
all the torments of a parching thirst, which allowed him no time for
reflection, he ran about seeking a spring to refresh himself, but found
none--not even a tree was nigh to cast a shade in which he might
repose. Just as he was falling senseless to the ground, he discovered
a cavern, which, by the rays of the sun shining into it, he found was
spacious.
Further in the back ground some rays of light fell in through an
aperture. Hussain entered, and found a table cut out in the rock. A
stone near it served as a chair, a wooden goblet stood on it, and close
by a fountain was bubbling. The first thing he did was to take the
goblet and run to the fountain in order to fill it and drink. He
filled it a second time, but finding it too cool in the shady cavern,
and apprehensive of producing a fever, he took the goblet, sat down at
the entrance of the cavern in the sun, and slowly emptied its contents.
While doing this, it seemed as if something was moving at the bottom of
the goblet, and on looking in he discovered a black leech writhing.
Disgusted, he threw from him the goblet, the contents of which caused
vomiting, and he fell fainting on the ground.
He was roused by a violent shaking. Opening his eyes, he saw a little
deformed figure standing before him with a hump on his chest and back,
with squinting eyes, and with a nose that hung over his mouth like a
bunch of purple grapes. His clothes were black, and he wore a miner’s
apron, having on his head a black cap, upon which appeared a death’s
head and cross bones. In his hand he held a miner’s hammer. “What are
you doing here?” asked the monster, “Who gave you permission to enter
my cavern, to cast my goblet in the sand, and to sleep on my ground?”
“Pardon me, sir,” replied Hussain; “I am a poor unhappy wretch, and
know not how I am come hither. I was once Cadi of Bagdad, thus much I
recollect; I had a beautiful daughter, who was to be married to the son
of my enemy, but I would not give my consent. What took place further
is concealed from my memory as if by a mist.”
“You have come here without my permission,” said the little miner; “you
have cast my goblet into the dust; you would not allow your daughter to
marry; all this deserves punishment.”
He now took poor Hussain by the hand, and led him into a cavern, where
the icy cold water incessantly poured into the abyss below, like a
shower bath, through innumerable holes. Hussain was obliged to stand
on a narrow piece of rock, where, in spite of a shivering fit of ague,
he dared not move lest he should fall into the well beneath. When he
had thus stood for a long time, the miner led him out and threw him on
the sand, under the burning sun, where he could not move. “This will
teach you not to throw my cup on the ground again, not to sleep again
in my cavern without my permission, and not to forbid again the
marriage of your daughter,” said the dwarf. He then filled the goblet
with water, took a piece of black bread from a recess in the rock, and
put both before Hussain, saying, “Eat, drink, and be my slave, but do
not venture twenty paces from the cavern; rest yourself that you may be
strong for work on my return.”
When he was gone, Hussain took the bread which hunger made him relish,
notwithstanding it was very bad. As he took the goblet and again saw
the leech in it, he was near despair, put it down again, but unable to
resist any longer, he seized it and drank, as tormenting thirst at last
overcame his loathing. He had no sooner drank than the leech fastened
on his lip and bit him so sharply that he fell on the ground senseless.
Being aroused again by shaking, the little miner stood before him,
crying, “Have you thrown my goblet to the ground a second time?”
Hussain trembled, but made no reply.
“For this time it may pass. Follow me,” said the monster.
Hussain was obliged to follow him further into the desert, when the
little man said, “I want to find gold and precious stones for my
crowns; but you are as yet too weak and ignorant to work in my mines: I
have, therefore, for the present, destined you for some light work.
You shall seek gold and precious stones on the desert. Every evening
you must bring me at least three good stones, and one ounce and a half
of gold; if you fail to do so, you may reckon upon punishment for your
idleness.”
What a task for the unfortunate Hussain! He was obliged to walk the
whole day on the dry sand, and search under a scorching sun. He could
but rarely satisfy his cruel master, who generally punished him by
hunger and thirst, and the terrible icy cold bath. His food consisted
of mouldy bread, some fruits, and water out of the loathsome goblet;
but he was already so accustomed to the leech, that he was no longer
disgusted with it, making it rather his sole friend and companion.
When his hands were swollen from his long search between sharp stones,
and his feet with walking on them, he applied the leech to the
blisters, which mitigated his pains by sucking the inflamed blood.
Thus he lived for a long time. His pride and haughtiness, which in
former days had caused his daughter and himself so much sorrow, were
gradually forgotten; only his hatred and abhorrence for Ibrahim was
still felt, as though he were the cause of his misery.
But it is now time to return to Ali and see what in the meanwhile has
happened to him. The first weeks of his disconsolate state had passed;
despair had exhausted itself; and hope began to revive him by pleasing
anticipations, reminding him daily of Lockman as the sole sheet-anchor
of his happiness. He indeed at first shuddered at the idea of
resorting to an evil spirit, but afterwards said within himself, “Is it
then really certain that he is evil? What has he done to prove him
malignant? Near Ali Haymmamy’s fountain in the desert I have seen
nothing but what is in the natural order of things. Lockman has served
me with his knowledge; he has endeavoured to withdraw me from solitude;
has procured me the pleasure of seeing my beloved; has saved my life
from the wrath of her father, and inspired me with hope when all hope
had fled. That he is hideous, that there is something repulsive in his
features; that blue flames flash from the earth where he treads--what
does all this signify? If he is a spirit, it must be easy for him to
assume what appearance he likes on earth. If he were a subtle spirit
he would show himself in the most captivating form of temptation. But
he despises this. Certainly he is one of those capricious beings, who
exert their influence on human life, and make men happy or miserable as
they please. He has favoured me, and it would be folly without
parallel not to avail myself of his kindness. What do I risk, now that
I have lost all on earth?”
Ali found it an easy matter to obtain his father’s permission to wander
again to Babylon. The old man rejoiced that his son could still take
pleasure in something, and hoped he would soon console himself for his
loss. Ali therefore took his knapsack on his back, and set out on his
way as he had formerly done, being careful to observe the right time.
He crossed the desert in the delightful cool of morning, and met
nothing remarkable on his way. First, when he reached Ali Haymmamy’s
fountain, he was surprised to find the spot totally changed. The palm
trees were fresh and verdant, flowers grew round the brink of the
fountain, and he perceived no sulphurous exhalation; but saw, on
drawing near, a delightful brook of clear water. A cup of emerald hung
by a golden chain near the fountain, and invited him to drink. His
hand already held the cup filled, when suddenly a shuddering seized
him. He poured the water away, and dropped the cup, saying to himself,
“It is still cool, and I really feel no thirst, it is not well to amuse
oneself with supernatural things.” He spent the noon with his old
acquaintance the water-carrier, and towards evening proceeded in the
direction of Babylon.
He searched long before he found the spot described by Lockman. The
sun had already sunk and cast his rays on some stones overgrown with
ivy, when Ali perceived an entrance, and fancied he saw Lockman. As he
went towards him, Lockman said:
“Have you come at last? I have been waiting for you here more than an
hour. But what is the matter with you? You look pale and bewildered.
You do not seem to have confidence in me; why did you not drink at the
fountain? Have I not told you that without confidence nothing can
succeed?”
“I have confidence,” replied Ali; “whoever you are, mighty spirit,
bring me to my Gulhyndi!”
“I am a man like yourself,” replied Lockman, “a poor, good-hearted
fellow, who takes pleasure in helping others without thought of
himself. My industry has taught me various secrets of nature; and I
have applied my skill to your deliverance. Having discovered some
magnificent ancient vaults of Babylon, now in ruins for many
generations, I have fitted them for your use; there you may dwell happy
and undisturbed with your fair Gulhyndi. During the day you may walk
in these delightful fields, and at night the magnificent castle beneath
will enclose you within its strong walls. I will serve you as
formerly, and my delight shall be, as it ever has been, to show you my
fidelity and devotedness.” When he had said these words, he took Ali
by the hand, and conducted him down a stone staircase.
Ali followed readily; but when he had counted nearly three hundred
steps in his descent into the earth, and still found no end, he began
to quake. It was pitch-dark around him, the only light they had being
from a dark lantern, which Lockman held in his hand, and which shone
full on his face, showing Ali his hideous features. He fancied he
often saw him distort his face, and smile malignantly. Just as he had
counted the three hundred steps he stopped, and cried: “Whither do you
lead me? I can go no farther. My Gulhyndi is an angel of light, she
cannot be in the darkest abodes of the subterranean world.”
Lockman burst out into a roar of laughter, making the cavern tremble,
and the light in his lantern was extinguished. “Are you afraid to be
in the dark?” he asked. “Well, then, it shall soon be light!”
He now struck the solid rock with his wand; it burst, and Ali found
himself in a most beautiful place, such as he had never seen. He
seemed to stand in a large church; slender columns of brown porphyry
rose high, like trees, supporting an arched ceiling of emerald, like
intertwined foliage. In the back ground stood a shining globe of red
crystal, semi-transparent, upon an altar. This globe illumined the
whole edifice, and appeared like the full moon in the horizon, shedding
her light into a dark forest. From this place they proceeded through a
narrow passage, which ended in a cheerful apartment, the walls of which
were of white polished marble. In its centre was suspended a
chandelier of diamonds, and at the further end a purple curtain,
falling in symmetrical folds, concealed a magnificent couch. On each
side of the couch stood two lions of brass, so naturally formed as to
appear living, had not the brightness of the metal proved the contrary.
“You are now in the haven of your joy and destination,” said Lockman.
“Upon this couch slumbers Gulhyndi, whom Heaven has destined for you.
She stretches her arms towards you, and it remains with you to choose
the moment when you will be the happiest of mortals.”
When Lockman had said these words, he drew the curtain, and Ali saw his
Gulhyndi sleeping in the most charming attitude on black silk cushions.
Lockman, contemplating Ali, said, as he left the room, “Venture, and be
happy.”
Ali stood there, blushing and trembling. The noble beauty of Gulhyndi
inflamed his heart. “Come, my beloved,” she cried in her sleep,
stretching out her arms, “come to my heart.”
Ah hesitated; he approached her, but suddenly stopped. “No, Gulhyndi,”
he said to himself, “it is not thus we should meet again! Sleep
sweetly! I will go and await the moment when you rise and come towards
me.”
With these words he drew the purple curtain, and hastened with quick
steps to the church.
Perfect silence and peace reigned here. The brown porphyry columns
rose majestically, and the light from the moon in the choir played
strangely in the innumerable precious stones which covered the ceiling
like sparkling foliage. Ali knelt down. “Eternal Allah!” he cried, “I
stand far removed from thy bright moon, far from thy genial blooming
forest that adorns the surface of the earth! Anguish and expectation
oppress my bosom in the dark bowels of the earth, where burning lamps
and dead stones are to supply, by their flickering gleam, thy holy
light, thy fresh, young, and ever-changing nature. But where I am,
there thou art also! Thou seest me in the bowels of the earth, as on
the highest rocks. I am in thy power, wherever I go, and resign myself
confidently to thy protection.”