ordered the Chamberlain to bring out before him what he had brought of
the tribute of Damascus; and, when he was shown the chests of money and
rarities and jewels, he took them and parted them all amongst the
troops, till nothing was left. And the Emirs kissed the ground before
him and wished him long life, saying, "Never saw we a King, who gave the
like of these gifts." Then all went away to their tents and when it was
morning he gave orders for marching. So they marched for three days,
till, on the fourth day, they drew near to Baghdad. When they entered
the city, they found it decorated, and Zau al-Makan, the Sultan, went up
to his father's palace and sat down on the throne, whilst the Emirs of
the army and the Wazir Dandan and the Chamberlain of Damascus stood
between his hands. Then he bade his private secretary write a writ to
his brother Sharrkan, acquainting him with all that had passed, from
first to last, and he concluded, "As soon as thou hast read this letter,
make ready thine affair and join us with thine army, that we may turn to
Holy War upon the Infidels and take man-bote for our father and wipe out
the stain upon our honour." Then he folded the letter and sealed it with
his seal-ring and said to the Minister Dandan, "None shall carry this
letter but thou; and it behoveth thee speak my brother fair and say to
him:—If thou have a mind to thy father's kingdom, it is thine, and thy
brother shall be Viceroy for thee in Damascus; for to this effect am I
instructed by him." So the Wazir went down from before him and made
ready for his march. Then Zau al-Makan bade set apart a magnificent
house for the Fireman and furnished it with the best of furniture and
long is the tale of that Fireman.[380] Presently Zau al-Makan went out
chasing and hunting and, as he was returning to Baghdad, one of the
Emirs presented him with blood-horses and with beauteous handmaids whose
description the tongue evades. One of the damsels pleased him: so he
went in unto her and knew her that night, and she conceived by him
forthright. After a while, the Wazir Dandan returned from his journey,
bringing him news of his brother Sharrkan and that he was then on his
way to him, and said, "It were fitting thou go forth to meet him." Zau
al-Makan replied, "I hear and I consent;" and, riding forth with his
Grandees a day's journey from Baghdad, he pitched his pavilions there
awaiting his brother. Next morning appeared King Sharrkan amid the army
of Syria, a horseman of might, a lion fierce in fight, a prow and
doughty knight. As the squadrons drew nigh and the dust-clouds came hard
by and the troops rode up with banners on high, Zau al-Makan and those
with him pushed forward to meet Sharrkan and his men; and when Zau
al-Makan saw his brother, he desired to dismount, but Sharrkan conjured
him not to do on this wise, and himself footed it, and walked a few
paces towards him.[381] As soon as he reached Zau al-Makan, the new
Sultan threw himself upon him, and Sharrkan embraced him and wept with
great weeping and the twain condoled with each other. Then they mounted
and rode onward, they and their troops, till they reached Baghdad, where
they alighted and went up to the royal palace and there they passed that
night, and when next morning came, Zau al-Makan went forth and bade
summon the troops from all parts, and proclaimed a Holy War and a
Razzia.[382] They then awaited the coming of the levies from each
quarter of the kingdom, and every one who came they entreated with
honour and promised him all manner of good; till in so doing a full
month had sped, and the fighting men flocked to them in a continuous
body. Then Sharrkan said to Zau al-Makan, "O my brother, tell me thy
history." So he told him all that had befallen him from first to last,
including the benevolent dealing of the Fireman with him. Asked
Sharrkan, "Hast thou requited his kindness?"; and he answered, "O my
brother! I have not rewarded him as yet, but Inshallah! I will
recompense him whenas I return from this raid."—And Shahrazad perceived
the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
Now when it was the Eighty-eighth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Sharrkan asked his
brother Zau al-Makan, "Hast thou requited the Fireman for his
kindness?"; and he answered, "O my brother, I have not rewarded him as
yet, but Inshallah! I will recompense him whenas I return from this raid
and find time so to do." Therewith Sharrkan was certified that his
sister, Nuzhat al-Zaman, had told him the whole truth; but he concealed
what had passed between them and offered his salutation to her by her
husband the Chamberlain. She sent him back her greeting, calling down
blessings on him and enquiring after her daughter Kuzia-Fakan, to which
he replied that the maiden was well and in the best of health and
safety. Whereupon she praised Almighty Allah and gave him thanks. Then
Sharrkan went to his brother to take counsel with him for departure; and
Zau al-Makan said, "O my brother, as soon as the army is complete and
the Arabs have come in from all parts, we will march forth." So he bade
make ready the commissariat and prepare munitions of war and went in to
his wife, who was now five months gone with child; and he put under her
astrologers and mathematicians, to whom he appointed stipends and
allowances. Then he set out three months after the arrival of the army
of Syria, and as soon as the Arabs were come in and the troops were
assembled from all directions; and, as he fared forth, he was followed
by the warriors and the united host. Now the name of the General of the
Daylam army was Rustam and that of the General of the army of the
Turks[383] Bahram. And Zau al-Makan marched in mid-host and on his right
was his brother Sharrkan, and on his left the Chamberlain his
brother-in-law. So the squadrons broke up and pushed forward and the
battalions and companies filed past in battle-array, till the whole army
was in motion. They ceased not to fare on for the space of a month, and
each body dismounted at its own ground and there rested every week three
days (for the host was great); and they advanced in this order till they
came to the country of the Greeks. Then the people of the villages and
hamlets and the poorer sort took fright at them and fled to
Constantinople. But when King Afridun heard the tidings he arose and
betook himself to Zat al-Dawahi, the same who had contrived the
stratagem, and had travelled to Baghdad and had slain King Omar bin
al-Nu'uman; and who, after carrying off her slaves and Queen Sophia, had
returned with them all to her native land. Now when she had been
restored to her son, the King of Greece, and felt herself safe, she said
to King Hardub, "Cool thine eyes; for I have avenged by blood the shame
of thy daughter Abrizah, and have killed Omar bin al-Nu'uman and have
brought back Sophia. So now let us go to the King of Constantinople and
carry to him his daughter and acquaint him with what hath happened, that
all of us be on guard and prepare our forces; and I will fare with thee
to King Afridun, Lord of Constantinople, for I opine that the Moslems
will not await our attack." Said Hardub, "Tarry thou till they draw near
our country, that we may make us ready meantime and assemble our power."
Accordingly they took to levying their forces and preparing for war,
and, when the news of the Moslems' advance reached them, they were
prepared for defence; and Zat al-Dawahi had preceded them. Now when she
and her son arrived at Constantinople, the King of Kings, Afridun,
hearing of the approach of Hardub, King of the Greeks, came forth to
meet him and asked how it was with him and the cause of his visit. So
Hardub acquainted him with the cunning doings of his mother, Zat
al-Dawahi, how she had slain the Moslem King and recovered from him
Queen Sophia, and had said, "The Moslems have assembled their forces and
are on their way to attack us, wherefore it behoveth that we two join
hands in single band and meet them." Now King Afridun rejoiced in the
return of his daughter and the killing of King Omar bin al-Nu'uman; and
he sent to all countries seeking succour and acquainting the folk with
the cause of slaying the Moslem King. So the Nazarene troops flocked to
him and three months were not past ere the army of the Greeks was
complete, besides which there joined themselves to him Franks from all
their lands, French, Germans[384] and Ragusans,[385] with men of
Zara,[386] Venetians, Genoese, and all the hosts of the Yellow
Faces[387]; and, when the gathering was at its full, earth was
straitened on them by reason of their multitude. Then Afridun, the Great
King, ordered a march; so they set out and ceased not to defile through
the city for ten days. They fared on till they reached the Wady hight Al
Nu'uman, a broad-sided vale hard by the Salt Sea, where they halted
three days; and on the fourth they were about to set out again, when
news came that the army of Al-Islam on them prest, and the defenders of
the faith of Mohammed, of Men the Best. So they halted in it other three
days, and on the eighth they espied a dust-cloud which towered till it
walled the whole land; nor was an hour of the day past ere that dust
began to drift and was torn to shreds in the lift, and pierced through
its shades the starry radiance of lance and the white leven of blades.
Presently there appeared beneath it the banners Islamitan and the
ensigns Mahometan; the horsemen urged forward, like the letting loose of
seas that surged, clad in mail, as they were mackerel-back clouds which
the moon enveil; whereupon the two hosts clashed, like two torrents on
each other dashed. Eyes fell upon eyes; and the first to seek combat
singular was the Wazir Dandan, he and the army of Syria, numbering
thirty thousand bridles, and with him were the General of the Turks, and
the General of Daylam, Rustam and Bahram, amid twenty thousand horse,
behind whom came the men from the shores of the Salt Sea, clad in iron
mail, as they were full moons that past through a night o'ercast. Then
the Nazarene host called out on Jesus and Mary, and the defiled[388]
Cross and they heaped themselves upon the Wazir Dandan and those with
him of the Syrian host. Now all this was in pursuance of a stratagem
devised by that ancient woman Zat al-Dawahi; for, before his departure,
King Afridun had gone in to her and asked her, "How shall I do and what
plan shall I pursue?; it is thou hast caused this great distress to us;"
and she had answered, "O great King and mighty Cohen![389] I will teach
thee a trick would baffle Iblis himself, though he summon to his
assistance all his grisly hosts."——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of
day and ceased to say her permitted say.
Now when it was the Eighty-ninth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, all this was a
stratagem of the ancient woman, for that the King before his departure
had gone to her and asked, "How shall I do and what plan shall I pursue?
it is thou hast caused this great distress to us!" And she had answered,
"O great King and mighty Cohen, I will teach thee a trick would baffle
the Devil himself though he summon to his assistance all his grisly
hosts. It is that thou send fifty thousand men going down in ships, and
sailing over the sea to the Mountain of Smoke; and there let them land
and stir not till the standards of Al-Islam come upon thee, when do thou
up and at them. Then bid the troops from the seaward sally out upon the
Moslems and take them in rear, whilst we confront them from the
landward. So not one of them shall escape, and our sorrows shall cease
and peace abide with us." Now the counsel of this ancient woman
commended itself to King Afridun, and he replied, "Right is the recking
thou reckest, O Princess of wits and recourse of Kings and Cohens
warring for their blood-wit!" So when the army of Al-Islam came upon
them in that valley, before they knew of it the flames began to burn up
the tents and the swords in men's bodies to make rents. Then hurried up
the army of Baghdad and Khorasan who numbered one hundred and twenty
thousand horse, with Zau al-Makan in the front of war. When the host of
the Infidels that lay by the sea saw them, they sallied out against them
and followed in their tracks; and when Zau al-Makan espied this he cried
out to his men, "Turn back to the Infidels, O People of the Chosen
Apostle, and slay those who deny and hate the authority of the
Compassionating, the Compassionate!" So they turned and fought with the
Christians. Then Sharrkan marched up with another corps of the Moslem
host, some hundred thousand men, whilst the Infidels numbered nigh upon
a thousand and six hundred thousand men. When the Moslems were united,
their hearts were strengthened and they cried out, saying, "Verily Allah
hath promised us victory, and to the Infidels hath assigned defeat." And
they clashed together with sword and spear. Now Sharrkan tare through
rank and row and raged among the masses of the foe, fighting so fierce a
fight as to make children grey grow; nor did he cease tourneying among
the infidel horde and working havoc among them with the keen-edged
sword, shouting "Allaho Akbar!"—Allah is Most Great—till he drove back
the host to the coast. Then failed the force of the foe and Allah gave
victory to the faith of Al-Islam, and folk fought folk, drunken without
strong drink, till they slew of the Infidels in this affair forty and
five thousand, while of the Moslems but three thousand and five hundred
fell. Moreover, the Lion of the Faith, King Sharrkan, and his brother,
Zau al-Makan, slept not that night, but occupied themselves with
congratulating their braves and with looking to the wounded and with
assuring the army of victory and salvation and promise of reward in the
world to come. Thus far concerning the Moslem; but as regards King
Afridun, Lord of Constantinople and Sovran of Roum, and Zat al-Dawahi,
they assembled the Emirs of the host and said to them, "Verily, we had
worked our will and solaced our hearts, but our over-confidence in our
numbers, and that only, defeated us." Then quoth to them the ancient
one, the Lady of Calamities, "In very sooth nought shall profit you,
except ye draw you nigh unto the Messiah and put your trust in the True
Belief; for, by the virtue of the Messiah, the whole strength of the
Moslem host lieth in that Satan, King Sharrkan." "To-morrow," said King
Afridun, "I have resolved to draw up in battle array and to send out
against them that redoubtable cavalier, Luka bin Shȧmlút; for if King
Sharrkan come forth as a champion to fight single-handed, our man will
slay him and will slay the other Moslem Knights, till not one is left.
And I purpose this night to sacre you all with the Holy Incense." When
the Emirs heard these words they kissed the ground before him. Now the
incense which he designated was the excrement of the Chief Patriarch,
the denier, the defiler of the Truth, and they sought for it with such
instance, and they so highly valued it that the high priests of the
Greeks used to send it to all the countries of the Christians in silken
wraps after mixing it with musk and ambergris. Hearing of it Kings would
pay a thousand gold pieces for every dram and they sent for and sought
it to fumigate brides withal; and the Chief Priests and the great Kings
were wont to use a little of it as collyrium for the eyes and as a
remedy in sickness and colic; and the Patriarchs used to mix their own
skite[390] with it, for that the skite of the Chief Patriarch could not
suffice for ten countries.[391] So, as soon as dawn was seen and the
morning shone with its shine and sheen, the horsemen ran to their spears
full keen, and King Afridun——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and
ceased saying her permitted say.
Now when it was the Full Ninetieth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, as soon as dawn was
seen and the morning shone with its shine and sheen, the horsemen ran to
their spears full keen and King Afridun summoned his chief Knights and
Nobles and invested them with dresses of honour; and, drawing the sign
of the cross on their brows, incensed them with the incense which as
aforesaid was the skite of the Chief Patriarch, the Cohen, the
Heresiarch. This incensing done, he called for Luka bin Shamlut,
surnamed the Sword of the Messiah; and, after fumigating him and rubbing
his palate with the Holy Merde, caused him to snuff it and smeared his
cheeks and anointed his moustaches with the rest. Now there was no
stouter champion in the land of Roum than this accursed Luka, nor any
better at bending of bow or sway of sword or lunge with lance on the day
of devoir; but he was foul of favour, for his face was as the face of an
ass, his shape that of an ape and his look as the look of a malignant
snake: his presence was grievouser than parting from the beloved make;
and blacker than night was his blackness and more fetid than the lion
was his breath for foulness; more crooked than a bow was his crookedness
and grimmer than the leopard was his ugliness, and he was branded with
the mark of the Infidels on face.[392] After this he came up to King
Afridun and kissed his feet and stood before him; and the King said to
him, "I desire thou go out against Sharrkan, King of Damascus, son of
Omar bin al-Nu'uman, and deliver us from this affliction." Quoth Luka,
"Hearkening and obedience;" and the King made the sign of the cross on
his forehead and felt assured of help from Heaven being near hand. Then
Luka went out from the presence and the accursed one mounted a sorrel
horse; he was clad in a red robe and a hauberk of gold set with jewels,
and he bore a trident spear, as he were Iblis the damned on the day of
drewing out his hosts war to darraign. Then he rode forward, he and his
horde of Infidels, even as though they were driving to the Fire,
preceded by a herald, crying aloud in the Arabic tongue and saying, "Ho,
sect of Mohammed (upon whom be salutation and salvation!), let none of
you come out but your champion Sharrkan, the Sword of Al-Islam, Lord of
Damascus in Shám[393]!" Nor had he made an end of speaking, when arose a
tumult in the plain; all the people heard the strain and the whole
moving bodies of the armies twain called to mind the Day of Complain.
Then the cowards trembled and all necks turned towards the sound, and
lo! it was King Sharrkan, son of King Omar bin al-Nu'uman. For when his
brother, Zau al-Makan, saw that accursed one push out on the plain, and
heard the pursuivant, he turned to Sharrkan and said to him, "Of a
surety they seek for thee." Said he, "Should it so be, 'twere most
pleasing to me." So when they made sure of the matter and heard the
herald crying in the plain, "Let none of you come out against me save
Sharrkan," they knew this cursed Luka to be champion of the land of Roum
who had sworn to sweep the earth clean of Moslems. Now he was one of the
greatest of villains, a wretch who caused hearts to pain; and the
Daylamites, Turks and Kurds dreaded his might and main. Presently
Sharrkan drave at him like a lion angry-grim, mounted on a courser like
a wild gazelle flying snell and slim; and coming nigh to him made the
spear he hent to shake as it were a darting snake, and recited these
couplets:—
I have a sorrel steed, whose pride is fain to bear the rein, ✿
Shall give thee what thou likest not and make thee feel his main:
I have a handy limber spear full bright and keen of point, ✿ Upon
whose shaft the dam of Death her throny seat hath ta'en:
I have a trenchant glaive of Hind; and, when I bare its face ✿
Of scabbard-veil, from out its brow the rays of leven rain.
Luka understood not the sense of his speech nor did he apprehend the
vehemence of the verse: but he smote his forehead with his hand, in
honour of the Cross drawn thereon and kissed it; then he couched his
throw-spear and ran at Sharrkan. But first he tossed the javelin with
one hand in air to such height that it was lost to the spectators'
sight; and, catching it with the other hand as do the jugglers, hurled
it at Sharrkan. It flew from his grasp like a shooting star and folk
clamoured and feared for Sharrkan; but, as the spear flew near him, he
put out his hand and caught it in full flight to the amazement of all
who saw the sight. Then he shook it with the hand that took it till it
was well-nigh broken, and hurled it so high into the welkin that it
disappeared from view. As it descended, he caught it again with the
other hand, in less than the twinkling of an eye, and cried out from his
heart-core, saying, "By the truth of Him who created the seven-fold
skies, I will assuredly make this cursed wight a byword for mankind to
despise!" Then threw he the throw-spear at Luka, who thought to do as
Sharrkan had done and put forth his hand to bend it in mid-flight; but
Sharrkan prevented him, and sped at him a second throw-spear which smote
him and the point fell on his forehead, in the very centre of the sign
of the Cross, and Allah hurried his soul to the Fire and Dwelling-place
dire.[394] But when the Infidels saw Luka bin Shamlut fall slain, they
buffeted their faces and they cried, "Alas!" and "Woe worth the day!"
and called for aid upon the Abbots of the monasteries——And Shahrazad
perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
Now when it was the Ninety-first Night,