HISTORY OF GHARIB AND HIS BROTHER AJIB.[FN#312]

There was once in olden time a King of might, Kundamir highs, who had

been a brave and doughty man of war, a Kahramán,[FN#313] in his day,

but was grown passing old and decrepit. Now it pleased Allah to

vouchsafe him, in his extreme senility, a son, whom he named

Ajíb[FN#314]—the Wonderful—because of his beauty and loveliness; so he

committed the babe to the midwives and wet-nurses and handmaids and

serving-women, and they reared him till he was full seven years old,

when his father gave him in charge to a divine of his own folk and

faith. The priest taught him the laws and tenets of their Misbelief and

instructed him in philosophy and all manner of other knowledge, and it

needed but three full told years ere he was proficient therein and his

spirit waxed resolute and his judgment mature; and he became learned,

eloquent and philosophic[FN#315]; consorting with the wise and

disputing with the doctors of the law. When his father saw this of him,

it pleased him and he taught him to back the steed and stab with spear

and smite with sword, till he grew to be an accomplished cavalier,

versed in all martial exercises; and, by the end of his twentieth year,

he surpassed in all things all the folk of his day. But his skill in

weapons made him grow up a stubborn tyrant and a devil arrogant, using

to ride forth a-hunting and a-chasing amongst a thousand horsemen and

to make raids and razzias upon the neighbouring knights, cutting off

caravans and carrying away the daughters of Kings and nobles; wherefore

many brought complaints against him to his father, who cried out to

five of his slaves and when they came said, “Seize this dog!” So they

seized Prince Ajib and, pinioning his hands behind him, beat him by his

father’s command till he lost his senses; after which the King

imprisoned him in a chamber so dark one might not know heaven from

earth or length from breadth; and there he abode two days and a night.

Then the Emirs went in to the King and, kissing the ground between his

hands, interceded with him for the Prince, and he released him. So Ajib

bore with his father for ten days, at the end of which he went in to

him as he slept by night and smote his neck. When the day rose, he

mounted the throne of his sire’s estate and bade his men arm themselves

cap-à-pie in steel and stand with drawn swords in front of him and on

his right hand and on his left. By and by, the Emirs and Captains

entered and finding their King slain and his son Ajib seated on the

throne were confounded in mind and knew not what to do. But Ajib said

to them, “O folk, verily ye see what your King hath gained. Whoso

obeyeth me, I will honour him, and whoso gainsayeth me I will do with

him that which I did with my sire.” When they heard these words they

feared lest he do them a mischief; so they replied, “Thou art our King

and the son of our King;” and kissed ground before him; whereupon he

thanked them and rejoiced in them. Then he bade bring forth money and

apparel and clad them in sumptuous robes of honour and showered

largesse upon them, wherefore they all loved him and obeyed him. In

like manner he honoured the governors of the Provinces and the Shaykhs

of the Badawin, both tributary and independent, so that the whole

kingdom submitted to him and the folk obeyed him and he reigned and

bade and forbade in peace and quiet for a time of five months. One

Night, however, he dreamed a dream as he lay slumbering; whereupon he

awoke trembling, nor did sleep visit him again till the morning. As

soon as it was dawn he mounted his throne and his officers stood before

him, right and left. Then he called the oneiromants and the astrologers

and said to them “Expound to me my dream!” “What was the dream?” asked

they; and he answered, “As I slept last Night, I saw my father standing

before me, with his yard uncovered, and there came forth of it a thing

the bigness of a bee, which grew till it became as a mighty lion, with

claws like hangers. As I lay wondering at this lo! it ran upon me and

smiting me with its claws, rent my belly in sunder; whereupon I awoke

startled and trembling. So expound ye to me the meaning of this dream.”

The interpreters looked one at other; and, after considering, said, “O

mighty King, this dream pointeth to one born of thy sire, between whom

and thee shall befal strife and enmity, wherein he shall get the better

of thee: so be on thy guard against him, by reason of this thy vision.”

When Ajib heard their words, he said, “I have no brother whom I should

fear; so this your speech is mere lying.” They replied, “We tell thee

naught save what we know;” but he was an angered with them and

bastinadoed them. Then he rose and, going in to the paternal palace,

examined his father’s concubines and found one of them seven months

gone with child; whereupon he gave an order to two of his slaves,

saying, “Take this damsel, ye twain, and carry her to the sea-shore and

drown her.” So they took her forthright and, going to the sea-shore,

designed to drown her, when they looked at her and seeing her to be of

singular beauty and loveliness said to each other, “Why should we drown

this damsel? Let us rather carry her to the forest and live with her

there in rare love-liasse.” Then they took her and fared on with her

days and nights till they had borne her afar off and had brought her to

a bushy forest, abounding in fruit-trees and streams, where they both

thought at the same time to win their will of her; but each said, “I

will have her first.” So they fell out one with the other concerning

this, and while so doing a company of blackamoors came down upon them,

and they drew their swords and both sides fell to laying on load. The

mellay waxed hot with cut and thrust; and the two slaves fought their

best; but the blacks slew them both in less than the twinkling of an

eye. So the damsel abode alone and wandered about the forest, eating of

its fruits and drinking of its founts, till in due time she gave birth

to a boy, brown but clean limbed and comely, whom she named Gharíb, the

Stranger, by reason of her strangerhood. Then she cut his navel-string

and wrapping him in some of her own clothes, gave him to suck, harrowed

at heart, and with vitals sorrowing for the estate she had lost and its

honour and solace. And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased

saying her permitted say,

When it was the Six Hundred and Twenty-fifth Night,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the damsel abode

in the bush harrowed at heart and a-sorrowed; but she suckled her babe

albeit she was full of grief and fear for her loneliness. Now behold,

one day, there came horsemen and footmen into the forest with hawks and

hounds and horses laden with partridges and cranes and wild geese and

divers and other waterfowl; and young ostriches and hares and gazelles

and wild oxen and lynxes and wolves and lions.[FN#316] Presently, these

Arabs entered the thicket and came upon the damsel, sitting with her

child on her breast a-suckling him: so they drew near and asked her,

“Say art thou a mortal or a Jinniyah?” Answered she, “I am a mortal, O

Chiefs of the Arabs.” Thereupon they told their Emir, whose name was

Mardás, Prince of the Banú Kahtán,[FN#317] and who had come forth that

day to hunt with five hundred of his cousins and the nobles of his

tribe, and who in the course of the chase had happened upon her. He

bade them bring her before him, which they did and she related to him

her past from first to last, whereat he marvelled. Then he cried to his

kinsmen and escort to continue the chase, after which they took her and

returned to their encampment, where the Emir appointed her a separate

dwelling-place and five damsels to serve her; and he loved her with

exceeding love and went in to her and lay with her. She conceived by

him straightway, and, when her months were accomplished, she bare a man

child and named him Sahím al-Layl.[FN#318] He grew up with his brother

Gharib among the nurses and throve and waxed upon the lap of the Emir

Mardas who, in due time committed the two boys to a Fakih for

instruction in the things of their faith; after which he gave them in

charge to valiant knights of the Arabs, for training them to smite with

sword and lunge with lance and shoot with shaft; so by the time they

reached the age of fifteen, they knew all they needed and surpassed

each and every brave of their tribe; for Gharib would undertake a

thousand horse and Sahim al-Layl no fewer. Now Mardas had many enemies,

and the men of his tribe were the bravest of all the Arabs, being

doughty cavaliers, none might warm himself at their fire.[FN#319] In

his neighbourhood was an Emir of the Arabs, Hassan bin Sábit hight, who

was his intimate friend; and he took to wife a noble lady of his tribe

and bade all his friends to the wedding, amongst them Mardas lord of

the Banu Kahtan, who accepted his invitation and set forth with three

hundred riders of his tribe, leaving other four hundred to guard the

women. Hassan met him with honour and seated him in the highest stead.

Then came all the cavaliers to the bridal and he made them bride-feasts

and held high festival by reason of the marriage, after which the Arabs

departed to their dwelling-places. When Mardas came in sight of his

camp, he saw slain men lying about and birds hovering over them right

and left; and his heart sank within him at the sight. Then he entered

the camp and was met by Gharib, clad in complete suit of ring-mail, who

gave him joy of his safe return. Quoth Mardas, “What meaneth this case,

O Gharib?”; and quoth Gharib, “Al-Hamal bin Májid attacked us with five

hundred horsemen of his tribe.” Now the reason of this was that the

Emir Mardas had a daughter called Mahdíyah, seer never saw fairer than

she, and Al-Hamal, lord of the Banu Nabhán,[FN#320] heard of her

charms; whereupon he took horse with five hundred of his men and rode

to Mardas to demand her hand; but he was not accepted and was sent away

disappointed.[FN#321] So he awaited till Mardas was absent on his visit

to Hassan, when he mounted with his champions and, falling upon the

camp of the Banu Kahtan, slew a number of their knights and the rest

fled to the mountains. Now Gharib and his brother had ridden forth

a-hunting and chasing with an hundred horse and returned not till midday,

when they found that Al-Hamal had seized the camp and all therein and

had carried off the maidens, among whom was Mahdiyah, driving her away

with the captives. When Gharib saw this, he lost his wits for rage and

cried out to Sahim, saying, “O my brother, O son of an accursed

dam,[FN#322] they have plundered our camp and carried off our women and

children! Up and at the enemy, that we may deliver the captives!” So

Gharib and Sahim and their hundred horse rushed upon the foe, and

Gharib’s wrath redoubled, and he reaped a harvest of heads slain,

giving the champions death-cup to drain, till he won to Al-Hamal and

saw Mahdiyah among the captives. Then he drave at the lord of the Banu

Nabhan braves; with his lance lunged him and from his destrier hurled

him; nor was the time of mid-afternoon prayer come before he had slain

the most part of the foe and put to rout the rest and rescued the

captives; whereupon he returned to the camp in triumph, bearing the

head of Al-Hamal on the point of his lance and improvising these

couplets,

“I am he who is known on the day of fight, * And the Jinn of

earth at my shade take fright:

And a sword have I when my right hand wields, * Death hastens

from left on mankind to alight;

I have eke a lance and who look thereon * See a crescent head of

the liveliest light.[FN#323]

And Gharib I’m highs of my tribe the brave * And if few my men I

feel naught affright.”

Hardly had Gharib made an end of these verses when up came Mardas who,

seeing the slain and the vultures, was sore troubled and with

fluttering heart asked the cause. The youth, after due greetings,

related all that had befallen the tribe in his step-sire’s absence. So

Mardas thanked him and said, “Thou hast well requited our

fosterage-pains in rearing thee, O Gharib!”; then he alighted and

entered his pavilion, and the men stood about him, all the tribe

praising Gharib and saying, “O our Emir, but for Gharib, not one of the

tribe had been saved!” And Mardas again thanked him.—And Shahrazad

perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say,

When it was the Six Hundred and Twenty-sixth Night,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Mardas, hearing

the tribesmen’s praises of Gharib, again thanked him for his

derring-do. But the youth, when he had delivered Mahdiyah from Al-Hamal

whom he slew, was smitten by the shaft of her glances and fell into the

nets of her allurements, wherefore his heart could not forget her and

he became drowned in love and longing and the sweets of sleep forsook

him and he had no joy of drink or meat. He would spur his horse up to

the mountain tops, where he would spend the day in composing verses and

return at nightfall; and indeed manifest upon him were the signs of

affection and distraction. He discovered his secret to one of his

companions and it became noised abroad in the camp, till it reached the

ears of Mardas, who thundered and lightened and rose up and sat down

and sparked and snorted and reviled the sun and the moon, saying, “This

is the reward of him who reareth the sons of adultery! But except I

kill Gharib, I shall be put to shame.”[FN#324] Then he consulted one

of the wise men of his tribe and after telling his secret took counsel

with him of killing the youth. Quoth the elder, “O Emir, ’twas but

yesterday that he freed thy daughter from captivity. If there be no

help for it but thou must slay him, let it be by the hand of another

than thyself, so none of the folk may misdoubt of thee.” Quoth Mardas,

“Advise me how I may do him die, for I look to none but to thee for his

death.” “O Emir,” answered the other, “wait till he go forth to hunt

and chase, when do thou take an hundred horse and lie in wait for him

in some cave till he pass; then fall upon him unawares and cut him in

pieces, so shalt thou be quit of his reproach.” Said Mardas, “This

should serve me well;” and chose out an hundred and fifty of his

furious knights and Amalekites[FN#325] whom he lessoned to his will.

Then he watched Gharib till one day, he went forth to hunt and rode far

away amongst the dells and hills; whereupon Mardas followed him with

his men, ill-omened wights, and lay in wait for him by the way against

he should return from the chase that they might sally forth and slay

him. But as they lay in ambush among the trees behold, there fell upon

them five hundred true Amalekites, who slew sixty of them and made

fourscore and ten prisoners and trussed up Mardas with his arms behind

his back. Now the reason of this was that when Gharib put Al-Hamal and

his men to the sword, the rest fled and ceased not flying till they

reached their lord’s brother and told him what had happened, whereat

his Doom-day rose and he gathered together his Amalekites and choosing

out five hundred cavaliers, each fifty ells high,[FN#326] set out with

them in quest of blood-revengement for his brother. By the way he fell

in with Mardas and his companions and there happened between them what

happened; after which he bade his men alight and rest, saying, “O folk,

the idols have given us an easy brood-wreak; so guard ye Mardas and his

tribesmen, till I carry them away and do them die with the foulest of

deaths.” When Mardas saw himself a prisoner, he repented of what he had

done and said, “This is the reward of rebelling against the Lord!” Then

the enemy passed the night rejoicing in their victory, whilst Mardas

and his men despaired of life and made sure of doom. So far concerning

them; but as regards Sahim al-Layl, who had been wounded in the fight

with Al-Hamal, he went in to his sister Mahdiyah, and she rose to him

and kissed his hands, saying, “May thy two hands ne’er wither nor thine

enemies have occasion to be blither! But for thee and Gharib, we had

not escaped captivity among our foes. Know, however, O my brother, that

thy father hath ridden forth with an hundred and fifty horse, purposing

to slaughter Gharib; and thou wottest it would be sore loss and foul

wrong to slay him, for that it was he who saved your shame and rescued

your good.” When Sahim heard this, the light in his sight became Night,

he donned his battle-harness; and, mounting steed, rode for the place

where Gharib was a-hunting. He presently came up with him and found

that he had taken great plenty of game; so he accosted him and saluted

him and said, “O my brother, why didst thou go forth without telling

me?” Replied Gharib, “By Allah, naught hindered me but that I saw thee

wounded and thought to give thee rest.” Then said Sahim, “O my brother,

beware of my sire!” and told him how Mardas was abroad with an hundred

and fifty men, seeking to slay him. Quoth Gharib, “Allah shall cause

his treason to cut his own throat.” Then the brothers set out

campwards, but night overtook them by the way and they rode on in the

darkness, till they drew near the Wady wherein the enemy lay and heard

the neighing of steeds in the gloom; whereupon said Sahim, “O my

brother, my father and his men are ambushed in yonder valley; let us

flee from it.” But Gharib dismounted and throwing his bridle to his

brother, said to him, “Stay in this stead till I come back to thee.”

Then he went on till he drew in sight of the folk, when he saw that

they were not of his tribe and heard them naming Mardas and saying, “We

will not slay him, save in his own land.” Wherefore he knew that nuncle

Mardas was their prisoner, and said, “By the life of Mahdiyah, I will

not depart hence till I have delivered her father, that she may not be

troubled!” Then he sought and ceased not seeking till he hit upon

Mardas and found him bound with cords; so he sat down by his side and

said to him, “Heaven deliver thee, O uncle, from these bonds and this

shame!” When Mardas saw Gharib his reason fled, and he said to him, “O

my son, I am under thy protection: so deliver me in right of my

fosterage of thee!” Quoth Gharib, “If I deliver thee, wilt thou give me

Mahdiyah?” Quoth the Emir, “O my son, by whatso I hold sacred, she is

thine to all time!” So he loosed him, saying, “Make for the horses, for

thy son Sahim is there:” and Mardas crept along like a snake till he

came to his son, who rejoiced in him and congratulated him on his

escape. Meanwhile, Gharib unbound one after another of the prisoners,

till he had freed the whole ninety and they were all far from the foe.

Then he sent them their weapons and war horses, saying to them, “Mount

ye and scatter yourselves round about the enemy and cry out, Ho, sons

of Kahtan! And when they awake, do ye remove from them and encircle

them in a thin ring.”[FN#327] So he waited till the last and third

watch of the Night, when he cried out, “Ho, sons of Kahtan!” and his

men answered in like guise, crying, “Ho, sons of Kahtan,” as with one

voice; and the mountains echoed their slogan, so that it seemed to the

raiders as though the whole tribe of Banu Kahtan were assailing them;

wherefore they all snatched up their arms and fell upon one

another,—And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her

permitted say,

When it was the Six Hundred and Twenty-seventh Night,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the

raiders[FN#328] awoke from sleep and heard Gharib and his men crying

out, “Ho, sons of Kahtan!”; they imagined that the whole tribe was

assailing them; wherefore they snatched up their arms and fell one upon

other with mighty slaughter. Gharib and his men held aloof, and they

fought one another till daybreak, when Gharib and Mardas and their

ninety warriors came down upon them and killed some of them and put the

rest to flight. Then the Banu Kahtan took the horses of the fugitives

and the weapons of the slain and returned to their tribal camp, whilst

Mardas could hardly credit his deliverance from the foe. When they

reached the encampment, the stay-at-home folk all came forth to meet

them and rejoiced in their safe return. Then they alighted and betook

them to their tents; and all the youths of the tribe flocked to

Gharib’s stead and great and small saluted him and did him honour. But

when Mardas saw this and the youths encircling his stepson he waxed

more jealous of Gharib than before and said to his kinsfolk, “Verily,

hatred of Gharib groweth on my heart, and what irketh me most is that I

see these flocking about him! And to-morrow he will demand Mahdiyah of

me.” Quoth his confidant, “O Emir, ask of him somewhat he cannot avail

to do.” This pleased Mardas who passed a pleasant night and on the

morrow, as he sat on his stuffed carpet, with the Arabs about him,

Gharib entered, followed by his men and surrounded by the youth of the

tribe, and kissed the ground before Mardas who, making a show of joy,

rose to do him honour and seated him beside himself. Then said Gharib,

“O uncle, thou madest me a promise; do thou fulfil it.” Replied the

Emir, “O my son, she is thine to all time; but thou lackest wealth.”

Quoth Gharib, “O uncle, ask of me what thou wilt, and I will fall upon

the Emirs of the Arabs in their houses and on the Kings in their towns

and bring thee fee[FN#329] enough to fence the land from East to West.”

“O my son,” quoth Mardas, “I have sworn by all the Idols that I would

not give Mahdiyah save to him who should take my blood-wite of mine

enemy and do away my reproach.” “O uncle,” said Gharib, “tell me with

which of the Kings thou hast a feud, that I may go to him and break his

throne upon his pate.” “O my son,” replied Mardas, “I once had a son, a

champion of champions, and he went forth one day to chase and hunt with

an hundred horse. They fared on from valley to valley, till they had

wandered far away amongst the mountains and came to the Wady of

Blossoms and the Castle of Hám bin Shays bin Shaddád bin Khalad. Now in

this place, O my son, dwelleth a black giant, seventy cubits high, who

fights with trees from their roots uptorn; and when my son reached his

Wady, the tyrant sallied out upon him and his men and slew them all,

save three braves, who escaped and brought me the news. So I assembled

my champions and fared forth to fight the giant, but could not prevail

against him; wherefore I was baulked of my revenge and swore that I

would not give my daughter in marriage save to him who should avenge me

of my son.” Said Gharib, “O uncle, I will go to this Amalekite and take

the wreak of thy son on him with the help of Almighty Allah.” And

Mardas answered, saying, “O Gharib, if thou get the victory over him,

thou wilt gain of him such booty of wealth and treasures as fires may

not devour.” Cried Gharib, “Swear to me before witnesses thou wilt give

me her to wife, so that with heart at ease I may go forth to find my

fortune.” Accordingly, Mardas swore this to him and took the elders of

the tribe to witness; whereupon Gharib fared forth, rejoicing in the

attainment of his hopes, and went in to his mother, to whom he related

what had passed. “O my son,” said she, “know that Mardas hateth thee

and doth but send thee to this mountain, to bereave me of thee; then

take me with thee and let us depart the tents of this tyrant.” But he

answered, “O my mother, I will not depart hence till I win my wish and

foil my foe.” Thereupon he slept till morning arose with its sheen and

shone, and hardly had he mounted his charger when his friends, the

young men, came up to him; two hundred stalwart knights armed cap-à-pie

and cried out to him, saying, “Take us with thee; we will help thee and

company thee by the way.” And he rejoiced in them and cried, “Allah

requite you for us with good!” adding, “Come, my friends, let us go.”

So they set out and fared on the first day and the second day till

evening, when they halted at the foot of a towering mount and baited

their horses. As for Gharib, he left the rest and walked on into that

mountain, till he came to a cave whence issued a light. He entered and

found, at the higher facing end of the cave a Shaykh, three hundred and

forty years old, whose eyebrows overhung his eyes and whose moustachios

hid his mouth. Gharib at this sight was filled with awe and veneration,

and the hermit said to him, “Methinks thou art of the idolaters, O my

son, stone-worshipping[FN#330] in the stead of the All-powerful King,

the Creator of Night and Day and of the sphere rolling on her way.”

When Gharib heard his words, his side muscles quivered and he said, “O

Shaykh, where is this Lord of whom thou speakest, that I may worship

him and take my fill of his sight?” Replied the Shaykh, “O my son, this

is the Supreme Lord, upon whom none may look in this world. He seeth

and is not seen. He is the Most High of aspect and is present

everywhere in His works. He it is who maketh all the made and ordereth

time to vade and fade; He is the Creator of men and Jinn and sendeth

the Prophets to guide His creatures into the way of right. Whoso

obeyeth Him, He bringeth into Heaven, and whoso gainsayeth Him, He

casteth into Hell.” Asked Gharib, “And how, O uncle, saith whoso

worshippeth this puissant Lord who over all hath power?” “O my son,”

answered the Shaykh, “I am of the tribe of Ad, which were transgressors

in the land and believed not in Allah. So He sent unto them a Prophet

named Húd, but they called him liar and he destroyed them by means of a

deadly wind; but I believed together with some of my tribe, and we were

saved from destruction.[FN#331] Moreover, I was present with the tribe

of Thamúd and saw what befel them with their Prophet Sálih. After

Salih, the Al-mighty sent a prophet, called Abraham the Friend,[FN#332]

to Nimrod son of Canaan, and there befel what befel between them. Then

my companions died in the Saving Faith and I continued in this cave to

serve Allah the Most High, who provideth my daily bread without my

taking thought.” Quoth Gharib, “O uncle, what shall I say, that I may

become of the troop of this mighty Lord?” “Say,” replied the old

man,—“There is no god but _the_ God and Abraham is the Friend of God.” So

Gharib embraced the Faith of Submission[FN#333] with heart and tongue

and the Shaykh said to him, “May the sweetness of belief and devotion

be stablished in thy heart!” Then he taught him somewhat of the

biblical ordinances and scriptures of Al-Islam and said to him, “What

is thy name?”; and he replied, “My name is Gharib.” Asked the old man,

“Whither art thou bound, O Gharib?” So he told him all his history,

till he came to the mention of the Ghúl of the Mountain whom he

sought,—And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her

permitted say,

When it was the Six Hundred and Twenty-eighth Night,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when Gharib

became a Moslem and told the Shaykh his past, from first to last, till

he came to the mention of the Mountain-Ghul whom he sought, the old man

asked him, “O Gharib, art thou mad that thou goest forth against the

Ghul of the Mountain single handed?”; and he answered, “O my lord, I

have with me two hundred horse.” “O Gharib,” rejoined the hermit,

“hadst thou ten thousand riders yet shouldst thou not prevail against

him, for his name is The-Ghul-who-eateth-men-we-pray-Allah-for-safety,

and he is of the children of Ham. His father’s name was Hindi who

peopled Hind and named it, and he left this son after him, whom he

called Sa’adan the Ghul. Now the same was, O my son, even in his sire’s

lifetime, a cruel tyrant and a rebellious devil and had no other food

than flesh of the sons of Adam. His father when about to die forbade

him from this, but he would not be forbidden and he redoubled in his

forwardness, till Hindi banished him and drove him forth the Land of

Hind, after battles and sore travail. Then he came to this country and

fortifying himself herein, established his home in this place, whence

he is wont to sally forth and cut the road of all that come and go,

presently returning to the valley he haunteth. Moreover, he hath

begotten five sons, warlike warlocks, each one of whom will do battle

with a thousand braves, and he hath flocked the valley with his booty

of treasure and goods besides horses and camels and cattle and sheep.

Wherefore I fear for thee from him; so do thou implore Almighty Allah

to further thee against him by the Tahlíl, the formula of Unity, and

when thou drivest at the Infidels, cry, God is most Great!’ for,

saying, There is no god but the God’ confoundeth those who misbelieve.”

Then the Shaykh gave him a steel mace, an hundred pounds in weight,

with ten rings which clashed like thunder whenas the wielder brandished

it, and a sword forged of a thunderbolt,[FN#334] three ells long and

three spans broad, wherewith if one smote a rock, the stroke would

cleave it in sunder. Moreover he gave him a hauberk and target and a

book and said to him, “Return to thy tribe and expound unto them

Al-Islam.” So Gharib left him, rejoicing in his new Faith, and fared

till he found his companions, who met him with salams, saying, “What

made thee tarry thus?” Whereupon he related to them that which had

befallen him and expounded to them Al-Islam, and they all islamised.

Early next morning, Gharib mounted and rode to the hermit to farewell

him, after which he set out to return to his camp when behold, on his

way, there met him a horseman cap-à-pie armed so that only his eyes

appeared, who made at him, saying, “Doff what is on thee, O

scum[FN#335] of the Arabs; or I will do thee die!” Therewith Gharib

crave at him and there befel between them a battle such as would make a

new-born child turn grey and melt the flinty rock with its sore affray;

but presently the Badawi did off his face-veil, and lo! it was Gharib’s

half-brother Sahim al-Layl. Now the cause of his coming thither was

that when Gharib set out in quest of the Mountain-Ghul, Sahim was

absent and on his return, not seeing his brother, he went in to his

mother, whom he found weeping. He asked the reason of her tears and she

told him what had happened of his brother’s journey, whereupon, without

allowing himself aught of rest, he donned his war-gear and mounting

rode after Gharib, till he overtook him and there befel between them

what befel. When, therefore. Sahim discovered his face, Gharib knew him

and saluted him, saying, “What moved thee to do this?” Quoth Sahim, “I

had a mind to measure myself with thee in the field and make trial of

my lustihood in cut and thrust.” Then they rode together and on the way

Gharib expounded Al-Islam to Sahim, who embraced the Faith; nor did

they cease riding till they were hard upon the valley. Meanwhile, the

Mountain-Ghul espied the dust of their horses’ feet and said to his

sons, “O my sons, mount and fetch me yonder loot.” So the five took

horse and made for the party. When Gharib saw the five Amalekites

approaching, he plied shovel-iron upon his steed’s flank and cried out,

saying, “Who are ye, and what is your race and what do ye require?”

Whereupon Falhún bin Sa’adan, the eldest of the five, came out and

said, “Dismount ye and bind one another[FN#336] and we will drive you

to our father, that he may roast various of you and boil various, for

it is long since he has tasted the flesh of Adam-son.” When Gharib

heard these words he drove at Falhun, shaking his mace, so that the

rings rang like the roaring thunder and the giant was confounded. Then

he smote him a light blow with the mace between the shoulders, and he

fell to the ground like a tall-trunked palm-tree; whereupon Sahim and

some of his men fell upon him and pinioned him; then, putting a rope

about his neck, they haled him along like a cow. Now when his brothers

saw him a prisoner they charged home upon Gharib, who took

three[FN#337] of them captive and the fifth fled back to his sire, who

said to him, “What is behind thee and where are the brothers of thee?”

Quoth he “Verily, a beardless youth, forty cubits high, hath taken them

prisoner.” Quoth Sa’adan, “May the sun pour no blessing on you!” and,

going down from his hold, tore up a huge tree, with which he went in

quest of Gharib and his folk; and he was on foot, for that no horse

might carry him, because of the bigness of his body. His son followed

him and the twain went on till they came up with Gharib and his

company, when the Ghul fell upon them, without word said, and slew five

men with his club. Then he made at Sahim and struck at him with his

tree, but Sahim avoided the blow and it fell harmless; whereat Sa’adan

was wroth and throwing down the weapon, sprang upon Sahim and caught

him in his pounces as the sparrow hawk catcheth up the sparrow. Now

when Gharib saw his brother in the Ghul’s clutches, he cried out,

saying, “Allaho Akbar God is most Great! Oh the favour of Abraham the

Friend, the Muhammad,[FN#338] the Blessed One (whom Allah keep and

assain!)”—And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying

her permitted say,

When it was the Six Hundred and Twenty-ninth Night,

She continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when Gharib

saw his brother in the clutches of the Ghul, he cried out, saying “Oh

the favour of Ibrahim, the Friend, the Blessed One (whom Allah keep

and assain!) ”; and crave his charger at Sa’adan, shaking his mace,

till the rings loud rang. Then he cried out again, “God is most Great!”

and smote the Ghul on the flat of the ribs with his mace, whereupon he

fell to the ground, insensible, and loosed his grip on Sahim; nor did

he come to himself ere he was pinioned and shackled. When his son saw

this, he turned and fled; but Gharib drove steed after him and smiting

him with his mace between the shoulders, threw him from his horse. So

they bound him with his father and brethren and haltering them with

ropes, haled them all six along like baggage-camels, till they reached

the Ghul’s castle, which they found full of goods and treasures and

things of price; and there they also came upon twelve hundred Ajamis,

men of Persia, bound and shackled. Gharib sat down on Sa’adan’s chair,

which had aforetime belonged to Sásá[FN#339] bin Shays bin Shaddad

bin Ad causing Sahim to stand on his right and his companions on his

either hand, and sending for the Ghul of the Mountain, said to him,

“How findest thou thyself, O accursed?” Replied Sa’adan, “O my lord, in

the sorriest of plights for abasement and mortification; my sons and

I, we are bound with ropes like camels.” Quoth Gharib, “It is my will

that you enter my faith, the faith Al-Islam highs, and acknowledge

the Unity of the All knowing King whose All-might created Light and

Night and every thing, there is no God but He, the Requiting King! and

confess the mission and prophethood of Abraham the Friend (on whom be

peace!).” So the Ghul and his sons made the required profession after

the goodliest fashion, and Gharib bade loose their bonds; whereupon

Sa’adan wept and would have kissed his feet, he and his sons: but

Gharib forbade them and they stood with the rest who stood before him.

Then said Gharib, “Harkye, Sa’adan!”; and he replied, “At thy service,

O my lord!” Quoth Gharib, “What are these captives?” “O my lord,”

quoth the Ghul, “these are my game from the land of the Persians and

are not the only ones.” Asked Gharib, “And who is with them?”; and

Sa’adan answered, “O my lord, there is with them the Princess Fakhr

Táj, daughter of King Sabúr of Persia,[FN#340] and an hundred damsels

like moons.” When Gharib heard this, he marvelled and said, “O Emir,

how came ye by these?” Replied Sa’adan, “I went forth one night with

my sons and five of my slaves in quest of booty, but finding no spoil

in our way, we dispersed over wilds and words and fared on, hoping

we might happen on somewhat of prey and not return emptyhanded, till

we found ourselves in the land of the Persians. Presently, we espied

a dust cloud and sent on to reconnoitre one of our slaves, who was

absent a while and presently returned and said, O my lord, this is the

Princess Fakhr Taj, daughter of Sabur, King of the Persians, Turcomans

and Medes; and she is on a journey, attended by two thousand horse.’

Quoth I, Thou hast gladdened us with good news! We could have no finer

loot than this.’ Then I and my sons fell upon the Persians and slew

of them three hundred men and took the Princess and twelve hundred

cavaliers prisoners, together with all that was with her of treasure

and riches and brought them to this our castle.” Quoth Gharib, “Hast

thou offered any violence to the Princess Fakhr Taj?” Quoth Sa’adan,

“Not I, as thy head liveth and by the virtue of the Faith I have but

now embraced!” Gharib replied “It was well done of thee, O Sa’adan,

for her father is King of the world and doubtless he will despatch

troops in quest of her and lay waste the dwellings of those who took

her. And whoso looketh not to issue and end hath not Fate to friend.

But where is the damsel?” Said Sa’adan, “I have set apart a pavilion

for her and her damsels;” and said Gharib, “Show me her lodging,”

whereto Sa’adan rejoined, “Hearkening and obedience!” So he carried

him to the pavilion, and there he found the Princess mournful and cast

down, weeping for her former condition of dignity and delight. When

Gharib saw her, he thought the moon was near him and magnified Allah,

the All-hearing, the All-seeing. The Princess also looked at him and

saw him a princely cavalier, with velour shining from between his eyes

and testifying for him and not against him; so she rose and kissed his

hands, then fell at his feet, saying, “O hero of the age, I am under

thy protection; guard me from this Ghul, for I fear lest he do away my

maidenhead and after devour me. So take me to serve thine handmaidens.”

Quoth Gharib, “Thou art safe and thou shalt be restored to thy father

and the seat of thy worship.” Whereupon she prayed that he might

live long and have advancement in rank and honour. Then he bade

unbind the Persians and, turning to the Princess, said to her, “What

brought thee forth of thy palace to the wilds and wastes, so that the

highway-robbers made prize of thee?” She replied, “O my lord, my father

and all the people of his realm, Turks and Daylamites, are Magians,

worshipping fire, and not the All-powerful King. Now in our country is

a monastery called the Monastery of the Fire, whither every year the

daughters of the Magians and worshippers of the Fire resort at the time

of their festival and abide there a month, after which they return to

their houses. So I and my damsels set out, as of wont, attended by two

thousand horse, whom my father sent with me to guard me; but by the

way this Ghul came out against us and slew some of us and, taking the

rest captive, imprisoned us in this hold. This, then, is what befel

me, O valiant champion, whom Allah guard against the shifts of Time!”

And Gharib said, “Fear not; for I will bring thee to thy palace and

the seat of thy honours.” Wherefore she blessed him and kissed his

hands and feet. Then he went out from her, after having commanded

to treat her with respect, and slept till morning, when he made the

Wuzu-ablution and prayed a two-bow prayer, after the rite of our father

Abraham the Friend (on whom be peace!), whilst the Ghul and his sons

and Gharib’s company all did the like after him. Then he turned to the

Ghul and said to him, “O Sa’adan, wilt thou not show me the Wady of

Blossoms?”[FN#341] “I will, O my lord,” answered he. So Gharib and his

company and Princess Fakhr Taj and her maidens all rose and went forth,

whilst Sa’adan commanded his slaves and slave-girls to slaughter and

cook and make ready the morning-meal and bring it to them among the

trees. For the Giant had an hundred and fifty handmaids and a thousand

chattels to pasture his camels and oxen and sheep. When they came to

the valley, they found it beautiful exceedingly and passing all degree;

and birds on tree sang joyously and the mocking-nightingale trilled out

her melody, and the cushat filled with her moan the mansions made by

the Deity,—And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say

her permitted say,

When it was the Six Hundred and Thirtieth Night,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when Gharib and

his merry men and the Giant and his tribe reached the Wady of Blossoms

they found birds flying free; the cushat filling with her moan the

mansions made by the Deity, the bulbul singing as if ’twere human

harmony and the merle whom to describe tongue faileth utterly; the

turtle, whose plaining maddens men for loveecstasy and the ringdove and

the popinjay answering her with fluency. There also were trees laden

with all manner of fruitery, of each two kinds,[FN#342] the

pomegranate, sweet and sour upon branches growing luxuriantly, the

almond-apricot,[FN#343] the camphor-apricot[FN#344] and the almond

Khorasan highs; the plum, with whose branches the boughs of the

myrobalan were entwined tight; the orange, as it were a cresses flaming

light, the shaddock weighed down with heavy freight; the lemon, that

cures lack of appetite, the citron against jaundice of sovereign might,

and the date, red and yellow-bright, the especial handiwork of Allah

the Most High. Of the like of this place saith the enamoured poet,

“When its birds in the lake make melody, * The lorn lover

yearneth its sight to see:

’Tis as Eden breathing a fragrant breeze, * With its shade and

fruits and rills flowing free.”

Gharib marvelled at the beauty of that Wady and bade them set up there

the pavilion of Fakhr Taj the Chosroite; so they pitched it among the

trees and spread it with rich tapestries. Then he sat down and the

slaves brought food and they ate their sufficiency; after which quoth

Gharib, “Harkye, Sa’adan!”: and quoth he, “At thy service, O my lord.”

“Hast thou aught of wine?” asked Gharib, and Sa’adan answered, “Yes, I

have a cistern full of old wine.” Said Gharib, “Bring us some of it.”

So Sa’adan sent ten slaves, who returned with great plenty of wine, and

they ate and drank and were mirthful and merry. And Gharib bethought

him of Mahdiyah and improvised these couplets,

“I mind our union days when ye were nigh, * And flames my heart

with love’s consuming lowe.

By Allah, Ne’er of will I quitted you: * But shifts of Time from

you compelled me go:

Peace and fair luck and greetings thousand-fold * To you, from

exiled lover’s pining woe.”

They abode eating and drinking and taking their pleasure in the valley

for three days, after which they returned to the castle. Then Gharib

called Sahim and said to him, “Take an hundred horse and go to thy

father and mother and thy tribe, the Banu Kahtan, and bring them all to

this place, here to pass the rest of their days, whilst I carry the

Princess of Persia back to her father. As for thee, O Sa’adan, tarry

thou here with thy sons, till I return to thee.” Asked Sa’adan, “And

why wilt thou not carry me with thee to the land of the Persians?”; and

Gharib answered, “Because thou stolest away King Sabur’s daughter and

if his eye fall on thee, he will eat thy flesh and drink thy blood.”

When the Ghul heard this, he laughed a loud laugh, as it were the

pealing thunder, and said, “O my lord, by the life of thy head, if the

Persians and Medes united against me, I would make them quaff the cup

of annihilation.” Quoth Gharib, “’Tis as thou sayest;[FN#345] but

tarry thou here in fort till I return to thee;” and quoth the Ghul, “I

hear and I obey.” Then Sahim departed with his comrades of the Banu

Kahtan for the dwelling places of their tribe, and Gharib set out with

Princess Fakhr Taj and her company, intending for the cities of Sabur,

King of the Persians. Thus far concerning them; but as regards King

Sabur, he abode awaiting his daughter’s return from the Monastery of

the Fire, and when the appointed time passed by and she came not,

flames raged in his heart. Now he had forty Wazirs, whereof the oldest,

wisest and chiefest was highs Daydán: so he said to him, “O Minister,

verily my daughter delayeth her return and I have no news of her though

the appointed time is past; so do thou send a courier to the Monastery

of the Fire to learn what is come of her.” “Hearkening and obedience,”

replied Daydan; and, summoning the chief of the couriers, said to him,

“Wend thou forthright to the Monastery.” So he lost no time and when he

reached it, he asked the monks of the King’s daughter, but they said,

“We have not seen her this year.” So the courier returned to the city

of Isbánír[FN#346] and told the Wazir, who went in to the King and

acquainted him with the message. Now when Sabur heard this, he cast his

crown on the ground, tore his beard and fell down in a trance. They

sprinkled water upon him, and presently he came to himself,

tearful-eyed and heavy-hearted, and repeated the words of the poet,

“When I far-parted patience call and tears, * Tears came to call

but Patience never hears:

What, then, if Fortune parted us so far? * Fortune and Perfidy

are peers

Then he called ten of his captains and bade them mount with a thousand

horse and ride in different directions, in quest of his daughter. So

they mounted forthright and departed each with his thousand; whilst

Fakhr Taj’s mother clad herself and her women in black and strewed

ashes on her head and sat weeping and lamenting. Such was their

case;—And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her

permitted say.

When it was the Six Hundred and Thirty-first Night,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that King Sabur sent

his troops in quest of his daughter, whose mother clad herself and her

women in black. Such was their case; but as regards the strange

adventures of Gharib and the Princess, they journeyed on ten days, and

on the eleventh day, appeared a dust cloud which rose to the confines

of the sky; whereupon Gharib called the Emir of the Persians and said

to him, “Go learn the cause thereof.” “I hear and obey,” replied he and

crave his charger, till he came under the cloud of dust, where he saw

folk and enquired of them. Quoth one of them, “We are of the Banu

Hattál and are questing for plunder; our Emir is Samsam bin Al-Jiráh

and we are five thousand horse.” The Persians returned in haste and

told their saying to Gharib, who cried out to his men of the Banu

Kahtan and to the Persians, saying, “Don your arms!” They did as he

bade them and presently up came the Arabs who were shouting, “A

plunder! a plunder!” Quoth Gharib, “Allah confound you, O dogs of

Arabs!” Then he loosed his horse and drove at them with the career of a

right valiant knight, shouting, “Allaho Akbar! Ho for the faith of

Abraham the Friend, on whom be peace!” And there befel between them

great fight and sore fray and the sword went round in sway and there

was much said and say; nor did they leave fighting till fled the day

and gloom came, when they drew from one another away. Then Gharib

numbered his tribesmen and found that five of the Banu Kahtan had

fallen and three-and-seventy of the Persians; but of the Banu Hattal

they had slain more than five hundred horse. As for Samsam, he alighted

and sought nor meat nor sleep, but said, “In all my life I never saw

such a fighter as this youth! Anon he fighteth with the sword and anon

with the mace; but, to-morrow I will go forth on champion wise and defy

him to combat of twain in battle plain where edge and point are fain

and I will cut off these Arabs.” Now, when Gharib returned to his camp,

the Princess Fakhr Taj met him, weeping and affrighted for the terror

of that which had befallen, and kissed his foot in the stirrup, saying,

“May thy hands never wither nor thy foes be blither, O champion of the

age! Alhamdolillah—Praise to God—who hath saved thee alive this day!

Verily, I am in fear for thee from yonder Arabs.” When Gharib heard

this, he smiled in her face and heartened and comforted her, saying,

“Fear not, O Princess! Did the enemy fill this wild and wold yet would

I scatter them, by the might of Allah Almighty.” She thanked him and

prayed that he might be given the victory over his foes; after which

she returned to her women and Gharib went to his tent, where he

cleansed himself of the blood of the Infidels, and they lay on guard

through the night. Next morning, the two hosts mounted and sought the

plain where cut and thrust ruled sovereign. The first to prick into the

open was Gharib, who crave his charger till he was near the Infidels

and cried out, “Who is for jousting with me? Let no sluggard or

weakling come out to me!” Whereupon there rushed forth a giant

Amalekite of the lineage of the tribe of Ad, armed with an iron flail

twenty pounds in weight, and drove at Gharib, saying, “O scum of the

Arabs, take what cometh to thee and learn the glad tidings that thy

last hour is at hand!” So saying, he aimed a blow at Gharib, but he

avoided it and the flail sank a cubit into the ground. Now the badawi

was bent double with the blow, so Gharib smote him with his mace and

clove his forehead in sunder and he fell down dead and Allah hurried

his soul to Hell-fire. Then Gharib charged and wheeled and called for

champions; so there came out to him a second and a third and a fourth

and so on, till ten had come forth to him and he slew them all. When

the Infidels saw his form of fight and his smashing blows they hung

back and forebore to fare forth to him, whereupon Samsam looked at them

and said, “Allah never bless you! I will go forth to him.” So he donned

his battle-gear and driving his charger into mid-field where he fronted

the foe and cried out to Gharib saying, “Fie on thee, O dog of the

Arabs! hath thy strength waxed so great that thou shouldst defy me in

the open field and slaughter my men?” And Gharib replied, “Up and take

bloodrevenge for the slaughter of thy braves!” So Samsam ran at Gharib

who awaited him with broadened breast and heart enheartened, and they

smote each at other with maces, till the two hosts marvelled and every

eye was fixed on them. Then they wheeled about in the field and struck

at each other two strokes; but Gharib avoided Samsam’s stroke which

wreak had wroke and dealt with a buffet that beat in his breastbone and

cast him to the ground—stone dead. Thereupon all his host ran at Gharib

as one man, and he ran at them, crying, “God is most Great! Help and

Victory for us and shame and defeat for those who misbelieve the faith

of Abraham the Friend, on whom be peace!”—And Shahrazad perceived the

dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say,

When it was the Six Hundred and Thirty-second Night,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when Sam sam’s

tribesmen rushed upon Gharib as one man, he ran at them crying, “God is

most Great! Help and Victory for us and shame and defeat for the

Miscreant!” Now when the Infidels heard the name of the All-powerful

King, the One, the All-conquering, whom the sight comprehendeth not,

but He comprehendeth the sight,[FN#347] they looked at one another and

said, “What is this say that maketh our side-muscles tremble and

weakeneth our resolution and causeth the life to fail in us? Never in

our lives heard we aught goodlier than this saying!” adding, “Let us

leave fighting, that we may ask its meaning.” So they held their hands

from the battle and dismounted; and their elders assembled and held

counsel together, seeking to go to Gharib and saying, “Let ten of us

repair to him!” So they chose out ten of their best, who set out for

Gharib’s tents. Now he and his people had alighted and returned to

their camp, marvelling at the withdrawal of the Infidels from the

fight. But, presently, lo and behold! the ten came up and seeking

speech of Gharib, kissed the earth before him and wished him glory and

lasting life. Quoth he to them, “What made you leave fighting?”; and

quoth they, “O, my lord, thou didst affright us with the words thou

shoutest out at us.” Then asked Gharib, “What calamity do ye worship?”;

and they answered, “We worship Wadd and Suwá’a and Yaghús,[FN#348]

lords of the tribe of Noah”; and Gharib, “We serve none but Allah

Almighty, Maker of all things and Provider of all livings. He it is who

created the heavens and the earth and stablished the mountains, who

made water to well from the stones and the trees to grow and feedeth

wild beasts in word; for He is Allah, the One, the All-powerful Lord.”

When they heard this, their bosoms broadened to the words of

Unity-faith, and they said, “Verily, this be a Lord high and great,

compassionating and compassionate!”; adding, “And what shall we say, to

become of the Moslems, of those which submit themselves to Him?” Quoth

Gharib, “Say, There is no god but the God and Abraham is the Friend of

God.’” So the ten made veracious profession of the veritable religion

and Gharib said to them, “An the sweet savour of Al-Islam be indeed

stablished in your hearts, fare ye to your tribe and expound the faith

to them; and if they profess, they shall be saved, but if they refuse

we will burn them with fire.” So the ten elders returned and expounded

Al-Islam to their people and set forth to them the path of truth and

creed, and they embraced the Faith of Submission with heart and tongue.

Then they repaired on foot to Gharib’s tent and kissing ground between

his hands wished him honour and high rank, saying, “O our lord, we are

become thy slaves; so command us what thou wilt, for we are to thee

audient and obedient and we will never depart from thee, since Allah

hath guided us into the right way at thy hands.” Replied he, “Allah

abundantly requite you! Return to your dwellings and march forth with

your good and your children and forego me to the Wady of Blossoms and

the castle of Sásá bin Shays,[FN#349] whilst I carry the Princess Fakhr

Taj, daughter of Sabur, King of the Persians, back to her father and

return to you.” “Hearkening and obedience,” said they and straightway

returned to their encampment, rejoicing in Al-Islam, and expounded the

True Faith to their wives and children, who became Believers. Then they

struck their tents and set forth, with their good and cattle, for the

Wady of Blossoms. When they came in sight of the castle of Shays,

Sa’adan and his sons sallied forth to them, but Gharib had charged

them, saying, “If the Ghul of the Mountain come out to you and offer to

attack you, do ye call upon the name of Allah the All-creator, and he

will leave his hostile intent and receive you hospitably.” So when he

would have fallen upon them they called aloud upon the name of Almighty

Allah and straightway he received them kindly and asked them of their

case. They told him all that had passed between Gharib and themselves,

whereupon he rejoiced in them and lodged them with him and loaded them

with favours. Such was their case; but as regards Gharib, he and his,

escorting the Princess fared on five days’ journey towards the City of

Isbanir, and on the sixth day they saw a dust-cloud. So Gharib sent one

of the Persians to learn the meaning of this and he went and returned,

swiftlier than bird in flight, saying, “O my lord, these be a thousand

horse of our comrades, whom the King hath sent in quest of his daughter

Fakhr Taj.” When Gharib heard this, he commanded his company to halt

and pitch the tents. So they halted and waited till the new comers

reached them, when they went to meet them and told Túmán, their

captain, that the Princess was with them; whereupon he went in to

Gharib and kissing the ground before him, enquired for her. Gharib sent

him to her pavilion, and he entered and kissed her hands and feet and

acquainted her with what had befallen her father and mother. She told

him in return all that had betided her and how Gharib had delivered her

from the Ghul of the Mountain,—And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day

and ceased saying her permitted say,

When it was the Six Hundred and Thirty-third Night,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the King’s

daughter, Fakhr Taj, had told Tuman all that had befallen her from the

Mountain-Ghul, and how he had imprisoned her and would have devoured

her but for Gharib, adding, “And indeed, it behoveth my sire to give

him the half of his reign,” Tuman arose and returned to Gharib and

kissed his hands and feet and thanked him for his good dealing, saying,

“With thy leave, O my lord, I will return to Isbanir City and deliver

to our King the good news of his daughter’s approach.” “Go,” replied

Gharib, “and take of him the gift of glad tidings.” So Tuman returned

with all diligence to Isbanir, the Cities, and entering the palace,

kissed ground before the King, who said to him, “What is there of new,

O bringer of good news?” Quoth Tuman, “I will not speak thee, till thou

give me the gift of glad tidings.” Quoth the King, “Tell me thy glad

tidings and I will content thee.” So Tuman said, “O King, I bring thee

joyful intelligence of the return of Princess Fakhr Taj.” When Sabur

heard his daughter’s name, he fell down fainting and they sprinkled

rose-water on him, till he recovered and cried to Tuman, “Draw near to

me and tell me all the good which hath befallen her.” So he came

forward and acquainted him with all that had betided the Princess; and

Sabur beat hand upon hand, saying, “Unhappy thou, O Fakhr

Taj!”[FN#350] And he bade give Tuman ten thousand gold pieces and

conferred on him the government of Isfáhán City and its dependencies.

Then he cried out to his Emirs, saying, “Mount, all of you, and fare we

forth to meet the Princess Fakhr Taj!”; and the Chief Eunuch went in to

the Queen-mother and told her and all the Harim the good news, whereat

she rejoiced and gave him a robe of honour and a thousand dinars.

Moreover, the people of the city heard of this and decorated the market

streets and houses. Then the King and Tuman took horse and rode till

they had sight of Gharib, when Sabur footed it and made some steps

towards Gharib, who also dismounted and advanced to meet him; and they

embraced and saluted each other, and Sabur bent over Gharib’s hand and

kissed it and thanked him for his favours.[FN#351] They pitched their

pavilions in face of each other and Sabur went in to his daughter, who

rose and embracing him told him, all that had befallen her and how

Gharib had rescued her from the clutches of the Ghul of the Mountain.

Quoth the King, “By thy life, O Princess of fair ones, I will overwhelm

him with gifts!”; and quoth she, “O my papa, make him thy son-in-law,

that he may be to thee a force against thy foes, for he is passing

valiant.” Her father replied, “O my daughter, knowest thou not that King

Khirad Sháh seeketh thee in marriage and that he hath cast the

brocade[FN#352] and hath given an hundred thousand dinars in

settlement, and he is King of Shiraz and its dependencies and is lord

of empire and horsemen and footmen?” But when the Princess heard these

words she said, “O my papa! I desire not that whereof thou speakest,

and if thou constrain me to that I have no mind to, I will slay

myself.” So Sabur left her and went in to Gharib, who rose to him; and

they sat awhile together; but the King could not take his fill of

looking upon him; and he said in his mind, “By Allah, my daughter is

excusable if she love this Badawi!” Then he called for food and they

ate and passed the night together. On the morrow, they took horse and

rode till they arrived at the City of Isbanir and entered, stirrup to

stirrup, and it was for them a great day. Fakhr Taj repaired to her

palace and the abiding-place of her rank, where her mother and her

women received her with cries of joy and loud lullilooings. As for King

Sabur, he sat down on his throne and seated Gharib on his right hand,

whilst the Princes and Chamberlains, the Emirs, Wazirs and Nabobs stood

on either hand and gave him joy of the recovery of his daughter. Said

Sabur, “Whoso loveth me let him bestow a robe of honour on Gharib,” and

there fell dresses of honour on him like drops of rain. Then Gharib

abode the King’s guest ten days, when he would have departed, but Sabur

clad him in an honourable robe and swore him by his faith that he

should not march for a whole month. Quoth Gharib, “O King, I am

plighted to one of the girls of the Arabs and I desire to go in to

her.” Quoth the King, “Whether is the fairer, thy betrothed or Fakhr

Taj?” “O King of the age,” replied Gharib, “what is the slave beside

the lord?” And Sabur said, “Fakhr Taj is become thy handmaid, for that

thou didst rescue her from the pounces of the Ghul, and she shall have

none other husband than thyself.” Thereupon Gharib rose and kissed

ground, saying, “O King of the age, thou art a sovereign and I am but a

poor man, and belike thou wilt ask a heavy dowry.” Replied the King, “O

my son, know that Khirad Shah, lord of Shiraz and dependencies thereof,

seeketh her in marriage and hath appointed an hundred thousand dinars

to her dower; but I have chosen thee before all men, that I may make

thee the sword of my kingship and my shield against

vengeance.”[FN#353] Then he turned to his Chief Officers and said to

them, “Bear witness[FN#354] against me, O Lords of mine Empire, that I

marry my daughter Fakhr Taj to my son Gharib.”—And Shahrazad perceived

the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say,

When it was the Six Hundred and Thirty-fourth Night,

She continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Sabur, King

of Ajam-land said to his Chief Officers, “Bear ye witness against me

that I marry my daughter Fakhr Taj, to my son Gharib!” With that he

joined palms[FN#355] with him and she became his wife. Then said

Gharib, “Appoint me a dower and I will bring it to thee, for I have in

the Castle of Sasa wealth and treasures beyond count.” Replied Sabur,

“O my son, I want of thee neither treasure nor wealth and I will take

nothing for her dower save the head of Jamrkán King of Dasht and the

city of Ahwáz.[FN#356]” Quoth Gharib, “O King of the age, I will fetch

my folk forthright and go to thy foe and spoil his realm.” Quoth Sabur,

“Allah requite thee with good!” and dismissed the lords and commons,

thinking, “If Gharib go forth against Jamrkan, he will never more

return.” When morning morrowed the King mounted with Gharib and bidding

all his troops take horse rode forth to the plain, where he said to his

men, “Do ye tilt with spears and gladden my heart.” So the champions of

Persia land played one against other, and Gharib said, “O King of the

age, I have a mind to tilt with the horsemen of Ajam-land, but on one

condition.” Asked the King, “What is that?”; and answered Gharib, “It

is that I shall don a light tunic and take a headless lance, with a

pennon dipped in saffron, whilst the Persian champions sally forth and

tilt against me with sharp spears. If any conquer me, I will render

myself to him: but, if I conquer him I will mark him on the breast and

he shall leave the plain.” Then the King cried to the commander of the

troops to bring forward the champions of the Persians; so he chose out

from amongst the Princes one thousand two hundred of his stoutest

champions, and the King said to them, in the Persian tongue, “Whoso

slayeth this Badawi may ask of me what he will.” So they strove with

one another for precedence and charged down upon Gharib and truth was

distinguished from falsehood and jest from earnest. Quoth Gharib, “I

put my trust in Allah, the God of Abraham the Friend, the Deity who

hath power over all and from whom naught is hidden, the One, the

Almighty, whom the sight comprehendeth not!” Then an Amalekite-like

giant of the Persian champions rushed out to him, but Gharib let him

not stand long before him ere he marked him and covered his breast with

saffron and as he turned away, he smote him on the nape with the shaft

of his lance, and he fell to the ground and his pages bore him from the

lists.[FN#357] Then a second champion came forth against him and he

overcame him and marked him on the breast; and thus did he with a third

and a fourth and a fifth; and there came out against him champion after

champion till he had overcome them all and marked them on the breast;

for Almighty Allah gave him the victory over them and they fared forth

vanquish from the plain. Then the servants set food and strong wine

before them! and they ate and drank, till Gharib’s wits were dazed by

the drink. By and by, he went out to obey a call of Nature and would

have returned, but lost his way and entered the palace of Fakhr Taj.

When she saw him, her reason fled and she cried out to her women

saying, “Go forth from me to your own places!” So they withdrew and she

rose and kissed Gharib’s hand, saying “Welcome to my lord, who

delivered me from the Ghul! Indeed I am thine handmaid for ever and

ever.” Then she drew him to her bed and embraced him, whereupon desire

was hot upon him and he broke her seal and lay with her till the

morning. Meanwhile the King thought that he had departed; but on the

morrow he went in to him and Sabur rose to him and made him sit by his

side. Then entered the tributary kings and kissing the ground stood

ranged in rows on the right and left and fell to talking of Gharib’s

velour and saying, “Extolled be He who gave him such prowess albeit he

is so young in years!” As they were thus engaged, behold all espied

from the palace-windows the dust of horse approaching and the King

cried out to his scouts, saying, “Woe to you! Go and bring me news of

yonder dust!” So a cavalier took horse and riding off, returned after a

while, and said “O King, we found under that dust an hundred horse

belonging to an Emir highs Sahim al-Layl.” Gharib hearing these words,

cried out, “O my lord, this is my brother, whom I had sent on an

errand, and I will go forth to meet him.” So saying, he mounted, with

his hundred men of the Banu Kahtan and a thousand Persians, and rode to

meet his brother in great state, but greatness belongeth to God

alone.[FN#358] When the two came up with each other, they dismounted

and embraced, and Gharib said to Sahim, “O my brother, hast thou

brought our tribe to the Castle of Sasa and the Wady of Blossoms?” “O

my brother,” replied Sahim, “when the perfidious dog Mardas heard that

thou hadst made thee master of the stronghold belonging to the

Mountain-Ghul, he was sore chagrined and said, Except I march hence,

Gharib will come and carry off my daughter Mahdiyah without dower.’ So

he took his daughter and his goods and set out with his tribe for the

land of Irak, where he entered the city of Cufa and put himself under

the protection of King Ajib, seeking to give him his daughter to wife.”

When Gharib heard his brother’s story, he well-nigh gave up the ghost

for rage and said, “By the virtue of the faith of Al-Islam, the faith

of Abraham the Friend, and by the Supreme Lord, I will assuredly go to

the land of Irak and fierce war upon it I will set on foot.” Then they

returned to the city and going in to the King, kissed ground before

him. He rose to Gharib and saluted Sahim; after which the elder brother

told him what had happened and he put ten captains at his commandment,

under each one’s hand ten thousand horse of the doughtiest of the Arabs

and the Ajams, who equipped themselves and were ready to depart in

three days. Then Gharib set out and journeyed till he reached the

Castle of Sasa whence the Ghul and his sons came forth to meet him and

dismounting, kissed his feet in the stirrups. He told them all that had

passed and the giant said, “O my lord, do thou abide in this thy

castle, whilst I with my sons and servants repair to Irak and lay waste

the city Al-Rusták[FN#359] and bring to thy hand all its defenders

bound in straitest bond.” But Gharib thanked him and said, “O Sa’adan,

we will all go.” So he made him ready and the whole body set out for

Irak, leaving a thousand horse to guard the Castle. Thus far concerning

them; but as regards Mardas, he arrived with his tribe in the land of

Irak bringing with him a handsome present and fared for Cufa-city which

he entered. Then, he presented himself before Ajib and kissed ground

between his hands and, after wishing him what is wished to kings, said,

“O my lord, I come to place myself under thy protection.”—And Shahrazad

perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say,

When it was the Six Hundred and Thirty-fifth Night,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King that Mardas coming into

the presence of Ajib, said to him, “I come to place myself under thy

protection!” Quoth Ajib, “Tell me who hath wronged thee, that I may

protect thee against him, though it were Sabur, King of the Persians

and Turcomans and Daylamites.” Quoth Mardas, “O King of the Age, he who

hath wronged me is none other than a youth whom I reared in my bosom. I

found him in his mother’s lap in a certain valley and took her to wife

She brought me a son, whom I named Sahim al-Layl, and her own son,

Gharib highs, grew up on my knees and became a blasting thunderbolt and

a lasting calamity,[FN#360] for he smote Al-Hamal,[FN#361] Prince of

the Banu Nabhan, and slew footmen and threw horsemen. Now I have a

daughter, who befitteth thee alone, and he sought her of me; so I

required of him the head of the Ghul of the Mountain, wherefore he went

to him and, after engaging him in singular combat, made the master his

man and took the Castle of Sasa bin Shays bin Shaddad bin Ad, wherein

are the treasures of the ancients and the hoards of the moderns.

Moreover, I hear that, become a Moslem, he goeth about, summoning the

folk to his faith. He is now gone to bear the Princess of Persia, whom

he delivered from the Ghul, back to her father, King Sabur, and will

not return but with the treasures of the Persians.” When Ajib heard the

story of Mardas he changed colour to yellow and was in ill case and

made sure of his own destruction; then he said, “O Mardas, is the

youth’s mother with thee or with him?”; and Mardas replied, “She is

with me in my tents.” Quoth Ajib, “What is her name?”; quoth Mardas,

“Her name is Nusrah.” “’Tis very she,” rejoined Ajib and sent for her

to the presence. Now when she came before him, he looked on her and

knew her and asked her, “O accursed, where are the two slaves I sent

with thee?”; and she answered, “They slew each other on my account;”

whereupon Ajib bared his blade and smote her and cut her in twain. Then

they dragged her away and cast her out; but trouble and suspicion

entered Ajib’s heart and he cried, “O Mardas, give me thy daughter to

wife.” He rejoined, “She is one of thine handmaids: I give her to thee

to wife, and I am thy slave.” Said Ajib, “I desire to look upon this

son of an adulteress, Gharib, that I may destroy him and cause him

taste all manner of torments.” Then he bade give Mardas, to his

daughter’s dowry, thirty thousand dinars and an hundred pieces of

silk-brocaded and fringed with gold and an hundred pieces of silk

bordered stuffs and kerchiefs and golden collars. So he went forth with

this mighty fine dowry and set himself to equip Mahdiyah in all

diligence. Such was their case; but as regards Gharib, he fared on till

he came to Al-Jazírah, which is the first town of Al-Irak[FN#362] and

is a walled and fortified city and he hard by it called a halt. When

the townsfolk saw his army encamped before it, they bolted the gates

and manned the walls, then went to the King of the city, who was called

Al-Dámigh, the Brainer, for that he used to brain the champions in the

open field of fight, and told him what was come upon them. So he looked

forth from the battlements of the palace and seeing a conquering host,

all of them Persians, encamped before the city, said to the citizens,

“O folk, what do yonder Ajams want?”; and they replied, “We know not.”

Now Al-Damigh had among his officers a man called Saba’ al-Kifár, the

Desert-lion, keen of wit and penetrating as he were a flame of fire; so

he called him and said to him, “Go to this stranger host and find out

who they be and what they want and return quickly.” Accordingly, he

sped like the wind to the Persian tents, where a company of Arabs rose

up and met him saying, “Who art thou and what dost thou require?” He

replied, “I am a messenger and an envoy from the lord of the city to

your chief.” So they took him and carried him through the lines of

tents, pavilions and standards, till they came to Gharib’s Shahmiyánah

and told him of the mission. He bade them bring him in and they did so,

whereupon he kissed ground before Gharib and wished him honour and

length of days. Quoth Gharib, “What is thine errand?” and quoth Saba’

al-Kifar, “I am an envoy from the lord of the city of Al-Jazirah,

Al-Damigh, brother of King Kundamir, lord of the city of Cufa and the

land of Irak.” When Gharib heard his father’s name, the tears railed

from his eyes in rills and he looked at the messenger and said, “What

is thy name?”; and he replied, “My name is Saba’ al-Kifar.” Said

Gharib, “Return to thy lord and tell him that the commander of this

host is called Gharib, son of Kundamir, King of Cufa, whom his son Ajib

slew, and he is come to take blood-revenge for his sire on Ajib the

perfidious hound.” So Saba’ al-Kifar returned to the city and in great

joy kissed the ground, when Al-Damigh said, “What is going on there, O

Saba’ al-Kifar?” He replied, “O my master, the leader of yon host is

thy nephew, thy brother’s son,” and told him all. The King deemed

himself in a dream and asked the messenger, “O Saba’ al-Kifar, is this

thou tellest me true?” and the Desert-lion answered, “As thy head

liveth, it is sooth!” Then Al-Damigh bade his chief officers take horse

forthright and all rode out to the camp, whence Gharib came forth and

met him and they embraced and saluted each other; after which Gharib

carried him to his tents and they sat down on beds of estate. Al-Damigh

rejoiced in Gharib, his brother’s son, and presently turning to him,

said, “I also have yearned to take blood-revenge for thy father, but

could not avail against the dog thy brother; for that his troops are

many and my troops are few.” Replied Gharib, “O uncle, here am I come

to avenge my sire and blot out our shame and rid the realm of Ajib.”

Said Al-Damigh, “O son of my brother, thou hast two blood-wreaks to

take, that of thy father and that of thy mother.” Asked Gharib, “And

what aileth my mother?” and Al-Damigh answered, “Thy brother Ajib hath

slain her.”—And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say

her permitted say,

When it was the Six Hundred and Thirty-sixth Night,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when Gharib heard

these words of his uncle Al-Damigh, “Verily thy brother Ajib hath slain

her!”, he asked what was the cause thereof and was told of all that had

happened, especially how Mardas had married his daughter to Ajib who

was about to go into her. Thereupon Gharib’s reason fled from his head

and he swooned away and was nigh upon death. No sooner did he come to

himself than he cried out to the troops, saying, “To horse!” But

Al-Damigh said to him, “O son of my brother, wait till I make ready

mine affairs and mount among my men and fare with thee at thy stirrup.”

Replied Gharib “I have no patience to wait; do thou equip thy troops

and join me at Cufa.” Thereupon Gharib mounted with his troops and

rode, till he came to the town of Babel,[FN#363] whose folk took fright

at him. Now there was in this town a King called Jamak, under whose

hand were twenty thousand horsemen, and there gathered themselves

together to him from the villages other fifty thousand horse, who

pitched their tents facing the city. Then Gharib wrote a letter and

sent it to King Jamak by a messenger, who came up to the city-gate and

cried out, saying, “I am an envoy;” whereupon the Warder of the Gate

went in and told Jamak, who said, “Bring him to me.” So he led in the

messenger, who kissing the ground before the King, gave him the letter,

and Jamak opened it and read its contents as follows: “Praise be to

Allah, Lord of the Three Worlds, Lord of all things, who giveth to all

creatures their daily bread and who over all things is Omnipotent!

These from Gharib, son of King Kundamir, lord of Irak and Cufa, to

Jamak. Immediately this letter reacheth thee, let not thy reply be

other than to break thine idols and confess the unity of the

All-knowing King, Creator of light and darkness, Creator of all things,

the All-powerful; and except thou do as I bid thee, I will make this

day the blackest of thy days. Peace be on those who follow in the way

of Salvation, fearing the issues of fornication, and obey the hest of

the Most High King, Lord of this world and the next, Him who saith to a

thing, Be’; and it becometh!” Now when Jamak read this letter, his eyes

paled and his colour failed and he cried out to the messenger, “Go to

thy lord and say to him, To-morrow, at daybreak there shall be fight

and conflict and it shall appear who is the conquering hero.’” So he

returned and told Gharib, who bade his men make ready for battle,

whilst Jamak commanded his tents to be pitched in face of Gharib’s

camp; and his troops poured forth like the surging sea and passed the

night with intention of slaughter. As soon as dawned the day, the two

hosts mounted and drew up in battle array and beat their drums amain

and drave their steeds of swiftest strain; and they filled the whole

earthly plain; and the champions to come out were fain. Now the first

who sallied forth a championing to the field was the Ghul of the

Mountain, bearing on shoulder a terrible tree, and he cried out between

the two hosts, saying, “I am Sa’adan the Ghul! Who is for fighting, who

is for jousting? Let no sluggard come forth to me nor weakling.” And he

called out to his sons, saying, “Woe to you! Bring me fuel and fire,

for I am an-hungered.” So they cried upon their slaves who brought

firewood and kindled a fire in the heart of the plain. Then there came

out to him a man of the Kafirs, an Amalekite of the unbelieving

Amalekites, bearing on his shoulder a mace like the mast of a ship, and

drove at Sa’adan the Ghul, saying, “Woe to thee, O Sa’adan!” When the

giant heard this, he waxed furious beyond measure and raising his tree

club, aimed at the Infidel a blow, that hummed through the air. The

Amalekite met the stroke with his mace, but the tree beat down his

guard and descending with its own weight, together with the weight of

the mace upon his head, beat in his brain pan, and he fell like a

long-stemmed palm-tree. Thereupon Sa’adan cried to his slaves, saying,

“Take this fatted calf and roast him quickly.” So they hastened to skin

the Infidel and roasted him and brought him to the Ghul, who ate his

flesh and crunched his bones.[FN#364] Now when the Kafirs saw how

Sa’adan did with their fellow, their hair and pile stood on end; their

skins quaked, their colour changed, their hearts died within them and

they said to one another, “Whoso goeth out against this Ghul, he eateth

him and cracketh his bones and causeth him to lack the zephyr-wind of

the world.” Wherefore they held their hands, quailing for fear of the

Ghul and his sons and turned to fly, making for the town; but Gharib

cried out to his troops, saying, “Up and after the runaways!” So the

Persians and the Arabs crave after the King of Babel and his host and

caused sword to smite them, till they slew of them twenty thousand or

more. Then the fugitives crowded together in the city gate and they

killed of them much people; and they could not avail to shut the gate.

So the Arabs and the Persians entered with them, fighting, and Sa’adan,

snatching a mace from one of the slain, wielded it in the enemy’s face

and gained the city race-course. Thence he fought his way through the

foe and broke into the King’s palace, where he met with Jamak and so

smote him with the mace, that he toppled senseless to the ground. Then

he fell upon those who were in the palace and pounded them into pieces,

till all that were left cried out, “Quarter! Quarter!” and Sa’adan said

to them, “Pinion your King.”—And Shahrazad saw the dawn of day and

ceased saying her permitted say,

End of Vol 6.

Arabian Nights, Volume 6

Footnotes

[FN#1] Lane (vol. iii. 1) calls our old friend “Es-Sindibád of the

Sea,” and Benfey derives the name from the Sanskrit “Siddhapati”=lord

of sages. The etymology (in Heb. Sandabar and in Greek Syntipas) is

still uncertain, although the term often occurs in Arab stories; and

some look upon it as a mere corruption of “Bidpai” (Bidyápati). The

derivation offered by Hole (Remarks on the Arabian Nights’

Entertainments, by Richard Hole, LL.D. London, Cadell, 1797) from the

Persian ábád (a region) is impossible. It is, however, not a little

curious that this purely Persian word (=a “habitation”) should be found

in Indian names as early as Alexanders’ day, e.g. the “Dachina bades”

of the Periplus is “Dakhsin-ábád,” the Sansk. being “Dakshinapatha.”

[FN#2] A porter like the famous Armenians of Constantinople. Some

edits, call him “Al-Hindibád.”

[FN#3] Arab. “Karawán” (Charadrius dicnemus, Linn.): its shrill note is

admired by Egyptians and hated by sportsmen.

[FN#4] This ejaculation, still popular, averts the evil eye. In

describing Sindbad the Seaman the Arab writer seems to repeat what one

reads of Marco Polo returned to Venice.

[FN#5] Our old friend must not be confounded with the eponym of the

“Sindibád-námah;” the Persian book of Sindbad the Sage. See Night

dlxxviii.

[FN#6] The first and second are from Eccles. chaps. vii. 1, and ix. 4.

The Bul. Edit. reads for the third, “The grave is better than the

palace.” None are from Solomon, but Easterns do not “verify

quotations.”

[FN#7] Arab. “Kánún”; a furnace, a brasier before noticed (vol. v., p.

272); here a pot full of charcoal sunk in the ground, or a little

hearth of clay shaped like a horseshoe and opening down wind.

[FN#8] These fish-islands are common in the Classics, e.g. the Pristis

of Pliny (xvii. 4), which Olaus Magnus transfers to the Baltic (xxi. 6)

and makes timid as the whales of Nearchus. C. J. Solinus (Plinii Simia)

says, “Indica maria balćnas habent ultra spatia quatuor jugerum.” See

also Bochart’s Hierozoicon (i. 50) for Job’s Leviathan (xli. 16–17).

Hence deemed an island. A basking whale would readily suggest the

Krakan and Cetus of Olaus Magnus (xxi. 25). Al-Kazwíni’s famous

treatise on the “Wonders of the World” (Ajáib al-Makhlúkát) tells the

same tale of the “Sulahfah” tortoise, the colossochelys, for which see

Night dl.

[FN#9] Sindbad does not say that he was a shipwrecked man, being a

model in the matter of “travellers’ tales,” i.e. he always tells the

truth when an untruth would not serve him.

[FN#10] Lane (iii. 83) would make this a corruption of the Hindu

“Maharáj”=great Rajah: but it is the name of the great autumnal fęte of

the Guebres; a term composed of two good old Persian words “Mihr” (the

sun, whence “Mithras”) and “ján”=life. As will presently appear, in the

days of the Just King Anushirwán, the Persians possessed Southern

Arabia and East Africa south of Cape Guardafui (Jird Háfún). On the

other hand, supposing the word to be a corruption of Maharaj, Sindbad

may allude to the famous Narsinga kingdom in Mid-south India whose

capital was Vijaya-nagar; or to any great Indian Rajah even he of

Kachch (Cutch), famous in Moslem story as the Balhará (Ballaba Rais,

who founded the Ballabhi era; or the Zamorin of Camoens, the Samdry

Rajah of Malabar). For Mahrage, or Mihrage, see Renaudot’s “Two

Mohammedan Travellers of the Ninth Century.” In the account of Ceylon

by Wolf (English Transl. p. 168) it adjoins the “Ilhas de Cavalos” (of

wild horses) to which the Dutch merchants sent their brood-mares. Sir

W. Jones (Description of Asia, chapt. ii.) makes the Arabian island

Soborma or Mahráj=Borneo.

[FN#11] Arab. “Sáis”; the well-known Anglo-Indian word for a groom or

rather a “horse-keeper.”

[FN#12] Arab. “Darakah”; whence our word.

[FN#13] The myth of mares being impregnated by the wind was known to

the Classics of Europe; and the “sea-stallion” may have arisen from the

Arab practice of picketing mare asses to be covered by the wild ass.

Colonel J. D. Watson of the Bombay Army suggests to me that Sindbad was

wrecked at the mouth of the Ran of Kachch (Cutch) and was carried in a

boat to one of the Islands there formed during the rains and where the

wild ass (Equus Onager, Khar-gadh, in Pers. Gor-khar) still breeds.

This would explain the “stallions of the sea” and we find traces of the

ass blood in the true Kathiawár horse, with his dun colour, barred legs

and dorsal stripe.

[FN#14] The second or warrior caste (Kshatriya), popularly supposed to

have been annihilated by Battle-axe Ramá (Parashu Ráma); but several

tribes of Rajputs and other races claim the honourable genealogy.

Colonel Watson would explain the word by “Shakháyát” or noble Káthis

(Kathiawar-men), or by “Shikári,” the professional hunter here acting

as stable-groom.

[FN#15] In Bul. Edit. “Kábil.” Lane (iii. 88) supposes it to be the

“Bartail” of Al-Kazwini near Borneo and quotes the Spaniard B. L. de

Argensola (History of the Moluccas), who places near Banda a desert

island, Poelsatton, infamous for cries, whistlings, roarings and

dreadful apparitions, suggesting that it was peopled by devils

(Stevens, vol. i., p. 168).

[FN#16] Some texts substitute for this last phrase, “And the sailors

say that Al-Dajjál is there.” He is a manner of Moslem Antichrist, the

Man of Sin per excellentiam, who will come in the latter days and lay

waste the earth, leading 70,000 Jews, till encountered and slain by

Jesus at the gate of Lud. (Sale’s Essay, sect. 4.)

[FN#17] Also from Al-Kazwini: it is an exaggerated description of the

whale still common off the East African Coast. My crew was dreadfully

frightened by one between Berberah and Aden. Nearchus scared away the

whales in the Persian Gulf by trumpets (Strabo, lib. xv.). The

owl-faced fish is unknown to me: it may perhaps be a seal or a manatee.

Hole says that Father Martini, the Jesuit (seventeenth century), placed

in the Canton Seas, an “animal with the head of a bird and the tail of

a fish,”—a parrot-beak?

[FN#18] The captain or master (not owner) of a ship.

[FN#19] The kindly Moslem feeling, shown to a namesake, however humble.

[FN#20] A popular phrase to express utter desolation.

[FN#21] The literature of all peoples contains this physiological

perversion. Birds do not sing hymns; the song of the male is simply to

call the female and when the pairing-season ends all are dumb.

[FN#22] The older “roc.” The word is Persian, with many meanings, e.g.

a cheek (Lalla “Rookh”); a “rook” (hero) at chess; a rhinoceros, etc.

The fable world-wide of the wundervogel is, as usual, founded upon

fact: man remembers and combines but does not create. The Egyptian

Bennu (Ti-bennu=phoenix) may have been a reminiscence of gigantic

pterodactyls and other winged monsters. From the Nile the legend fabled

by these Oriental “putters out or five for one” overspread the world

and gave birth to the Eorosh of the Zend, whence the Pers. “Símurgh”

(=the “thirty-fowl-like”), the “Bar Yuchre” of the Rabbis, the

“Garuda” of the Hindus; the “Anká” (“long-neck”) of the Arabs; the

“Hathilinga bird,” of Buddhagosha’s Parables, which had the strength of

five elephants; the “Kerkes” of the Turks; the “Gryps” of the Greeks;

the Russian “Norka”; the sacred dragon of the Chinese; the Japanese

“Pheng” and “Kirni”; the “wise and ancient Bird” which sits upon the

ash-tree yggdrasil, and the dragons, griffins, basilisks, etc. of the

Middle Ages. A second basis wanting only a superstructure of

exaggeration (M. Polo’s Ruch had wing-feathers twelve paces long) would

be the huge birds but lately killed out. Sindbad may allude to the

Ćpyornus of Madagascar, a gigantic ostrich whose egg contains 2.35

gallons. The late Herr Hildebrand discovered on the African coast,

facing Madagascar, traces of another huge bird. Bochart (Hierozoicon

ii. 854) notices the Avium Avis Ruch and taking the pulli was followed

by lapidation on the part of the parent bird. A Persian illustration in

Lane (iii. 90) shows the Rukh carrying off three elephants in beak and

pounces with the proportions of a hawk and field mice: and the Rukh

hawking at an elephant is a favourite Persian subject. It is possible

that the “Twelve Knights of the Round Table” were the twelve Rukhs of

Persian story. We need not go, with Faber, to the Cherubim which

guarded the Paradise-gate. The curious reader will consult Dr. H. H.

Wilson’s Essays, edited by my learned correspondent, Dr. Rost,

Librarian of the India House (vol. i. pp. 192–3).

[FN#23] It is not easy to explain this passage unless it be a garbled

allusion to the steel-plate of the diamond-cutter. Nor can we account

for the wide diffusion of this tale of perils unless to enhance the

value of the gem. Diamonds occur in alluvial lands mostly open and

comparatively level, as in India, the Brazil and the Cape. Archbishop

Epiphanius of Salamis (ob. A.D. 403) tells this story about the jacinth

or ruby (Epiphanii Opera, a Petaio, Colonić 1682); and it was

transferred to the diamond by Marco Polo (iii. 29, “of Eagles bring up

diamonds”) and Nicolo de Conti, whose “mountain Albenigaras” must be

Vijayanagar in the kingdom of Golconda. Major Rennel places the famous

mines of Pauna or Purna in a mountain-tract of more than 200 miles

square to the southwest of the Jumna. Al-Kazwini locates the “Chaos” in

the “Valley of the Moon amongst the mountains of Serendib” (Ceylon);

the Chinese tell the same tale in the campaigns of Hulaku; and it is

known in Armenia. Col. Yule (M. P. ii. 349) suggests that all these are

ramifications of the legend told by Herodotus concerning the Arabs and

their cinnamon (iii. 3). But whence did Herodotus borrow the tale?

[FN#24] Sindbad correctly describes the primitive way of extracting

camphor, a drug unknown to the Greeks and Romans, introduced by the

Arabs and ruined in reputation by M. Raspail. The best Laurus Camphora

grows in the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra and Borneo: although Marsden

(Marco Polo) declares that the tree is not found South of the Equator.

In the Calc. Edit. of two hundred Nights the camphor-island (or

peninsula) is called “Al-Ríhah” which is the Arab name for

Jericho-town.

[FN#25] In Bul. Edit. Kazkazan: Calc. Karkaddan and others Karkand and

Karkadan; the word being Persian, Karg or Kargadan; the {Greek letters}

of Ćlian (Hist. Anim. xvi. 21). The length of the horn (greatly

exaggerated) shows that the white species is meant; and it supplies

only walking-sticks. Cups are made of the black horn (a bundle of

fibres) which, like Venetian glass, sweat at the touch of poison. A

section of the horn is supposed to show white lines in the figure of a

man, and sundry likenesses of birds; but these I never saw. The

rhinoceros gives splendid sport and the African is perhaps the most

dangerous of noble game. It has served to explain away and abolish the

unicorn among the Scientists of Europe. But Central Africa with one

voice assures us that a horse-like animal with a single erectile horn

on the forehead exists. The late Dr. Baikic, of Niger fame, thoroughly

believed in it and those curious on the subject will read about Abu

Karn (Father of a Horn) in Preface (pp. xvi.-xviii.) of the Voyage au

Darfour, by Mohammed ibn Oman al-Tounsy (Al-Tunisi), Paris, Duprat,

1845.

[FN#26] Ibn al-Wardi mentions an “Isle of Apes” in the Sea of China and

Al-Idrísi places it two days’ sail from Sukutra (Dwipa Sukhatra,

Socotra). It is a popular error to explain the Homeric and Herodotean

legend of the Pygmies by anthropoid apes. The Pygmy fable (Pygmći

Spithamai=1 cubit=3 spans) was, as usual, based upon fact, as the

explorations of late years have proved: the dwarfs are homunculi of

various tribes, the Akka, Doko, Tiki-Tiki, Wambilikimo (“two-cubit

men”), the stunted race that share the central regions of Intertropical

Africa with the abnormally tall peoples who speak dialects of the Great

South African tongue, miscalled the “Bantu.” Hole makes the Pygmies

“monkeys,” a word we have borrowed from the Italians (monichio à

mono=ape) and quotes Ptolemy, (Ape-Islands) East of Sunda.

[FN#27] A kind of barge (Arab. Bárijah, plur. Bawárij) used on the Nile

of sub-pyriform shape when seen in bird’s eye. Lane translates “ears

like two mortars” from the Calc. Edit.

[FN#28] This giant is distinctly Polyphemus; but the East had giants

and cyclopes of her own (Hierozoicon ii. 845). The Ajáib al-Hind

(chapt. cxxii.) makes Polyphemus copulate with the sheep. Sir John

Mandeville (if such person ever existed) mentions men fifty feet high

in the Indian Islands; and Al-Kazwini and Al-Idrisi transfer them to

the Sea of China, a Botany Bay for monsters in general.

[FN#29] Fire is forbidden as a punishment amongst Moslems, the idea

being that it should be reserved for the next world. Hence the sailors

fear the roasting more than the eating: with ours it would probably be

the reverse. The Persian insult “Pidar-sokhtah”=(son of a) burnt

father, is well known. I have noted the advisability of burning the

Moslem’s corpse under certain circumstances: otherwise the murderer may

come to be canonised.

[FN#30] Arab. “Mastabah”=the bench or form of masonry before noticed.

In olden Europe benches were much more used than chairs, these being

articles of luxury. So King Horne “sett him abenche;” and hence our

“King’s Bench” (Court).

[FN#31] This is from the Bresl. Edit. vol. iv. 32: the Calc. Edit gives

only an abstract and in the Bul. Edit. the Ogre returned “accompanied

by a female, greater than he and more hideous.” We cannot accept

Mistress Polyphemus.

[FN#32] This is from Al-Kazwini, who makes the serpent “wind itself

round a tree or a rock, and thus break to pieces the bones of the

breast in its belly.”

[FN#33] “Like a closet,” in the Calc. Edit. The serpent is an

exaggeration of the python which grows to an enormous size. Monstrous

Ophidia are mentioned in sober history, e.g. that which delayed the

army of Regulus. Dr. de Lacerda, a sober and sensible Brazilian

traveller, mentions his servants sitting down upon a tree-trunk in the

Captaincy of San Paulo (Brasil), which began to move and proved to be a

huge snake. F. M. Pinto (the Sindbad of Portugal though not so

respectable) when in Sumatra takes refuge in a tree from “tigers,

crocodiles, copped adders and serpents which slay men with their

breath.” Father Lobo in Tigre (chapt. x.) was nearly killed by the

poison-breath of a huge snake, and healed himself with a bezoar carried

ad hoc. Maffććus makes the breath of crocodiles suavissimus, but that

of the Malabar serpents and vipers “adeo teter ac noxius ut afflatu

ipso necare perhibeantur.”

[FN#34] Arab. “Aurat”: the word has been borrowed by the

Hindostani jargon, and means a woman, a wife.

[FN#35] So in Al-Idrísi and Langlčs: the Bresl. Edit. has

“Al-Kalásitah”; and Al-Kazwini “Al-Salámit.” The latter notes in it a

petrifying spring which Camoens (The Lus. x. 104), places in Sunda,

i.e. Java-Minor of M. Polo. Some read Salabat-Timor, one of the

Moluccas famed for sanders, cloves, cinnamon, etc. (Purchas ii. 1784.)

[FN#36] Evidently the hippopotamus (Pliny, viii. 25; ix. 3 and xxiii.

11). It can hardly be the Mulaccan Tapir, as shields are not made of

the hide. Hole suggests the buffalo which found its way to Egypt from

India viâ Persia; but this would not be a speciosum miraculum.

[FN#37] The ass-headed fish is from Pliny (ix. cap. 3): all those tales

are founded upon the manatee (whose dorsal protuberance may have

suggested the camel), the seal and the dugong or sea calf. I have

noticed (Zanzibar i. 205) legends of ichthyological marvels current on

the East African seaboard; and even the monsters of the Scottish waters

are not all known: witness the mysterious “brigdie.” See Bochart De

Cetis i. 7; and Purchas iii. 930.

[FN#38] The colossal tortoise is noticed by Ćlian (De Nat. Animal. xvi.

17), by Strabo (Lib. xv.), by Pliny (ix. 10) and Diodorus Siculus (iv.

1) who had heard of a tribe of Chelonophagi. Ćlian makes them 16 cubits

long near Taprobane and serving as house-roofs; and others turn the

shell into boats and coracles. A colossochelys was first found on the

Scwalik Hills by Dr. Falconer and Major (afterwards Sir Proby) Cantley.

In 1867 M. Emile Blanchard exhibited to the Academie des Sciences a

monster crab from Japan 1.20 metres long (or 2.50 including legs); and

other travellers have reported 4 metres. These crustaceć seem never to

cease growing and attain great dimensions under favourable

circumstances, i.e. when not troubled by man.

[FN#39] Lane suggests (iii. 97), and with some probability, that the

“bird” was a nautilus; but the wild traditions concerning the

barnacle-goose may perhaps have been the base of the fable. The

albatross also was long supposed never to touch land. Possible the

barnacle, like the barometz of Tartarean lamb, may be a survivor of the

day when the animal and vegetable kingdoms had not yet branched off

into different directions.

[FN#40] Arab. “Zahwah,” also meaning a luncheon. The five daily prayers

made all Moslems take strict account of time, and their nomenclature of

its division is extensive.

[FN#41] This is the “insane herb.” Davis, who visited Sumatra in 1599

(Purchas i. 120) speaks “of a kind of seed, whereof a little being

eaten, maketh a man to turn foole, all things seeming to him to be

metamorphosed.” Linschoten’s “Dutroa” was a poppy-like bud containing

small kernels like melons which stamped and administered as a drink

make a man “as if he were foolish, or out of his wits.” This is Father

Lobo’s “Vanguini” of the Cafres, called by the Portuguese dutro (Datura

Stramonium) still used by dishonest confectioners. It may be Dampier’s

Ganga (Ganjah) or Bang (Bhang) which he justly describes as acting

differently “according to different constitutions; for some it

stupefies, others it makes sleepy, others merry and some quite mad.”

(Harris, Collect. ii. 900.) Dr. Fryer also mentions Duty, Bung and

Post, the Poust of Bernier, an infusion of poppy-seed.

[FN#42] Arab. “Ghul,” here an ogre, a cannibal. I cannot but regard the

“Ghul of the waste” as an embodiment of the natural fear and horror

which a man feels when he faces a really dangerous desert. As regards

cannibalism, Al-Islam’s religion of common sense freely allows it when

necessary to save life, and unlike our mawkish modern sensibility,

never blames those who

Alimentis talibus usi

Produxere animos.

[FN#43] For Cannibals, see the Massagetć of Herod (i.), the Padći of

India (iii.), and the Essedones near Mćotis (iv.); Strabo (lib. iv.) of

the Luci; Pomponious Mela (iii. 7) and St. Jerome (ad Jovinum) of

Scoti. M. Polo locates them in Dragvia, a kingdom of Sumatra (iii. 17),

and in Angaman (the Andamanian Isles?), possibly the ten Maniolai which

Ptolemy (vii.), confusing with the Nicobars, places on the Eastern side

of the Bay of Bengal; and thence derives the Heraklian stone (magnet)

which attracts the iron of ships (See Serapion, De Magnete, fol. 6,

Edit. of 1479, and Brown’s Vulgar Errors, p. 74, 6th Edit.). Mandeville

finds his cannibals in Lamaray (Sumatra) and Barthema in the “Isle of

Gyava” (Java). Ibn Al-Wardi and Al-Kazwini notice them in the Isle

Saksar, in the Sea of the Zanj (Zanzibar): the name is corrupted

Persian “Sag-Sar” (Dogs’-heads) hence the dog-descended race of

Camoens in Pegu (The Lus. x. 122). The Bresl. Edit. (iv. 52) calls them

“Khawárij”=certain sectarians in Eastern Arabia. Needless to say that

cocoa-nut oil would have no stupefying effect unless mixed with opium

or datura, hemp or henbane.

[FN#44] Black pepper is produced in the Goanese but we must go south to

find the “Bilád al-Filfil” (home of pepper) i.e. Malabar. The

exorbitant prices demanded by Venice for this spice led directly to the

discovery of The Cape route by the Portuguese; as the “Grains of

Paradise” (Amomum Granum Paradisi) induced the English to explore the

West African Coast.

[FN#45] Arab. “Kazdír.” Sansk. “Kastír.” Gr. “Kassiteron.” Lat.

“Cassiteros,” evidently derived from one root. The Heb. is “Badih,” a

substitute, an alloy. “Tanakah” is the vulg. Arab. word, a congener of

the Assyrian “Anaku,” and “Kala-i” is the corrupt Arab. term used in

India.

[FN#46] Our Arabian Ulysses had probably left a Penelope or two at home

and finds a Calypso in this Ogygia. His modesty at the mention of

womankind is notable.

[FN#47] These are the commonplaces of Moslem consolation on such

occasions: the artistic part is their contrast with the unfortunate

widower’s prospect.

[FN#48] Lit. “a margin of stone, like the curb-stone of a well.”

[FN#49] I am not aware that this vivisepulture of the widower is the

custom of any race, but the fable would be readily suggested by the

Sati (Suttee)-rite of the Hindus. Simple vivisepulture was and is

practised by many people.

[FN#50] Because she was weaker than a man. The Bresl. Edit. however,

has “a gugglet of water and five scones.”

[FN#51] The confession is made with true Eastern sang-froid and

probably none of the hearers “disapproved” of the murders which saved

the speaker’s life.

[FN#52] This tale is evidently taken from the escape of Aristomenes the

Messenian from the pit into which he had been thrown, a fox being his

guide. The Arabs in an early day were eager students of Greek

literature. Hole (p. 140) noted the coincidence.

[FN#53] Bresl. Edit. “Khwájah,” our “Howajee,” meaning a schoolmaster,

a man of letters, a gentleman.

[FN#54] And he does repeat at full length what the hearers must have

known right well. I abridge.

[FN#55] Island of the Bell (Arab. “Nákús”=a wooden gong used by

Christians but forbidden to Moslems). “Kala” is written “Kela,”

“Kullah” and a variety of ways. Baron Walckenaer places it at

Keydah in the Malay peninsula opposite Sumatra. Renaudot

identifies it with Calabar, “somewhere about the point of

Malabar.”

[FN#56] Islands, because Arab cosmographers love to place their

speciosa miracula in such places.

[FN#57] Like the companions of Ulysses who ate the sacred oxen

(Od. xii.).

[FN#58] So the enormous kingfisher of Lucian’s True History (lib. ii.).

[FN#59] This tale is borrowed from Ibn Al-Wardi, who adds that the

greybeards awoke in the morning after eating the young Rukh with black

hair which never turned white. The same legend is recounted by

Al-Dimiri (ob. A.H. 808=1405–6) who was translated into Latin by

Bochart (Hierozoicon ii. p. 854) and quoted by Hole and Lane (iii.

103). An excellent study of Marco Polo’s Rukh was made by my learned

friend the late Prof. G. G. Bianconi of Bologna, “Dell’Uccello Ruc,”

Bologna, Gamberini, 1868. Prof. Bianconi predicted that other giant

birds would be found in Madagascar on the East African Coast opposite;

but he died before hearing of Hildebrand’s discovery.

[FN#60] Arab. “Izár,” the earliest garb of Eastern man; and, as such

preserved in the Meccan pilgrimage. The “waist-cloth” is either tucked

in or kept in place by a girdle.

[FN#61] Arab. “Líf,” a succedaneum for the unclean sponge, not unknown

in the “Turkish Baths” of London.

[FN#62] The Persians have a Plinian monster called

“Tasmeh-pá”=Strap-legs without bones. The “Old Man” is not an

ourang-outang nor an Ifrít as in Sayf al-Mulúk, Night dcclxxi., but

a jocose exaggeration of a custom prevailing in parts of Asia and

especially in the African interior where the Tsetse-fly prevents

the breeding of burden-beasts. Ibn Batútah tells us that in Malabar

everything was borne upon men’s backs. In Central Africa the kinglet

rides a slave, and on ceremonious occasions mounts his Prime Minister.

I have often been reduced to this style of conveyance and found man

the worst imaginable riding: there is no hold and the sharpness of the

shoulder-ridge soon makes the legs ache intolerably. The classicists

of course find the Shaykh of the Sea in the Tritons and Nereus, and

Bochart (Hiero. ii. 858, 880) notices the homo aquaticus, Senex Judćus

and Senex Marinus. Hole (p. 151) suggests the inevitable ouran-outan

(man o’ wood), one of “our humiliating copyists,” and quotes “Destiny”

in Scarron’s comical romance (Part ii. chapt. i) and “Jealousy”

enfolding Rinaldo. (O.F. lib. 42).

[FN#63] More literally “The Chief of the Sea (-Coast),” Shaykh being

here a chief rather than an elder (eoldermann, alderman). So the “Old

Man of the Mountain,” famous in crusading days, was the Chief who lived

on the Nusayriyah or Ansári range, a northern prolongation of the

Libanus. Our “old man” of the text may have been suggested by the

Koranic commentators on chapt. vi. When an Infidel rises from the

grave, a hideous figure meets him and says, “Why wonderest thou at my

loathsomeness? I am thine Evil Deeds: thou didst ride upon me in the

world and now I will ride upon thee.” (Suiting the action to the

words.)