sent the Eunuch to make enquiries concerning the singer and said,
"Beware how thou come back to me and report, I could not find him." So
the Eunuch went out and laid about the people and trod in their tents,
but found none awake, all being asleep for weariness, till he came to
the Stoker and saw him sitting up, with his head uncovered. So he drew
near and seizing him by the hand, said to him, "It was thou didst recite
the verses!" The Fireman was afeard for his life and replied, "No, by
Allah, O chief of the people, it was not I!" But the Eunuch said, "I
will not leave thee till thou show me who it was that recited the
verses, for I dread returning to my lady without him." Now when the
Fireman heard these words he feared for Zau al-Makan and wept with
exceeding weeping and said to the Eunuch, "By Allah, it was not I, and I
know him not. I only heard some passer-by, some wayfarer, recite verses:
so do not thou commit sin on me, for I am a stranger and come from the
Holy City of Jerusalem; and Abraham, the friend of Allah, be with you
all." "Rise up and fare with me," rejoined the Eunuch, "and tell my lady
this with thine own mouth, for I have seen none awake save thyself."
Quoth the Stoker, "Hast thou not come and seen me sitting in the place
where I now am, and dost thou not know my station? Thou wottest none can
stir from his place, except the watchmen seize him. So go thou to thy
station and if thou again meet any one after this hour reciting aught of
poetry, whether he be near or far, it will be I or some one I know, and
thou shalt not learn of him but by me." Then he kissed the Eunuch's head
and spake him fair till he went away; but the Castrato fetched a round
and, returning secretly, came and stood behind the Fireman, fearing to
go back to his mistress without tidings. As soon as he was gone, the
Stoker arose and aroused Zau al-Makan and said to him, "Come, sit up,
that I may tell thee what hath happened." So Zau al-Makan sat up, and
his companion told him what had passed, and he answered, "Let me alone;
I will take no heed of this and I care for none, for I am near mine own
country."[313] Quoth the Stoker, "Why wilt thou obey thy flesh and the
devil? If thou fear no one, I fear for thee and for my life, so Allah
upon thee! recite nothing more of verses till thou come to thine own
land. Indeed, I had not deemed thee so ill-conditioned. Dost thou not
know that this lady is the wife of the Chamberlain and is minded to
chastise thee for disturbing her? Belike, she is ill or restless for
fatigue of the journey and the distance of the place from her home, and
this is the second time she hath sent the Eunuch to look for thee."
However Zau al-Makan paid no heed to the Fireman's words but cried out a
third time and began versifying with these couplets:—
I fly the carper's injury, ✿ Whose carping sorely vexeth me:
He chides and taunts me, wotting not ✿ He burns me but more
grievously.
The blamer cries "He is consoled!" ✿ I say, "My own dear land[314] to
see:"
They ask, "Why be that land so dear?" ✿ I say "It taught me in love
to be:"
They ask, "What raised its dignity?" ✿ I say, "What made my ignomy:"
Whate'er the bitter cup I drain, ✿ Far be fro' me that land to flee:
Nor will I bow to those who blame, ✿ And for such love would deal me
shame.
Hardly had he made an end of his verses and come to a conclusion, when
the Eunuch (who had heard him from his hiding-place at his head) came up
to him; whereupon the Fireman fled and stood afar off to see what passed
between them. Then said the Eunuch to Zau al-Makan, "Peace be with thee,
O my lord!" "And on thee be peace," replied Zau al-Makan, "and the mercy
of Allah and His blessings!" "O my lord," continued the Eunuch——And
Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
Now when it was the Seventy-fourth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the Eunuch said to
Zau al-Makan, "O my lord, I have sought thee these several times this
night, for my mistress biddeth thee to her." Quoth Zau al-Makan, "And
who be this bitch that seeketh for me? Allah curse her and curse her
husband with her!"[315] And he began to revile the Eunuch, who could
make him no answer, because his mistress had charged him to do Zau
al-Makan no hurt, nor bring him save of his own especial free will; and,
if he would not accompany him, to give him the thousand dinars. So the
Castrato began to speak him fair and say to him, "O my lord, take this
purse and go with me. We will do thee no unright, O my son, nor wrong
thee in aught; but our object is that thou bend thy gracious steps with
me to my mistress, to receive her answer and return in weal and safety:
and thou shalt have a handsome present as one who bringeth good news."
When Zau al-Makan heard this, he arose and went with the Eunuch and
walked among the sleeping folk, stepping over them; whilst the Fireman
followed after them from afar, and kept his eye upon him and said to
himself, "Alas the pity of his youth! To-morrow they will hang him." And
he ceased not following them till he approached their station,[316]
without any observing him. Then he stood still and said, "How base it
will be of him, if he say it was I who bade him recite the verses!" This
was the case of the Stoker; but as regards what befel Zau al-Makan, he
ceased not walking with the Eunuch till he reached his station and the
Castrato went in to Nuzhat al-Zaman and said, "O my lady, I have brought
thee him whom thou soughtest, and he is a youth, fair of face and
bearing the marks of wealth and gentle breeding." When she heard this,
her heart fluttered and she cried, "Let him recite some verses, that I
may hear him nearhand, and after ask him his name and his condition and
his native land." Then the Eunuch went out to Zau al-Makan and said to
him, "Recite what verses thou knowest, for my lady is here hard by,
listening to thee, and after I will ask thee of thy name and thy native
country and thy condition." Replied he, "With love and gladness but, an
thou ask my name, it is erased and my trace is unplaced and my body
awaste. I have a story, the beginning of which is not known nor can the
end of it be shown, and behold, I am even as one who hath exceeded in
wine-drinking and who hath not spared himself; one who is afflicted with
distempers and who wandereth from his right mind, being perplexed about
his case and drowned in the sea of thought." When Nuzhat al-Zaman heard
this, she broke out into excessive weeping and sobbing, and said to the
Eunuch, "Ask him if he have parted from one he loveth even as his mother
or father." The Castrato asked as she bade him, and Zau al-Makan
replied, "Yes, I have parted from every one I loved: but the dearest of
all to me was my sister, from whom Fate hath separated me." When Nuzhat
al-Zaman heard this, she exclaimed, "Allah Almighty reunite him with
what he loveth!"——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased
saying her permitted say.
Now when it was the Seventy-fifth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when Nuzhat
al-Zaman heard his words she said, "Allah reunite him with what he
loveth!" Then quoth she to the Eunuch, "Tell him to let me hear somewhat
anent his separation from his countrymen and his country." The Eunuch
did so, and Zau al-Makan sighed heavily and began repeating these
couplets[317]:—
Is not her love a pledge by all mankind confest? ✿ The house
that hometh Hinda be for ever blest!
Her love all levels; man can reck of naught beside; ✿ Naught or
before or after can for man have zest.
'Tis though the vale is paved with musk and ambergris ✿ That day
when Hinda's footstep on its face is prest:
Hail to the beauty of our camp, the pride of folk, ✿ The dearling
who enslaves all hearts by her behest:
Allah on "Time's Delight" send large-dropped clouds that teem ✿
With genial rain but bear no thunder in their breast.
And also these:—
I vow to Allah if at home I sight ✿ My sister Nuzhat al-Zamáni hight,
I'll pass the days in joyance and delight ✿ Mid bashful
minions, maidens soft and white:
To sound of harps in various modes they smite ✿ Draining the
bowl, while eyes rain lively light
'Neath half-closed lids, a-sipping lips red-bright ✿ By
stream-bank flowing through my garden-site.
When he had finished his verse, Nuzhat al-Zaman lifted up a skirt of the
litter-curtain and looked at him. As soon as her eyes fell on his face,
she knew him for certain and cried out, "O my brother! O Zau al-Makan!"
He also looked at her and knew her and cried out, "O my sister! O Nuzhat
al-Zaman!" Then she threw herself upon him and he gathered her to his
bosom and the twain fell down in a fainting fit. When the Eunuch saw
this case, he wondered at them and throwing over them somewhat to cover
them, waited till they should recover. After a while they came to
themselves, and Nuzhat al-Zaman rejoiced with exceeding joy: oppression
and depression left her and gladness took the mastery of her, and she
repeated these verses:—
Time sware my life should fare in woeful waste; ✿ Forsworn art
Time, expiate thy sin in haste![318]
Comes weal and comes a welcome friend to aid; ✿ To him who brings
good news, rise, gird thy waist:
I spurnèd old-world tales of Eden-bliss; ✿ Till came I Kausar[319]
on those lips to taste.
When Zau al-Makan heard this, he pressed his sister to his breast; tears
streamed from his eyes for excess of joy and he repeated these
couplets[320]:—
Long I lamented that we fell apart, ✿ While tears repentant railèd
from these eyne;
And sware, if Time unite us twain once more, ✿ "Severance" shall
never sound from tongue of mine:
Joy hath so overwhelmed me that excess ✿ Of pleasure from mine
eyes draws gouts of brine:
Tears, O mine eyes, have now become your wont ✿ Ye weep for
pleasure and you weep for pine!
They sat awhile at the litter-door till she said to him, "Come with me
into the litter and tell me all that hath befallen thee, and I will tell
thee what happened to me." So they entered and Zau al-Makan said, "Do
thou begin thy tale." Accordingly she told him all that had come to her
since their separation at the Khan and what had happened to her with the
Badawi; how the merchant had bought her of him and had taken her to her
brother Sharrkan and had sold her to him; how he had freed her at the
time of buying; how he had made a marriage-contract with her and had
gone in to her and how the King, their sire, had sent and asked for her
from Sharrkan. Then quoth she, "Praised be Allah who hath vouchsafed
thee to me and ordained that, even as we left our father together, so
together shall we return to him!" And she added, "Of a truth my brother
Sharrkan gave me in marriage to this Chamberlain that he might carry me
to my father. And this is what befel me from first to last; so now tell
me how it hath fared with thee since I left thee." Thereupon he told her
all that had happened to him from beginning to end; and how Allah
vouchsafed to send the Fireman to him, and how he had journeyed with him
and spent his money on him and had served him night and day. She praised
the Stoker for this and Zau al-Makan added, "Of a truth, O my sister,
this Fireman hath dealt with me in such benevolent wise as would not
lover with lass nor sire with son, for that he fasted and gave me to
eat, and he walked whilst he made me ride; and I owe my life to him."
Said she, "Allah willing, we will requite him for all this, according to
our power." Then she called the Eunuch, who came and kissed Zau
al-Makan's hand, and she said, "Take thy reward for glad tidings, O face
of good omen! It was thy hand reunited me with my brother; so the purse
I gave thee and all in it are thine. But now go to thy master and bring
him quickly to me." The Castrato rejoiced and, going in to the
Chamberlain, summoned him to his mistress. Accordingly, he came in to
his wife and finding Zau al-Makan with her, asked who he was. So she
told him all that had befallen them both, first and last, and added,
"Know, O Chamberlain, that thou hast married no slave-girl; far from it,
thou hast taken to wife the daughter of King Omar bin al-Nu'uman for I
am Nuzhat al-Zaman, and this is my brother, Zau al-Makan." When the
Chamberlain heard the story he knew it to be sooth, and its manifest
truth appeared to him and he was certified that he was become King Omar
bin al-Nu'uman's son-in-law, so he said to himself, "'Twill be my fate
to be made viceroy of some province."[321] Then he went up to Zau
al-Makan and gave him joy of his safety and reunion with his sister, and
bade his servants forthwith make him ready a tent and one of the best of
his own horses to ride. Thereupon said Nuzhat al-Zaman, "We are now near
our country and I would be left alone with my brother, that we may enjoy
each other's company and take our fill of it ere we reach Baghdad; for
we have been parted a long, long time." "Be it as thou biddest," replied
the Chamberlain, and, going forth from them, sent them wax-candles and
various kinds of sweetmeats, together with three suits of the costliest
for Zau al-Makan. Then he returned to the litter and related the good he
had done and Nuzhat al-Zaman said to him, "Bid the Eunuch bring me the
Fireman and give him a horse to ride and ration him with a tray of food
morning and evening, and let him be forbidden to leave us." The
Chamberlain called the Castrato and charged him to do accordingly; so he
replied, "I hear and I obey;" and he took his pages with him and went
out in search of the Stoker till he found him in the rear of the
caravan, girthing his ass and preparing for flight. The tears were
running adown his cheeks, out of fear for his life and grief for his
separation from Zau al-Makan; and he was saying to himself, "Indeed, I
warned him for the love of Allah, but he would not listen to me; Oh
would I knew what is become of him!" Ere he had done speaking the Eunuch
was standing by his head whilst the pages surrounded him. The Fireman
turned and seeing the Eunuch and the pages gathered around him became
yellow with fear——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to
say her permitted say.
Now when it was the Seventy-sixth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the Stoker
girthed his ass for flight and bespake himself, saying, "Oh would I knew
what is become of him!"; ere he had done speaking the Castrato was
standing by his head and his side-muscles quivered for fear and he
lifted up his voice and cried, "Verily he knoweth not the value of the
good offices I have done him! I believe he hath denounced me to the
Eunuch (hence these pages get about me) and he hath made me an
accomplice in his crime." Then the effeminated one cried at him, saying,
"Who was it recited the verses? O liar! why didst thou say:—I never
repeated these couplets, nor do I know who repeated them; when it was
thy companion? But now I will not leave thee between this place and
Baghdad, and what betideth thy comrade shall betide thee." Quoth the
Fireman, "What I feared hath befallen me." And he repeated this
couplet:—
'Twas as I feared the coming ills discerning: ✿ But unto Allah we
are all returning.
Then the Eunuch cried upon the pages, saying, "Take him off the ass." So
they carried him along with the caravan, surrounded by the pages, as the
white contains the black of the eye; and the Castrato said to them, "If
a hair of him be lost, you will be lost with it." And he bade them
privily treat him with honour and not humiliate him. But when the Stoker
saw himself beset by the pages, he despaired of his life and turning to
the Eunuch, said to him, "O Chief, I am neither this youth's brother nor
am I akin to him, nor is he sib to me; but I was a Fireman in a Hammam
and found him cast out, in his sickness, on the dung-heap." Then the
caravan fared on and the Stoker wept and imagined in himself a thousand
things, whilst the Eunuch walked by his side and told him nothing, but
said to him, "Thou disturbedst our mistress by reciting verses, thou and
this youth: but fear nothing for thyself;" and kept laughing at him the
while to himself. Whenever the caravan halted, they served him with
food, and he and the Castrato ate from one dish.[322] Then the Eunuch
bade his lads bring a gugglet of sugared sherbet and, after drinking
himself, gave it to the Fireman, who drank; but all the while his tears
never dried, out of fear for his life and grief for his separation from
Zau al-Makan and for what had befallen them in their strangerhood. So
they both travelled on with the caravan, whilst the Chamberlain now rode
by the door of his wife's litter, in attendance on Zau al-Makan and his
sister, and now gave an eye to the Fireman; and Nuzhat al-Zaman and her
brother occupied themselves with converse and mutual condolence; and
they ceased not after this fashion till they came within three days'
journey from Baghdad. Here they alighted at eventide and rested till the
morning morrowed; and as they awoke and they were about to load the
beasts, behold, there appeared afar off a great cloud of dust that
darkened the firmament till it became black as gloomiest night.[323]
Thereupon the Chamberlain cried out to them, "Stay, and your loading
delay!"; then, mounting with his Mamelukes, rode forward in the
direction of the dust-cloud. When they drew near, suddenly appeared
under it a numerous conquering host like the full-tide sea, with flags
and standards, drums and kettledrums, horsemen and footmen. The
Chamberlain marvelled at this; and when the troops saw him, there
detached itself from amongst them a plump of five hundred cavaliers, who
fell upon him and his suite and surrounded them, five for one; whereupon
said he to them, "What is the matter and what are these troops, that ye
do this with us?" Asked they, "Who art thou; and whence comest thou, and
whither art thou bound?" and he answered, "I am the Chamberlain of the
Emir of Damascus, King Sharrkan, son of Omar bin al-Nu'uman, Lord of
Baghdad and of the land of Khorasan, and I bring tribute and presents
from him to his father in Baghdad." When the horsemen heard his words
they let their head-kerchiefs fall over their faces and wept, saying,
"In very sooth King Omar is dead and he died not but of poison. So fare
ye forwards; no harm shall befal you till you join his Grand Wazir,
Dandan." Now when the Chamberlain heard this, he wept sore and
exclaimed, "Oh for our disappointment in this our journey!" Then he and
all his suite wept till they had come up with the host and sought access
to the Wazir Dandan, who granted an interview and called a halt and,
causing his pavilion to be pitched, sat down on a couch therein and
commanded to admit the Chamberlain. Then he bade him be seated and
questioned him; and he replied that he was Chamberlain to the Emir of
Damascus and was bound to King Omar with presents and the tribute of
Syria. The Wazir, hearing the mention of King Omar's name, wept and
said, "King Omar is dead by poison, and upon his dying the folk fell out
amongst themselves as to who should succeed him, until they were like to
slay one another on this account; but the notables and grandees and the
four Kazis interposed and all the people agreed to refer the matter to
the decision of the four judges and that none should gainsay them. So it
was agreed that we go to Damascus and fetch thence the King's son,
Sharrkan, and make him Sultan over his father's realm. And amongst them
were some who would have chosen the cadet, Zau al-Makan, for, quoth
they, his name be Light of the Place, and he hath a sister Nuzhat
al-Zaman hight, the Delight of the Time; but they set out five years ago
for Al-Hijaz and none wotteth what is become of them." When the
Chamberlain heard this, he knew that his wife had told him the truth of
her adventures; and he grieved with sore grief for the death of King
Omar, albeit he joyed with exceeding joy, especially at the arrival of
Zau al-Makan, for that he would now become Sultan of Baghdad in his
father's stead.——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased
saying her permitted say.
Now when it was the Seventy-seventh Night,