a son growing up to manhood, possessing great accomplishments of
mind and person, and whose wit and humour drew numerous customers
to his shop. One day a venerable dervish entering it, sat down,
and calling for a looking glass, adjusted his beard and whiskers,
at the same time asking many questions of the young man; after
which he laid down a sherif, rose up, and departed. The next day
he came again, and for several days following, always finishing
his visit by leaving a piece of gold upon the looking-glass, to
the great satisfaction of the barber, who from his other
customers never usually received more than sonic coppers of
little value; but though he liked the gold, his suspicions were
raised against the generous donor, supposing him to be a
necromancer, who had some evil design against his son, whom,
therefore, he cautioned to be upon his guard. The visits of the
dervish were continued as usual for some time; when one day he
found the barber's son alone in the shop, and was informed that
his father had gone to divert himself with viewing some
experiments which the sultan was making of the mixture of various
metals, being an adept in chemistry, and eager in search of the
philosopher's stone. The dervish now invited the young man to
accompany him to the spot where the experiments were making, and
on their arrival they saw a vast furnace, into which the sultan
and his attendants cast pieces of metal of various sorts. The
dervish having taken a lump of ore from his wallet threw it into
the furnace; then addressing the young barber, said, "I must for
the present bid you farewell, as I have a journey to take; but if
the sultan should inquire after me, let him know I am to be found
in a certain city, and will attend his summons." Having said
this, the dervish presented the barber's son with a purse of
gold, took his leave, and the youth returned home. Great was the
surprise of the sultan, when the metals in the furnace were all
melted, to find them converted into a mass of solid gold, which
proved, on assay, to be of the purest quality. Every one was
questioned as to what he had cast into the furnace, when there
appeared no reason to suppose the transmutation could have been
effected by such an accidental mixture of metals. At length it
was remarked, that a dervish, accompanying the barber's son, had
cast in a lump of ore, and immediately disappeared. Upon this the
sultan summoned the youth to his presence, and inquiring after
his companion, was informed of the place of his residence, and of
what, on his departure, he had said to him. The sultan was
overjoyed at the welcome intelligence, and dispatched the young
man, with an honourable attendance, to conduct the venerable
dervish to his presence, where being arrived, he was received
with the most distinguishing attention, and the barber's son was
promoted to high office. After some days, the sultan requested
the dervish to instruct him in the transmutation of metals, which
he readily did, as well as in many other occult mysteries; which
so gratified his royal patron, that he trusted the administration
of government to his care. This disgusted the ministers and
courtiers, who could not bear to be controlled by a stranger, and
therefore resolved to effect his ruin. By degrees they persuaded
their credulous master that the dervish was a magician, who would
in time possess himself of his throne, and the sultan, alarmed,
resolved to put him to death. With this intention, calling him to
the presence, he accused him of sorcery, and commanded an
executioner to strike off his head. "Forbear awhile," exclaimed
the dervish, "and let me live till I have shown you the most
wonderful specimen of my art." To this the sultan consented, when
the dervish, with chalk, drew a circle of considerable extent
round the sultan and his attendants, then stepping into the
middle of it, he drew a small circle round himself, and said,
"Now seize me if you can;" and immediately disappeared from
sight. At the same instant, the sultan and his courtiers found
themselves assaulted by invisible agents, who, tearing off their
robes, whipped them with scourges till the blood flowed in
streams from their lacerated backs. At length the punishment
ceased, but the mortification of the sultan did not end here, for
all the gold which the dervish had transmuted returned to its
original metals. Thus, by his unjust credulity, was a weak prince
punished for his ungrateful folly. The barber and his son also
were not to be found, so that the sultan could gain no
intelligence of the dervish, and he and his courtiers became the
laughingstock of the populace for years after their merited
chastisement.
ADVENTURES OF ALEEFA, DAUGHTER OF
MHEREJAUN, SULTAN OF HIND, AND EUSUFF, SON
OF SOHUL, SULTAN OF SIND.
Mherejaun, sultan of Hind, was many years without any progeny,
and immersed in melancholy at the thought of his kingdom's
passing to another family. One evening, while indulging his
gloomy thoughts, he dropped into a doze, from which he was roused
by a voice exclaiming, "Sultan, thy wife this night shall
conceive. If she bears a son, he will increase the glory of thy
house; but if a daughter, she will occasion thee disgrace and
misfortune." In due time the favourite sultana was delivered of a
daughter, to the great mortification of the parents, who would
have destroyed her had not her infant smiles diverted their
anger. She was brought up in the strictest privacy, and at the
end of twelve years the sultan had her conveyed to a strong
citadel erected in the middle of a deep lake, hoping in such a
confinement to prevent her from fulfilling the prediction which
had been made concerning her. Nothing could excel the
magnificence of her abode, where she was left only with female
attendants of the highest accomplishments, but no male was
allowed to approach even the borders of the lake, except when
supplies were conveyed for the use of its fair inhabitants, who
were then restricted to their apartments. The gate of the citadel
was entrusted to the care of an old lady, the princess's nurse.
For three years the fair Aleefa lived happy in her splendid
prison, but the decree of fate was not to be overcome, and an
event predestined by heaven overturned the cautious project of
sultan Mherejaun.
Eusuff, a dissipated young prince, son to the sultan of Sind,
having offended his father, fled from his court, and with a few
attendants reached the borders of the lake, in his way to seek an
asylum in the territories of Mherejaun. Curious to know who
inhabited the citadel in the midst of it, he swam over the lake,
and landed at the gate, which he found shut, but no one answered
his loudest call for admission. Upon this he wrote a note,
requesting compassion to a helpless stranger, and having fixed it
to an arrow, shot it over the battlements. It luckily for him
fell at the feet of the princess, then walking in one of the
courts of her palace. She prevailed upon her nurse to open the
gate, and at sight of Eusuff fell in love with him, as he did
with her. He was admitted, and the tenderest interviews took
place between them. Joy and pleasure prevailed in the citadel,
while the prince's attendants remained, expecting his return, on
the banks of the lake.
After some time, sultan Sohul wishing to be reconciled to his
son, and having learnt the route he had taken, dispatched his
nephew named Yiah to assure him of forgiveness, and invite him to
return to Sind. Yiah arriving at the lake, was informed by
Eusuff's attendants that the prince had entered the citadel,
since which they had not seen or heard anything of him. Yiah,
upon this, penned a note expressive of the sultan's forgiveness,
and his wish to see the prince, which he fixed to an arrow and
shot it into the palace, in the garden of which it fell, as
Eusuff and Aleefa were walking for their amusement. The prince,
on reading the note, overcome with joy at the intelligence of his
father's forgiveness of his errors, resolved to return home and
pay his duty to his parents. He communicated his design to the
princess, who was plunged into the deepest sorrow at the thought
of his departure, but he comforted her by assurances of his
speedy return, declaring that nothing but filial duty could have
torn him from her, even for a moment. She now implored him to to
take her with him, but Eusuff prudently represented that such a
step could only disgrace her fame and enrage her father, who, on
discovery of her flight, would invade the kingdom of Sind with
his powerful armies, and a scene of unnecessary bloodshed would
ensue. On the contrary, it they waited patiently, sultan
Mherejaun might be prevailed upon to consent to their union; but,
in the mean time, he would visit her often, while their meetings
might, through the fidelity of their mutual attendants, be kept
secret. Aleefa, though unwilling, was obliged to acknowledge the
justice of his reasoning, and consented to his departure; but on
his taking leave, with tears and embraces entreated him not to be
long absent, which he promised, and with truth, for his love was
sincere, and it was with difficulty he submitted to the call of
duty to a forgiving parent.
Eusuff having swam the lake with his bow and quiver upon his
head, as before, rejoined his companions, who rejoiced to see
him. He was received by his cousin Yiah with transports of
affection, and informed of what had happened since his departure
from court; after which the prince related his love adventure
with the fair Aleefa, at the same time requesting his secrecy,
and that he would charge the same on his attendants, as to his
having been in the citadel, which he should earnestly beg also of
his companions to observe. After a night's repose the two princes
marched towards Sind, and when within a day's distance from the
capital, dispatched a courier to give notice of their approach.
Sultan Sohul, overcome with joy at the recovery of his son,
having commanded the city to be ornamented and splendid
entertainments to be made for his triumphal entry, with his whole
court in their most magnificent array advanced to meet him. The
prince, on seeing his father's train, dismounted, fell on his
face, then running up, eagerly embraced the stirrup of the old
sultan, who threw himself upon his neck in a transport of joy,
and wept over him with tears of affectionate rapture. A horse
sumptuously caparisoned was now brought for the prince's
mounting, and the father and son rode side by side into the city,
amid the acclamations of all ranks of people; while, as they
proceeded, basins full of silver and gold, coined for the
occasion, were showered amongst the assembled crowds in the
streets. It is impossible to describe the tender interview
between the prince and the queen his mother, whose heart had been
nearly broken on the flight of her son, or the glad transports of
Eusuff's own ladies, who were in number three wives and forty
concubines. Suffice it to say, that all was joy and pleasure in
the palace, except in the breast of Eusuff; who mingled with the
satisfaction of return to his family an ardent desire to meet
again the beautiful Aleefa, so that the caresses of his women
gave him no pleasure; and when he retired to his apartment, he
did not, as was usual, call any of them to his presence, but
passed the night alone, thinking of his beloved. Morning invited
him to new scenes of festivity, prepared by his happy parents,
who little suspected how soon they were again to lose their son.
Eusuff having sacrificed a few days (to him long as the eve of
dissolution) to his sense of duty, could no longer restrain his
impatience, but with a faithful slave named Hullaul, mounted on a
favourite courser behind him, left the palace undiscovered in the
darkness of night, and speeded with the swiftness of the gale
towards the citadel of Aleefa. Being arrived on the banks of the
lake, he secured his saddle and bridle among some bushes, and was
carried with his attendant safely through the water by his noble
steed. Unbounded was the joy of the princess at again meeting her
faithful lover, nor was his rapture less than hers. Having
committed Hullaul to the care of the ladies of Aleefa, they
retired to their apartment. Thirty days rolled on almost
unperceived by Eusuff, who forgot his parents, his family, and
country, in the delights of love.
On the thirtieth evening, as Eusuff and Aleefa were viewing the
beautiful prospect from the terrace of the palace, they perceived
a boat sailing towards it, which, as it drew nearer, the princess
knew to belong to her father the sultan Mherejaun; upon which she
requested her lover to keep himself concealed from view, while
she received the persons in the vessel. Eusuff accordingly
withdrew into a chamber, the lattice of which looked upon the
lake; but how can we express his indignant surprise, and furious
jealousy, when he beheld landing from the boat two handsome young
men, into the arms of one of whom Aleefa threw herself with eager
transport, and after mutual embraces they withdrew together into
the palace. Without considering that his supposed rival might be
a near relation to the princess, as he in fact was, being her
first cousin, who had been brought up with her till her
confinement to the lake; Eusuff suffered himself to be overcome
by unworthy suspicion, and resolved to quit for ever a faithless
mistress. Having written an angry letter upraiding her with
falsehood, and bidding her farewell, he with his attendant
Hullaul mounted his courser; then delivering his note to one of
the females, to be given to the princess, he swam over the lake
and speeded rapidly to his own country, where he was once more
joyfully received by his parents and family; and in order to
forget the charms of Aleefa, he indulged himself in mirth and
pleasure with his lately forsaken ladies, who, delighted with the
long-wished-for return of his affection, strove with each ether
who should please him best.
The unsuspecting Aleefa was engaged with her cousin Sohaul and
Ali Bin Ibrahim, a faithful eunuch who was his attendant, asking
a thousand questions and listening to the news of her father's
court, when Eusuff's letter was put into her hands. Rising up,
she withdrew into a closet, opened it, and was much vexed at its
ungrateful contents; but knowing herself innocent, and trusting
that her lover would return when convinced of his mistake, she
composed her mind as firmly as she, could till the departure of
her cousin, who after some days took leave and returned to the
capital of Mherejaun, leaving behind him the eunuch, to the great
satisfaction of the princess, who hoped to make him the mediator
between her and her beloved. Nor was she mistaken. When unfolding
to him the whole of her adventures with Eusuff, he agreed to be
the bearer of a letter, and explain to him the cause of his
needless suspicion. Having swam the lake with the fair Aleefa's
packet wrapped in his clothes upon his head, the faithful Ah in
twenty days reached the city of Sind, and demanding an audience
in private, which was readily granted, delivered his commission
to the prince. Eusuff, whose anger was now calmed, and who had
already begun to feel uneasy at absence from the still reigning
favourite of his heart, on perusing her letter was overcome with
joy. He listened eagerly to the account of his fancied rival by
the eloquent Ali Bin Ibrohim, to whom he expressed his conviction
of her constancy, his own sorrow for his unreasonable desertion
of her, and his intention of departing to visit her the next
night, till when he desired the eunuch to repose himself after
his fatigue. Ali Bin Ibrahim was then lodged, by the prince's
orders, in one of the most splendid apartments of the palace, and
respectfully waited upon by the domestics of his court. The night
following, Eusuff having ordered his favourite Hullaul to make
preparations, departed from Sind as before, with the eunuch
mounted on a second courser. They in a few days reached the
borders of the lake, swam over, and to the great joy of the once
more happy Aleefa arrived at the citadel. The recollection of the
pains of absence added a zest to the transports of reunion, and
the lovers were, if possible, more delighted with each other than
before their separation. The faithful Ali Bin Ibrahim was now
dismissed with invaluable presents of precious stones, and
returned to the court of Mherejaun, the time for his stay at the
citadel of the lake being expired. On his arrival, the sultan,
anxious for intelligence of his daughter's health, took him into
his closet, and while he was questioning him, by some accident
the eunuch's turban unfortunately falling off, the precious
stones, which, with a summary of the adventures of Eusuff and
Aleefa, and his own embassy to Sind, were wrapped in the folds,
tumbled upon the floor. The sultan knew the jewels, and examining
the turban, to make farther discoveries, found the paper, which
he eagerly read; and furious was his wrath, when from the
contents it appeared that all his caution to guard against the
decrees of heaven had been vain, that the princess had been
seduced, and his house dishonoured. He sternly inquired of the
trembling Ali if Eusuff was yet with his daughter, and was
answered in the affirmative, when he immediately gave orders for
vessels to be prepared for his departure, hoping to take him
prisoner, and at the same time commanded his army to march along
the banks of the lake and encamp opposite the citadel. The
unfortunate eunuch was thrown into a dungeon and loaded with
heavy chains, after he had been bastinadoed almost to death; but
still faithful to the lovers, he prevailed upon his gaoler by a
large bribe during the night to permit him to dispatch a note by
a trusty messenger to the princess, apprising her of the
misfortune which had happened, in hopes that she would have time
to escape with Eusuff towards his own country before her father's
arrival. Fortunately for the lovers, this information reached
them the next morning, when they consulted what measures to
pursue, and it was agreed, that instead of both quitting the
citadel, only Eusuff and Hullaul should return to Sind, as the
princess was unequal to such a rapid journey, but that in order
to ensure her safety, the slaves should, on the sultan's arrival,
assure him that she had gone off with her lover, when he would
either return home or pursue the prince with his army; who,
however, mounted as he was on so swift a courser, could not be
overtaken. It was also settled that Eusuff, on his arrival in his
own country, should send an embassy to Mherejaun, declaring his
marriage with Aleefa, and requesting pardon, and leave to pay his
duty as his son-in-law. This stratagem had in part its effect,
but no precaution could ward off the fulfilment of the prediction
at the princess's birth, which was that she should occasion the
disgrace and death of her father.
Mherejaun armed at the citadel a few hours after Eusuff's escape,
and was informed by her attendants that she had also accompanied
him in his flight; upon which the enraged sultan, hurried on by
fate, without stopping to search the palace in which his daughter
was concealed, hastened to join his troops on the banks of the
lake, and with a vast army pursued the Sindian prince, who,
however, reached his capital in safety. On his arrival, having
informed his father of his adventures, the old sultan, eager to
gratify his son, approved of his additional marriage with the
fair Aleefa, and dispatched an embassy to Mherejaun, who by this
time was in the territory of Sind, laying it waste with fire and
sword, no troops scarcely being opposed to his sudden invasion.
He received the ambassador with mortifying haughtiness, bidding
him return to his master, and inform him that he never would
forgive the seduction of his daughter, in revenge for which he
had taken a solemn oath to overturn the kingdom of Sind, raze the
capital, and feast his eyes with the blood of the old sultan and
his son. On receipt of this ungracious reply to his proposals,
the sultan and Eusuff had no alternative but to oppose so
inveterate a foe. They collected their troops, by whom they were
much beloved, and marched to meet the enemy, whom, after an
obstinate battle, they defeated, and Mherejaun was slain in the
action. It is impossible to resist the decrees of heaven. From
God we came, and to God we must return.
Eusuff, after the action, behaved with the greatest humility to
the conquered, and had the body of the unfortunate Mherejaun
embalmed and laid in a splendid litter, in which it was conducted
by a numerous escort, in respectful solemnity, to the capital of
Hind, and deposited with funeral pomp, becoming the rank of the
deceased, in a magnificent mausoleum, which had been erected by
himself, as is customary among the sovereigns of Asia. The
prince, at the same time, dispatched letters of condolence to the
mother of Aleefa, lamenting the fate of Mherejaun, whom he had
been, much against his will, necessitated to oppose in battle,
and expressing his ardent love for her daughter, a marriage with
whom was his highest hope, as it was his first wish to console
the mother of his beloved in her misfortunes.
The sultana, who had received intelligence of the decisive
victory and the death of her husband, and who expected, instead
of such conduct, to see the victor besieging her capital, felt
some alleviation of her sorrow in the prospect of saving her
people from destruction, by consenting to an union between Eusuff
and Aleefa. Her answer accordingly was favourable, upon which the
prince of Sind repaired to the lake, and conducting his willing
bride to the capital of Hind, at the expiration of the stated
time of mourning for Mherejaun, their nuptials were celebrated
with all possible magnificence, amid the united acclamations of
the subjects, who readily acknowledged his authority, and had no
cause to repent of their submission to his yoke. His next care
was to inform the caliph Mamoon, who was then commander of the
faithful at Bagdad, of the events which had happened,
accompanying his petition with a great sum of money, and
offerings of all the rarities the countries of Hind and Sind
afforded; among which were ten beautiful slaves, highly
accomplished in singing, dancing, and a talent for poetry. They
recited extempore verses before the caliph, but the subject of
each was so expressive of their wish to return to their beloved
sovereign, and delivered in so affecting a manner, that Mamoon,
though delighted with their wit and beauty, sacrificed his own
pleasure to their feelings, and sent them back to Eusuff by the
officer who carried the edict, confirming him in his dominions,
where the prince of Sind and the fair Aleefa continued long, amid
a numerous progeny, to live the protectors of their happy
subjects.
ADVENTURES OF THE THREE PRINCES, SONS OF
THE SULTAN OF CHINA.