congratulated his brother, Zau al-Makan, on his safety and thanked him
for the deeds he had done; after which both set out forcing their
marches to rejoin their army. Such was their case; but as regards the
old woman, Zat al-Dawahi, after she had foregathered with the hosts of
Rustam and Bahram, she returned to the coppice, where she took her steed
and mounted and sped on at speed, till she drew near the Moslem army
that beleaguered Constantinople, when she lighted down from her destrier
and led it to the pavilion-tent of the Chief Chamberlain. And when he
saw her, he stood up to her in honour and signed to her with his right
hand and said, "Welcome O pious recluse!" Then he questioned her of what
had befallen, and she repeated to him her disquieting lies and deluding
calumnies, saying, "In sooth I fear for the Emir Rustam, and the Emir
Bahram, for that I met them and theirs on the way and sent them and
their following to relieve the King and his companions. Now there are
but twenty thousand horse and the Unbelievers outnumber them; so I would
have thee at this moment send off the rest of thy troops at full speed
to their succour, lest they be slain to the last man." And she cried to
them, "Haste! Haste!" When the Chamberlain and the Moslems heard these
words, their spirits fell and they wept; but Zat al-Dawahi said to them,
"Ask aidance of Allah and bear patiently this tribulation; for ye have
the example of those who have been before you of the people of Mohammed;
and Paradise with its palaces is laid out by Allah for those who die
martyrs; and needs must all die, but most praiseworthy is dying while
fighting for the Faith." The Chamberlain, hearing this speech of the
accursed old woman, called for the Emir Bahram's brother, a knight by
name Tarkash; and, choosing out for him ten thousand horse, riders famed
for force, bade him set out at once. So he fared forth and marched all
that day and the whole of the next night, till he neared the Moslems.
When daylight dawned, Sharrkan saw the dust cloud about them and feared
for the men of Al-Islam and said, "If these troops which are coming upon
us be Moslem men our victory is assured by them; but, if these be
Nazarenes, there is no gainsaying Destiny's decrees." Then he turned to
his brother, Zau al-Makan, and said, "Never fear, for with my life I
will ransom thee from death. If these be Mohammedan troops, then were it
an increase of heavenly favours; but, if they be our foes, there is no
help save that we fight them. Yet do I long to meet the Holy Man ere I
die, so I may beg him to pray that I die not save by death of
martyrdom." Whilst the twain were thus speaking, behold, there appeared
the banners inscribed with the words, "There is no God but _the_ God and
Mohammed is the Apostle of God;" and Sharrkan cried out, "How is it with
the Moslems?" "All are sound and safe," replied they, "and we came not
but out of concern for you." Then the Chief of the army dismounted and,
kissing ground before Sharrkan, asked, "O my lord, how be the Sultan and
the Wazir Dandan and Rustam and my brother Bahram; are they all in
safety?" He answered, "All well; but who brought thee tidings of us?"
Quoth Tarkash; "It was the Holy Man who told us that he had met my
brother Bahram and Rustam and had sent them both to you and he also
assured us that the Infidels had encompassed you and outnumbered you;
but I see not the case save the contrary thereof and that you are
victorious." They questioned him, "And how did the Holy Man reach you?";
and he replied, "Walking on his feet and he had compassed in a day and a
night, ten days' journey for a well girt horseman." "There is no doubt
but that he is a Saint of Allah," said Sharrkan, "but where is he now?"
They rejoined, "We left him with our troops, the folk of the Faith,
moving them to do battle with the rebels and the Faithless." Thereat
Sharrkan rejoiced and all thanked Allah for their own deliverance and
the safety of the Holy Man; and commended the dead to His mercy saying,
"This was writ in the Book." Then they set out making for Constantinople
by forced marches, and whilst they were on this enterprise, behold, a
dust-cloud arose to such height that it walled the two horizons, the
eastern and the western, from man's sight and the day was darkened by it
to night. But Sharrkan looked at it and said, "Verily, I fear lest this
be the Infidels who have routed the army of Al-Islam for that this dust
walleth the world, east and west, and hideth the two horizons, north and
south." Presently appeared under the dust a pillar of darkness, blacker
than the blackness of dismal days; nor ceased to come upon them that
column more dreadful than the dread of the Day of Doom. Horse and foot
hastened up to look at it and know the terrors of the case, when behold,
they saw it to be the recluse aforesaid; so they thronged round him to
kiss his hands and he cried out, "O people of the Best of Mankind,[442]
the lamp which shineth in darkness blind, verily the Infidels have
outwitted the Moslems by guile, for they fell upon the host of the One
God whilst they deemed themselves safe from the Faithless, and attacked
them in their tents and made a sore slaughter of them what while they
looked for no wile; so hasten to the aid of the Believers in the unity
of God, and deliver them from those who deny Him!" Now when Sharrkan
heard these words, his heart flew from his breast with sore trouble;
and, alighting from his steed in amazement, he kissed the Recluse's
hands and feet. On like wise did his brother, Zau al-Makan, and the rest
of the foot and horse-troops; except the Wazir Dandan, who dismounted
not but said, "By Allah, my heart flieth from this devotee, for I never
knew show of devotion to religion that bred not bane. So leave him and
rejoin your comrades the Moslems, for this man is of the outcasts from
the gate of the mercy of the Lord of the Three Worlds! How often have I
here made razzias with King Omar bin al-Nu'uman and trodden the earth of
these lands!" Said Sharrkan, "Put away from thee such evil thought, hast
thou not seen this Holy Man exciting the Faithful to fight, and holding
spears and swords light? So slander him not, for backbiting is blameable
and poisoned is the flesh of the pious.[443] Look how he inciteth us to
fight the foe; and, did not Almighty Allah love him, He had cast him
aforetime into fearful torment." Then Sharrkan bade bring a Nubian mule
for the ascetic to ride and said, "Mount, O pious man, devout and
virtuous!" But the devotee refused to ride and feigned self-denial, that
he might attain his end; and they knew not that this holy personage was
like him of whom the poet saith:—
He prayeth and he fasteth for an end he doth espy; ✿ When once his
end is safely won then fast and prayer good-bye.[444]
So the devotee ceased not to walk among the horsemen and the footmen,
like a wily fox meditating guile, and began to uplift her voice,
chanting the Koran and praising the Compassionate One. And they
continued pressing forward till they approached the camp of Al-Islam,
where Sharrkan found the Moslem in conquered plight and the Chamberlain
upon the brink of falling back in flight, whilst the sword of Greece
havoc dight among the Faithful, the righteous and those who work
unright,——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her
permitted say.
Now when it was the Hundred-and-second Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when Sharrkan saw
the Moslems in conquered plight and the Chamberlain upon the brink of
retreat and flight and the sword havoc dight among the righteous and the
workers of unright, the cause of this weakness among the Moslems was
that the accursed old woman, Zat al-Dawahi, the foe of the Faith, after
seeing that Bahram and Rustam had set forward with their troops to join
Sharrkan and his brother Zau al-Makan, repaired to the camp of the
Mahometans before Constantinople and caused the mission of the Emir
Tarkash, as hath been before said. In this her purpose was to divide the
Moslem forces the better to weaken them. Then she left them and entered
Constantinople, and called with a loud voice on the knights of the
Greeks, saying, "Let me down a cord that I may tie thereto this letter,
and do ye bear it to your King Afridun, that he may read it and to my
son King Hardub that they both do what is written therein of bidding and
forbidding." So they let down for her a string and she tied thereto a
letter whose purport was the following: "From the terriblest of
tribulations[445] and the chiefest of all calamities, Zat al-Dawahi, to
King Afridun greeting. But afterwards. Of a truth I have contrived a
device for destroying the Moslems; so bide ye quiet and content. I have
cozened and captured their Sultan and the Wazir Dandan; and then I
returned to their camp and acquainted them therewith, whereby their
pride had a fall and their withers were wrung. And I have so wrought
upon the host 'leaguering Constantinople that they have sent ten
thousand men under the Emir Tarkash to succour the captives, of whom
there be now left but few; it is therefore my object that ye sally forth
against them with all your power while this day endureth; and that ye
fall on them in their tents and that ye leave them not till ye shall
have slain them to the last man; for, verily the Messiah looketh down
upon you and the Blessed Virgin favoureth you; and I hope of the Messiah
that he forget not what deed I have done." When her letter came to King
Afridun, he rejoiced with great joyance; and, sending at once for King
Hardub of Greece, son of Zat al-Dawahi, read the letter to him as soon
as he came, whereat he was exceeding glad and said, "See my mother's
craft; verily it dispenseth with swords, and her aspect standeth in
stead of the terrors of the Day of Dread." Rejoined Afridun, "May the
Messiah not bereave us of thy venerable parent nor deprive her of her
wile and guile!" Then he bade the Knights give orders for sallying
outside the city, and the news was noised abroad in Constantinople. So
the Nazarenes and the cohorts of the Cross burst forth and unsheathed
their keen sabres in their numbers, shouting out their professions of
impiety and heresies, and blaspheming the Lord of all Creatures. When
the Chamberlain saw the sally, he said, "Behold, the Greek is upon us
and they surely have learned that our Sultan is far away; and haply they
have attacked us, for that the most part of our troops have marched to
the succour of King Zau al-Makan!" Therewith he waxed wroth and cried
out, "Ho, soldiers of Al-Islam and favourers of the True Faith, an you
flee you are lost, but if ye stand fast, ye win! Know ye that valiancy
lieth in endurance of outrance and that no case is so strait but that
the Almighty is able to make it straight; Allah assain you and look upon
you with eyes of compassion fain!" Thereupon the Moslems cried out,
"Allaho Akbar!" and the believer in the One God shouted his slogan, and
whirled the mill-wheels of fight with cutting and thrusting in main and
might; scymitars and spears played sore and the plains and valleys were
swamped with gore. The priests and monks priested it, tight-girding
their girdles and uplifting the Crucifixes, while the Moslem shouted out
the professions of the Requiting King and verses of the Koran began to
sing. The hosts of the Compassionate One fought against the legions of
Satan; and head flew from body of man, while the good Angels hovered
above the people of the Chosen Prophet, nor did the sword cease to smite
till the day darkened and night came on and starkened. Now the
miscreants had encompassed the Moslems and made sure of escaping the
pains that awaited them; and the Faithless greeded for victory over the
Faithful until day dawned and dazzled. Thereupon the Chamberlain
mounted, he and his men, trusting that Allah would help them to victory;
and host was mingled with host and battle rose a-foot and took post. And
heads flew from trunks whilst the brave stood fast in stead; the craven
turned tail and fled; and the Judge of death judged and sentence sped,
so that the champions fell from their saddles slain and corpses cumbered
meadow and plain. Then the Moslem began to give ground and rearwards
bent; and the Greek took possession of some of their tents; whereupon
the Moslems were about to break and retreat and take flight, when
meanwhile behold, up came Sharrkan with the rest of the host of Al-Islam
and the standards of the Believers in Unity. And having come up with
them, he charged the Infidels; and followed him Zau al-Makan and the
Wazir Dandan and the Emirs Bahram and Rustam with his brother Tarkash.
When the foe saw this, they lost head and their reason fled, and the
dust clouds towered till they covered the country, whilst the righteous
Believers joined their pious comrades. Then Sharrkan accosted the
Chamberlain and praised him for his steadfastness; and he in turn gave
the Prince joy of his timely succour and his gaining the day. Thereat
the Moslems were glad and their hearts were heartened; so they rushed
upon their enemies and devoted themselves to Allah in their Fight for
the Faith. But when the Idolaters beheld the standards Mohammedan and
thereon the profession of Faith Islamitan, proclaiming the Unity, they
shrieked "Woe!" and "Ruin!" and besought succour of the Patriarchs of
the Monasteries. Then fell they to calling upon John and Mary and the
Cross abhorrent and stayed their hands from slaughter, whilst King
Afridun went up to consult King Hardub of Greece, for the two Kings
stood one at the head of each wing, right and left. Now there was with
them also a famous cavalier, Lawiyá hight, who commanded the centre; and
they drew out in battle array, but indeed they were full of alarm and
affray. Meanwhile, the Moslems aligned their forces and thereupon
Sharrkan came to his brother, Zau al-Makan, and said, "O King of the
Age, doubtless they mean to champion it, and that is also the object of
our desire; but it is my wish to push forward the stoutest-hearted of
our fighters, for by forethought is one half of life wrought." Replied
the Sultan, "As thou wilt, O companion of good counsel!" "It is my
wish," added Sharrkan, "to stand in mid-line opposite the Infidel, with
the Wazir Dandan on my left and thee on my right, whilst the Emir Bahram
leads the dexter-wing and the Emir Rustam leads the wing sinistral; and
thou, O mighty King, shalt be under the standards and the ensigns, for
that thou art the pillar of our defence; upon thee, after Allah, is our
dependence and we will all be thy ransom from aught that can harm thee."
Zau al-Makan thanked him therefor, and the slogan arose and the sabre
was drawn; but, as things stood thus, behold, there came forth a
cavalier from the ranks of Roum; and, as he drew near, they saw that he
was mounted on a slow-paced she-mule, fleeing with her master from the
shock of swords. Her housings were of white silk covered by a
prayer-carpet of Cashmere stuff, and on her back sat a Shaykh, an old
man of comely presence and reverend aspect, garbed in a gown of white
wool. He stinted not pushing her and hurrying her on till he came near
the Moslem and said, "I am an ambassador to you all, and an ambassador
hath naught to do save to deliver; so give me safe conduct and permit of
speech, that I communicate to you my message." Replied Sharrkan, "Thou
art in safety: fear neither sway of sword nor lunge of lance." Thereupon
the old man dismounted and, taking the Cross from his neck, placed it
before the Sultan and humbled himself with much humility. Then quoth to
him the Moslems, "What is with thee of news?"; and quoth he, "I am an
ambassador from King Afridun, for I counselled him to avert the
destruction of all these frames of men and temples of the Compassionate
One; and to him it seemed righteous to stay the shedding of blood and
limit it to the encounter of two knights in shock of fight singular; so
he agreed to that and he saith to you:—Verily, I will ransom my army
with my life; so let the Moslem King do as I do and with his life ransom
his host. And if he kill me, there will be no stay left in the army of
Roum, and if I kill him, there will be no stability with the Moslems."
When Sharrkan heard this he said, "O monk, I agree to that, for it is
just nor may it be gainsaid; and behold, I will meet him in duello and
do with him derring-do, for I am Champion of the Faithful even as he is
Champion of the Faithless; and if he slay me, he will have won the day
and naught will remain for the Moslems' forces save flight. So return to
him, O thou monk, and say that the single combat shall take place
to-morrow, for this day we have come off our journey and are aweary; but
after rest neither reproach nor blame fear ye." So the monk returned
(and he rejoicing) to King Afridun and King Hardub, and told them both
what Sharrkan had said, whereat King Afridun was glad with exceeding
gladness and fell from him anxiety and sadness, and he said to himself,
"No doubt but this Sharrkan is their doughtiest swayer of the sword and
the dourest at lunge of lance; and when I shall have slain him, their
hearts will be disheartened and their strength will be shattered." Now
Zat al-Dawahi had written to King Afridun of that and had told him how
Sharrkan was a Knight of the Braves and the bravest of knights and had
warned him against him; but Afridun was a stalwart cavalier who fought
in many a fashion; he could hurl rocks and throw spears and smite with
the iron mace and he feared not the prowest of the prow. So when he
heard the report of the monk that Sharrkan agreed to the duello, he was
like to fly for exceeding joy, because he had self-confidence and he
knew that none could withstand him. The Infidels passed that night in
joy and jubilee and wine-bibbing; and, as soon as it was dawn, the two
armies drew out with the swart of spear and the blanch of blade. And
behold, a cavalier rode single-handed into the plain, mounted on a steed
of purest strain, and for foray and fray full ready and fain. And that
Knight had limbs of might and he was clad in an iron cuirass made for
stress of fight. On his breast he wore a jewelled mirror and in his hand
he bore a keen scymitar and his lance of Khalanj-wood,[446] the curious
work of the Frank, weighing a quintal. Then the rider uncovered his face
and cried out, saying, "Whoso knoweth me verily hath enough of me, and
whoso knoweth me not right soon[447] shall ken who I be. I am Afridun
the overwhelmed by the well-omened Shawáhi,[448] Zat al-Dawahi." But he
had not ended speaking ere Sharrkan, the Champion of the Moslems, fared
forth to meet him, mounted on a sorrel horse worth a thousand pieces of
red gold with accoutrements purfled in pearls and precious stone; and he
bore in baldrick a blade of watered Indian steel that through necks
shore and made easy the hard and sore. He drave his charger between the
two hosts in line whilst the horsemen all fixed on him their eyne, and
he cried out to Afridun, "Woe to thee, O accursed! dost thou deem me one
of the horsemen thou hast overta'en who cannot stand against thee on
battle-plain?" Then each rushed upon other and they bashed together like
two mountains crashing or two billows dashing and clashing: they
advanced and retreated; and drew together and withdrew; and stinted not
of fray and fight and weapon-play, and strife and stay, with stroke of
sword and lunge of lance. Of the two armies looking on, some said,
"Sharrkan is victor!" and others, "Afridun will conquer!"; and the two
riders stayed not their hands from the hustle until ceased the clamour
and the bustle; and the dust-columns rose and the day waned and the sun
waxed yellow and wan. Then cried out King Afridun to Sharrkan, saying,
"By the truth of the Messiah and the Faith which is no liar, thou art
nought save a doughty rider and a stalwart fighter; but thou art
fraudful and thy nature is not that of the noble. I ken thy work is
other than praiseworthy nor is thy prowess that of a Prince; for thy
people behave to thee as though thou wert a slave;[449] and see! they
bring thee out a charger which is not thine, that thou mayst mount and
return to the fight. But by the truth of my Faith, thy fighting irketh
and fatigueth me and I am weary of cutting and thrusting with thee; and
if thou purpose to lay on load with me to-night, thou wouldst not change
aught of thy harness nor thy horse, till thou approve to the cavaliers
thy generous blood and skill in brunt." When Sharrkan heard him say
these words concerning his own folk behaving to him though he were a
slave, he waxt wroth and turned towards his men, meaning to sign to them
and bid them not prepare him change of harness or horse, when lo!
Afridun shook his throw-spear high in air and cast it at Sharrkan. Now
when the Moslem turned his back, he found none of the men near him, and
he knew this to be a trick of the accursed Infidel; so he wheeled round
in haste and behold, the javelin came at him, so he swerved from it,
till his head was bent low as his saddle-bow. The weapon grazed his
breast, and pierced the skin of his chest, for Sharrkan was
high-bosomed: whereupon he gave one cry and swooned away. Thereat the
accursed Afridun was joyful, thinking he had slain him; and shouted to
the Infidels bidding them rejoice, whereat the Faithless were encouraged
and the Faithful wept. When Zau al-Makan saw his brother reeling in
selle so that he well-nigh fell, he despatched cavaliers towards him and
the braves hurried to his aid and came up with him. Thereupon the
Infidels drove at the Moslems; the two hosts joined battle and the two
lines were mingled, whilst the keen scymitar of Al-Yaman did good work.
Now the first to reach Sharrkan was the Wazir Dandan——And Shahrazad
perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
Now when it was the Hundred-and-third Night,