"How, my lord, did you fear there was nothing ready? You see your
slave has done more than you expected. But, if I am not mistaken,
these preparations were made for some other lady, and not for me:
no matter, let her come, I promise you I will not be jealous; I
only beg the favour of you to permit me to wait on her and you."
Amgiad, greatly as he was troubled at this accident, could not
help laughing at the lady's pleasantry. "Madam," said he,
thinking of something else that tormented his mind, "there is
nothing in what you imagine; this is my common dinner, and no
extraordinary preparation, I assure you." As he could not bring
himself to sit down at a table which was not provided for him,
he would have taken his seat on a sofa, but the lady would not
permit him. "Come, sir," said she, "you must be hungry after
bathing, let us eat and enjoy ourselves."
Amgiad was forced to comply: they both sat down, and began to
regale themselves. After having taken a little, the lady took a
bottle and glass, poured out some wine, and when she had drunk
herself, filled another glass, and gave it to Amgiad, who pledged
her. The more the prince reflected on this adventure, the more he
was amazed that the master of the house did not appear; and that
a mansion, so rich and well provided, should be left without a
servant. "It will be fortunate," said he to himself, "if the
master of the house do not return till I am got clear of this
intrigue." While he was occupied with these thoughts, and others
more troublesome, she ate and drank heartily, and obliged him to
do the same. Just as they were proceeding to the dessert, the
master of the house arrived.
It happened to be Bahader, master of the horse to the king of the
magicians. This mansion belonged to him, but he commonly resided
in another; and seldom came to this, unless to regale himself
with two or three chosen friends He always sent provisions from
his other house on such occasions, and had done so this day by
some of his servants, who were just gone when the lady and Amgiad
entered.
Bahader came as he used to do, in disguise, and without
attendants, and a little before the time appointed for the
assembling of his friends. He was not a little surprised to find
the door broken open; he entered, making no noise, and hearing
some persons talking and making merry in the hall, he stole along
under the wall, and put his head half way within the door to see
who they were.
Perceiving a young man and a young lady eating at his table the
victuals that had been provided for his friends and himself, and
that there was no great harm done, he resolved to divert himself
with the adventure.
The lady's back was a little turned towards him, and she did not
see the master of the horse, but Amgiad perceived him
immediately. The glass was at the time in his hand, and he was
going to drink; he changed colour at the sight of Bahader, who
made a sign to him not to say a word, but to come and speak to
him.
Amgiad drank and rose: "Where are you going?" inquired the lady.
The prince answered, "Pray, madam, stay here a little; I shall
return directly." Bahader waited for him in the vestibule, and
led him into the court to talk to him without being overheard by
the lady.
When Bahader and Amgiad were in the court, Bahader demanded of
the prince, how the lady came into his house? and why they broke
open his door? "My lord," replied Amgiad, "you may very
reasonably think me guilty of a very unwarrantable action: but if
you will have patience to hear me, I hope I shall convince you of
my innocence." He then related, in a few words, what had
happened, without disguising any part of the truth; and to shew
him that he was not capable of committing such an action as to
break into a house, told him he was a prince, and informed him of
the reason of his coming to the city of the magicians.
Bahader, who was a good man, was pleased with an opportunity of
obliging one of Amgiad's rank: for by his air, his actions, and
his well-turned conversation, he did not in the least doubt the
truth of what he had asserted. "Prince," said Bahader, "I am glad
I can oblige you in so pleasant an adventure. Far from disturbing
the feast, it will gratify me to contribute to your satisfaction
in any thing. Before I say any more on this subject, I must
inform you my name is Bahader; I am master of the horse to the
king of the magicians; I commonly reside in another house, which
I have in the city, and come here sometimes to have the more
liberty with my friends. You have made this lady believe you have
a slave, though you have none; I will personate that slave, and
that this may not make you uneasy, and to prevent your excuses, I
repeat again, that I will positively have it to be so; you will
soon know my reason. Go to your place, and continue to divert
yourself. When I return again, and come to you in a slave's
habit, chide me for staying so long, do not be afraid even to
strike me. I will wait upon you while you are at table till
night; you shall sleep here, and so shall the lady, and to-morrow
morning you may send her home with honour. I shall afterwards
endeavour to do you more important services: go, and lose no
time." Amgiad would have made him an answer, but the master of
the horse would not suffer him, forcing him to return to the
lady. He had scarcely reentered the hall before Bahader's
friends, whom he had invited, arrived. Bahader excused himself
for not entertaining them that day, telling them they would
approve of his reason when they should be informed of it, which
they should be in due time. When they were gone, he went and
dressed himself in a slave's habit.
Prince Amgiad returned to the lady much pleased at finding the
house belonged to a man of quality, who had received him so
courteously. When he sat down again, he said, "Madam, I beg a
thousand pardons for my rudeness. I was vexed that my slave
should tarry so long; the rascal shall pay for it when he comes:
I will teach him to make me wait so for him."
"Let not that trouble you," said the lady. "The evil is his; if
he is guilty of any faults, let him pay for it: but do not let us
think of him, we will enjoy ourselves without him."
They continued at the table with the more pleasure, as Amgiad was
under no apprehensions of the consequence of the lady's
indiscretion in breaking open the door. The prince was now as
merry as the lady: they said a thousand pleasant things, and
drank more than they ate, till Bahader arrived in his disguise.
Bahader entered like a slave who feared his master's displeasure
for staying out when he had company with him. He fell down at his
feet and kissed the ground, to implore his clemency; and when he
had done, stood behind him with his hands across, waiting his
commands.
"Sirrah," said Amgiad, with a fierce tone, and angry look, "where
have you been? What have you been doing, that you came no
sooner?"
"My lord," replied Bahader, "I ask your pardon; I was executing
your orders, and did not think you would return home so early."
"You are a rascal," said Amgiad, "and I will break your bones, to
teach you to lie, and disappoint me." He then rose up, took a
stick, and gave him two or three slight blows; after which he sat
down again.
The lady was not satisfied with this chastisement. She also rose,
took the stick, and fell upon Bahader so unmercifully, that the
tears came into his eyes. Amgiad, offended to the last degree at
the freedom she took, and that she should use one of the king's
chief officers so ill, called out to her in vain to forbear. "Let
me alone," said she "I will give him enough, and teach him to be
absent so long another time." She continued beating him with
great fury, till Amgiad rose from the table, and forced the stick
out of her hand which she did not relinquish without much
struggling. When she found she could beat Bahader no longer, she
sat down, railed at and cursed him.
Bahader wiped his eyes, and stood up to fill out wine When he saw
they had done eating and drinking, he took away the cloth,
cleared the hall, put every thing in its place; and night coming
on, lighted up the lamps. Every time he came in, or went out, the
lady muttered, threatened him, and gave him abusive language, to
Amgiad's great regret, who would have hindered her, but could
not. When it was time for them to retire to bed, Bahader prepared
one for them on the sofa, and withdrew into a chamber, where he
laid himself down, and soon fell asleep, having been fatigued
with his beating. Amgiad and the lady entertained one another for
some time afterwards. The lady before she went to bed having
occasion to go to another part of the house, passing through the
vestibule, heard Bahader snore, and having seen a sabre hanging
up in the hall, turned back, and said to Amgiad, "My lord, as you
love me, do one thing for me." "In what can I serve you?" asked
the prince. "Oblige me so far as to take down this sabre and cut
off your slave's head." Amgiad was astonished at such a proposal
from a lady, and made no doubt but it was the wine she had drunk
that induced her to make it. "Madam," said he, "let us suffer him
to rest, he is not worthy of your farther notice: I have beaten
him, and you have beaten him: that ought to be sufficient;
besides, I am in other respects well satisfied with him."
"That shall not satisfy me," replied the lady, in a violent
passion; "the rascal shall die, if not by your hands, by mine."
As she spoke, she took down the sabre from the place where it
hung, drew it out of the scabbard, and prepared to execute her
wicked design.
Amgiad met her in the vestibule, saying, "You shall be satisfied,
madam, since you will have it so; but I should be sorry that any
one besides myself should kill my slave." When she had given him
the sabre, "Come, follow me," said he; "make no noise, lest we
should awaken him." They went into Bahader's chamber, where
Amgiad, instead of striking him, aimed his blow at the lady, and
cut off her head, which fell upon Bahader.
Bahader was awakened by the head of the lady falling upon him. He
was amazed to see Amgiad standing by him with a bloody sabre, and
the body of the lady lying headless on the ground. The prince
told him what had passed, and said, "I had no other way to
prevent this furious woman from killing you, but to take away her
life." "My lord," replied Bahader, full of gratitude, "persons of
your rank and generosity are incapable of doing such a wicked
action: as she desired of you. You are my deliverer, and I cannot
sufficiently thank you." After having embraced him, to evince the
sense he entertained of his obligations to him, he said, "We must
carry this corpse out before it is quite day; leave it to me, I
will do it." Amgiad would not consent to this, saying, "He would
carry it away himself, since he had struck the blow." Bahader
replied, "You are a stranger in this city, and cannot do it so
well as one who is acquainted with the place. I must do it, if
for no other reason, yet for the safety of both of us, to prevent
our being questioned about her death. Remain you here, and if I
do not return before day, you may be sure the watch has seized
me; and for fear of the worst, I will by writing give this house
and furniture for your habitation."
When he had written, signed, and delivered the paper to prince
Amgiad, he put the lady's body in a bag, head and all; laid it on
his shoulder, and went out with it from one street to another,
taking the way to the sea-side. He had not proceeded far before
he met one of the judges of the city, who was going the rounds in
person. Bahader was stopped by the judge's followers, who,
opening the bag, found the body of a murdered lady, bundled up
with the head. The judge, who knew the master of the horse
notwithstanding his disguise, took him home to his house, and not
daring to put him to death without telling the king, on account
of his rank, carried him to court as soon as it was day. When the
king had been informed by the judge of the crime Bahader had, as
he believed from the circumstances, committed, he addressed
himself to the master of the horse as follows: "It is thus then
that thou murderess my subjects, to rob them, and then wouldst
throw their dead bodies into the sea, to hide thy villainy? Let
us get rid of him; execute him immediately."
Innocent as Bahader was, he received sentence of death with
resignation, and said not a word in his justification. The judge
carried him to his house, and while the pale was preparing, sent
a crier to publish throughout the city, that at noon the master
of the horse was to be impaled for a murder.
Prince Amgiad, who had in vain expected Bahader's return, was
struck with consternation when he heard the crier publish the
approaching execution of the master of the horse. "If," said he
to himself, "any one ought to die for the murder of such a wicked
woman, it is I, and not Bahader; I will never suffer an innocent
man to be punished for the guilty." Without deliberating, he then
hastened to the place of execution, whither the people were
running from all parts.
When Amgiad saw the judge bringing Bahader to the pale, he went
up to him, and said, "I am come to assure you, that the master of
the horse, whom you are leading to execution, is wholly innocent
of the lady's death; I alone am guilty of the crime, if it be
one, to have killed a detestable woman, who would have murdered
Bahader." He then related to him how it had happened.
The prince having informed the judge of the manner in which he
had met her coming from the bath; how she had occasioned his
going into the master of the horse's pleasure-house, and all that
had passed to the moment in which he was forced to cut off her
head, to save Bahader's life; the judge ordered execution to be
stopped, and conducted Amgiad to the king, taking the master of
the horse with them.
The king wished to hear the story from Amgiad himself; and the
prince, the better to prove his own innocence and that of the
master of the horse, embraced the opportunity to discover who he
was, and what had driven him and his brother Assad to that city,
with all the accidents that had befallen them, from their
departure from the Isle of Ebene.
The prince having finished his account, the king said to him, "I
rejoice that I have by this means been made acquainted with you;
I not only give you your own life, and that of my master of the
horse, whom I commend for his kindness to you, but I restore him
to his office; and as for you, prince, I declare you my grand
vizier, to make amends for your father's unjust usage, though it
is also excusable, and I permit you to employ all the authority
with which I now invest you to find out prince Assad."
Amgiad having thanked the king for the honour he had done him, on
taking possession of his office of grand vizier used every
possible means to find out the prince his brother. He ordered the
common criers to promise a great reward to any who should
discover him, or give any tidings of him. He sent men up and down
the country to the same purpose; but in vain.
Assad in the meanwhile continued in the dungeon in chains;
Bostama and Cavama, the cunning old conjuror's daughters,
treating him daily with the same cruelty and inhumanity as at
first.
The solemn festival of the adorers of fire approached; and a ship
was fitted out for the fiery mountain as usual: the captain's
name was Behram, a great bigot to his religion. He loaded it with
proper merchandize; and when it was ready to sail, put Assad in a
chest, which was half full of goods, a few crevices being left
between the boards to give him air.
Before the ship sailed, the grand vizier Amgiad, who had been
told that the adorers of fire used to sacrifice a Mussulmaun
every year on the fiery mountain, suspecting that Assad might
have fallen into their hands, and be designed for a victim,
resolved to search the ship in person. He ordered all the
passengers and seamen to be brought upon deck, and commanded his
men to search all over the ship, which they did, but Assad could
not be found, he was so well concealed.
When the grand vizier had done searching the vessel, she sailed.
As soon as Behram was got out to sea, he ordered prince Assad to
be taken out of the chest, and fettered, to secure him, lest he
should throw himself into the sea in despair since he knew he was
going to be sacrificed.
The wind was very favourable for a few days, after which there
arose a furious storm. The vessel was driven out of her course,
so that neither Behram nor his pilot knew where they were. They
were afraid of being wrecked on the rocks, for in the violence of
the storm they discovered land, and a dangerous shoal before
them. Behram perceived that he was driven into the port and
capital of queen Margiana, which occasioned him great
mortification.
This queen Margiana was a devout professor of the Mahummedan
faith, and a mortal enemy to the adorers of fire. She had
banished all of them out of her dominions, and would not suffer
their ships to touch at her ports.
It was no longer in the power of Behram to avoid putting into the
harbour, for he had no alternative but to be dashed to pieces
against the frightful rocks that lay off the shore. In this
extremity he held a council with his pilot and seamen. "My lads,"
said he, "you see to what a necessity we are reduced. We must
choose one of two things; either to resolve to be swallowed up by
the waves, or put into queen Margiana's port, whose hatred to all
persons of our religion you well know. She will certainly seize
our vessel and put us all to death, without mercy. I see but one
way to escape her, which is, to take off the fetters from the
Mussulmaun we have aboard, and dress him like a slave. When queen
Margiana commands me to come before her, and asks what trade I
follow, I will tell her I deal in slaves; that I have sold all I
had, but one, whom I keep to be my clerk, because he can read and
write. She will by this means see him, and he being handsome, and
of her own religion, will have pity on him. No doubt she will
then ask to buy him of me, and on this account will let us stay
in the port till the weather is fair. If any of you have any
thing else to propose that will be preferable, I am ready to
attend to it." The pilot and seamen applauded his judgment, and
agreed to follow his advice.
Behram commanded prince Assad's chains to be taken off, and had
him neatly habited like a slave, as became one who was to pass
for his clerk before the queen of the country. They had scarcely
time to do this, before the ship drove into the port, and dropped
anchor.
Queen Margiana's palace was so near the sea, that her garden
extended down to the shore. She saw the ship anchor, and sent to
the captain to come to her, and the sooner to satisfy her
curiosity waited for him in her garden.
Behram landed with prince Assad, whom he required to confirm what
he had said of his being a slave, and his clerk. When he was
introduced to the queen, he threw himself at her feet, and
informed her of the necessity he was under to put into her port:
that he dealt in slaves, and had sold all he had but one, who was
Assad, whom he kept for his clerk.
The queen was taken with Assad from the moment she first saw him,
and was extremely glad to hear that he was a slave; resolving to
buy him, cost what he would. She asked Assad what was his name.
"Great queen," he replied, with tears in his eyes, "does your
majesty ask what my name was formerly, or what it is now?" The
queen answered, "Have you two names then?" "Alas! I have," said
Assad: "I was once called Assad (most happy); and now my name is
Motar" (devoted to be sacrificed).
Margiana not being able to comprehend the meaning of his answer,
interpreted it to refer to his condition of a slave. "Since you
are clerk to the captain," said she, "no doubt you can write
well; let me see your hand."
Behram had furnished Assad with pen, ink, and paper, as a token
of his office, that the queen might take him for what he designed
she should.
The prince stepped a little aside, and wrote as follows, suitable
to his wretched circumstances:
"The blind man avoids the ditch into which the clear-sighted
falls. Fools advance themselves to honours, by discourses which
signify nothing, while men of sense and eloquence live in poverty
and contempt. The Mussulmaun with all his riches is miserable.
The infidel triumphs. We cannot hope things will be otherwise.
The Almighty has decreed it shall be so."
Assad presented the paper to queen Margiana, who admired alike
the moral of the sentences, and the goodness of the writing. She
needed no more to have her heart inflamed, and to feel a sincere
concern for his misfortunes. She had no sooner read the lines,
than she addressed herself to Behram, saying, "Do which you will,
either sell me this slave, or make me a present of him; perhaps
it will turn most to your account to do the latter."
Behram answered insolently, that he could neither give nor sell
him; that he wanted his slave, and would keep him.
Queen Margiana, provoked at his rudeness, would not talk to him
any more on the subject. She took the prince by the arm, and
turned him before her to the palace, sending Behram word, that if
he stayed the night in her port, she would confiscate his goods,
and burn his ship. He was therefore forced to return to his
vessel, and prepare to put to sea again, notwithstanding the
tempest had not yet subsided.
Queen Margiana, on entering her palace, commanded supper to be
got ready; and while it was providing, she ordered Assad to be
brought into her apartment, where she bade him sit down. Assad
would have excused himself: "It becomes not a slave," said he,
"to presume to this honour."
"To a slave!" replied the queen: "you were so a moment ago;
henceforward you are no more a slave. Sit down near me, and tell
me the story of your life; for by what you wrote, and the
insolence of that slave-merchant, I guess there is something
extraordinary in your history."
Prince Assad obeyed her; and sitting down, began thus: "Mighty
queen, your majesty is not mistaken, in thinking there is
something extraordinary in the story of my life: it is indeed
more so than you can imagine. The ills, the incredible torments I
have suffered, and the death to which I was devoted, and from
which I am delivered by your royal generosity, will shew the
greatness of my obligation to you, never to be forgotten. But
before I enter into particulars of my miseries, which will strike
horror into the hearts of all that hear them, I must trace the
origin of them to its source."
This preamble increased queen Margiana's curiosity. The prince
then told her of his royal birth; of his brother Amgiad, and
their mutual friendship; of their mothers' criminal passion, the
cause of all their sufferings; of the king his father's rage; how
miraculously their lives were saved; how he had lost his brother;
how he had been long imprisoned and tortured, and was devoted to
be sacrificed on the fiery mountain.
When Assad had finished his recital' the queen was more than ever
enraged at the adorers of fire. "Prince," said she, "though I
have always had an aversion to the adorers of fire, yet hitherto
I have had some humanity for them: but after their barbarous
usage of you, and their execrable design to sacrifice you, I will
henceforth wage perpetual war against them."
She was proceeding, but supper being served in, she made prince
Assad sit down at table with her, being charmed with his beauty
and eloquence, and touched with a passion which she hoped soon to
have an opportunity of making known to him "Prince," said she,
"we must make you amends for so many fasts and wretched meals, to
which the pitiless adorers of fire made you submit; you must want
nourishment after such sufferings." With conversation of this
kind she helped him at supper; and ordered him to drink a good
deal of wine to recover his spirits; by which means he drank more
than he could well bear.
The cloth being taken away, Assad having occasion to go out, took
an opportunity when the queen did not observe him. He descended
into the court, and seeing the garden-door open, went into it.
Being tempted by the pleasantness of the place, he walked there
for some time. At last he came to a fountain, where he washed his
face and hands to refresh himself, and lying down on the turf by
the fountain, fell asleep.