THE PLOT
Now, while Shibli Bagarag gazed on Shagpat kindled by the beams of Aklis,lo, the Genii Karavejis and Veejravoosh circling each other in swiftcircles like two sapphire rings toward him, and they whirled to a pointabove his head, and fell and prostrated themselves at his feet: so hecried, 'O ye slaves of the Sword, my servitors! how of the whereabout ofKaraz?'
They answered, 'O Master of the Event, we found him after many circlingsfar off, and 'twas by the borders of the Putrid Sea. We came not close onhim, for he is stronger than we without the Sword, but it seemed he wasdistilling drops of an oil from certain substances, large thickened dropsthat dropped into a phial.'
Then Shibli Bagarag said, 'The season of weakness with me is over, andthey that confide in my strength, my cunning, my watchfulness, mywielding of the Sword, have nought to fear for themselves. Now, this ismy plot, O Feshnavat,--that part of it in which thou art to have a share.'Tis that thou depart forthwith to the City yonder, and enter thy palaceby a back entrance, and I will see that thou art joined within an hour ofthy arrival there by Baba Mustapha, my uncle, the gabbler. He is there,as I guess by signs; I have had warnings of him. Discover him speedily.Thy task is then to induce him to make an attempt on the head of Shagpatin all wiliness, as he and thou think well to devise. He will fail, as Iknow, but what is that saying of the poet?
"Persist, if thou wouldst truly reach thine ends, For failures oft are but advising friends."
And he says:
"Every failure is a step advanced, To him who will consider how it chanced."
Wherefore, will I that this attempt be made, keeping the counsel that ismine. Thou must tell Baba Mustapha I wait without the city to reward himby my powers of reward with all that he best loveth. So, when he hasfailed in his attempt on Shagpat, and blows fall plenteously upon him,and he is regaled with the accustomed thwacking, as I have tasted it inthis undertaking, do thou waste no further word on him, for his part isover, and as is said:
"Waste not a word in enterprise! Against--or for--the minute flies."
'Tis then for thee, O Feshnavat, to speed to the presence of the King inhis majesty, and thou wilt find means of coming to him by a disguise.Once in the Hall of Council, challenge the tongue of contradiction toaffirm Shagpat other than a bald-pate bewigged. This is for thee to do.'
Quoth Feshnavat plaintively, after thought, 'And what becometh of me, Othou Master of the Event?'
Shibli Bagarag said, 'The clutch of the executioner will be upon thee, OFeshnavat, and a clamouring multitude around; short breathing-time giventhee, O father of Noorna, ere the time of breathing is commanded tocease. Now, in that respite the thing that will occur, 'tis for thee tosee and mark; sure, never will reverse of things be more complete, andthe other side of the picture more rapidly exhibited, if all go as Iconceive and plot, and the trap be not premature nor too perfect for thetrappers; as the poet has declared:
"Ye that intrigue, to thy slaves proper portions adapt; Perfectest plots burst too often, for all are not apt."
And I witness likewise to the excellence of his saying:
"To master an Event, Study men! The minutes are well spent Only then."
Also 'tis he that says:
"The man of men who knoweth men, the Man of men is he! His army is the human race, and every foe must flee."
So have I apportioned to thee thy work, to Baba Mustapha his; reservingto myself the work that is mine!'
Thereat Feshnavat exclaimed, 'O Master of the Event, may I be thysacrifice! on my head be it! and for thee to command is for me to obey!but surely, this Sword of thine that is in thy girdle, the marvellousblade--'tis alone equal to the project and the shave; and the mattermight be consummated, the great thing done, even from this point whencewe behold Shagpat visible, as 'twere brought forward toward us by thebeams! And this Sword swayed by thee, and with thy skill and strength andthe hardihood of hand that is thine, wullahy! 'twould shear him now, thismoment, taking the light of Aklis for a lather.'
Shibli Bagarag knotted the brows of impatience, crying, 'Hast thouforgotten Karaz in thy calculations? I know of a surety what this Swordwill do, and I wot the oil he distilleth strengtheneth Shagpat butagainst common blades. Yet shall it not be spoken of me, Shibli Bagarag,that I was tripped by my own conceit; the poet counselleth:
"When for any mighty end thou hast the aid of heaven, Mount until thy strength shall match those great means which are given":
nor that I was overthrown in despising mine enemy, forgetful of thesaying of the sage:
"Read the features of thy foe, wherever he may find thee, Small he is, seen face to face, but thrice his size behind thee."
Wullahy! this Karaz is a Genie of craft and resources, one of a mightystock, and I must close with Shagpat to be sure of him; and that I am notdeceived by semblances, opposing guile with guile, and guile deeper thanhis, for that he awaiteth it not, thinking I have leaped in fancy beyondthe Event, and am puffed by the after-breaths of adulation, I!--thinkingI pluck the blossoms in my hunger for the fruit, that I eat the chick ofthe yet unlaid egg, O Feshnavat. As is said, and the warrior bearethwitness to the wisdom of it:
"His weapon I'll study; my own conceal; So with two arms to his one shall I deal."
The same also testifieth:
"'Tis folly of the hero, though resistless in the field, To stake the victory on his steel, and fling away the shield."
And likewise:
"Examine thine armour in every joint, For slain was the Giant, and by a pin's point."
Wah! 'tis certain there will need subtlety in this undertaking, and aplot plotted, so do thou my bidding, and fail not in the part assigned tothee.'
Now, Feshnavat was persuaded by his words, and cried, 'In diligence,discretion, and the virtues which characterize subordinates, I go, and Idelay not! I will perform the thing required of me, O Master of theEvent.' And he repeated in verse:
With danger beset, be the path crooked or narrow, Thou art the bow, and I the arrow.
Then embraced he his daughter, kissing her on the forehead and the eyes,and tightening the girdle of his robe, departed, with the name of Allahon his lips, in the direction of the City.
So Shibli Bagarag called to him the two Genii, and his command was,'Soar, ye slaves of the Sword, till the range of earth and its mountainsand seas and deserts are a cluster in the orb of the eye, Shirazconspicuous as a rose among garlands, and the ruby consorted with othergems in a setting. In Shiraz or the country adjoining ye will come uponone Baba Mustapha by name; and, if he be alone, ye may recognize him byhis forlorn look and the hang of his cheeks, his vacancy as of utterabandonment; if in company, 'twill be the only talker that's he; seize onhim, give him a taste of thin air, and deposit him without speech on theroof of a palace, where ye will see Feshnavat in yonder city: this do erethe shadows of the palm-tree by the well in the plain move up the moundsthat enclose the fortified parts.'
Cried Karavejis and Veejravoosh, 'To hear is to obey.'
Up into the sky, like two bright balls tossed by jugglers, the two Geniishot; and, watching them, Noorna bin Noorka said, 'My life, there is athird wanting, Ravejoura; and with aid of the three, earth could haveplanted no obstruction to thy stroke; but thou wert tempted by the thirdtemptation in Aklis, and left not the Hall in triumph, the Hall of theDuping Brides!'
He answered, 'That is so, my soul; and the penalty is mine, by which I ammade to employ deceits ere I strike.'
And she said, ''Tis to the generosity of Gulrevaz thou owest Karavejisand Veejravoosh; and I think she was generous, seeing thee true to me inlove, she that hath sorrows!'
So he said, 'What of the sorrows of Gulrevaz? Tell me of them.'
But she said, 'Nay, O my betrothed! wouldst thou have this tongueblistered, and a consuming spark shot against this bosom?'
Then he: 'Make it clear to me.'
She put her mouth to his ear, saying,
'There is a curse on whoso tellethof things in Aklis, and to tattle of the Seven and their sisterforerunneth wretchedness.'
Surely, he stooped to that fair creature, and folded her to his heart,his whole soul heaving to her; and he cried again and again, 'Shall harmhap to thee through me? by Allah, no!'
And he closed the privileged arm of the bridegroom round her waist, thathad the yieldingness of the willow-branchlet, the flowingness of thesummer sea-wave, and seemed as 'twere melting honey-like at the firstgentle pressure; she leaning her head shyly on his shoulder, yetconfiding in his faithfulness; it was that she was shy of the great blissin her bosom, and was made timid by the fervour of her affection; as issung:
Deeper than the source of blushes Is the power that makes them start; Up in floods the red stream rushes, At one whisper of the heart.
And it is sung in words present to the youth as he surveyed her:
O beauty of the bride! O beauty of the bride! Her bashful joys like serpents sting her tenderness to tears: Her hopes are sleeping eagles in the shining of the spheres; O beauty of the bride! O beauty of the bride! And she's a lapping antelope that from her image flees; And she's a dove caught in two hands, to pant as she shall please; O beauty of the bride! O beauty of the bride! Like torrents over Paradise her lengthy tresses roll: She moves as doth a swaying rose, and chides her hasty soul; The thing she will, that will she not, yet can no will control O beauty, beauty, beauty of the bride!
They were thus together, Abarak leaning under one wing of Koorookh forshade up the slope of the hill, and Shibli Bagarag called to him, 'Ho,Abarak! look if there be aught impending over the City.'
So he arose and looked, crying, 'One with plunging legs, high up in airover the City, between two bright bodies.' Shibli Bagarag exclaimed,''Tis well! The second chapter of the Event is opened; so call it, thouthat tellest of the Shaving of Shagpat. It will be the shortest.'
Then he said, 'The shadow of yonder palm is now a slanted spear up thelooped wall of the City. Now, the time of Shagpat's triumph, and hisgreatest majesty, will be when yonder walls chase the shadow of the palmup this hill; and then will Baba Mustapha be joining the chorus ofcreatures that shriek toward even ere they snooze. There's not an ape inthe woods, nor hyaena in the forest, nor birds on the branches, nor frogsin the marsh that will outnoise Baba Mustapha under the thong! Wullahy,'twill grieve his soul in aftertime when he sitteth secure in honours,courted, with a thousand ears at his bidding, that so much breath 'scapedhim without toll of the tongue! But as the poet says truly:
"The chariot of Events lifteth many dusty heels, And many, high and of renown, it crusheth with its wheels."
Wah! I have had my share of the thong, and am I, Master of the Event, tobe squeamish in attaining an end by its means? Nay, by this Sword!'
Thereat, he strode once again to the summit of the hill, and in a momentthe Genii fronted him like two shot arrows quivering from the flight. Sohe cried, 'It is done?'
They answered, 'In faithfulness.'
So he beckoned to Noorna, and she came forward swiftly to him,exclaiming, 'I read the plot, and the thing required of me; so saynought, but embrace me ere I leave thee, my betrothed, my master!'
He embraced her, and led her to where the Genii stood. Then said he tothe Genii, 'Convey her to the City, O ye slaves of the Sword, and watchover her there. If ye let but an evil wind ruffle the hair of her head,lo! I sever ye with a stroke that shaketh the under worlds. Remain by hertill the shrieks of Baba Mustapha greet ye, and then will followcommotion among the crowd, and cries for Shagpat to show himself to thepeople, cries also of death to Feshnavat; and there will be an assemblyin the King's Hall of Justice; thither lead ye my betrothed, and watchover her.' And he said to Noorna, 'Thou knowest my design?'
So she said, 'When condemnation is passed on Feshnavat, that I appear inthe hall as bride of Shagpat, and so rescue him that is my father.' Andshe cried, 'Oh, fair delightful time that is coming! my happiness and thyhonour on earth dateth from it. Farewell, O my betrothed, beloved youth!Eyes of mine! these Genii will be by, and there's no cause for fear orsorrow, and 'tis for thee to look like morning that speeds the march oflight. Thou, my betrothed, art thou not all that enslaveth the heart ofwoman?'
Cried Shibli Bagarag, 'And thou, O Noorna, all that enraptureth the soulof man! Allah keep thee, my life!'
Lo! while they were wasting the rich love in their hearts, the Genii roseup with Noorna, and she, waving her hand to him, was soon distant and asthe white breast of a bird turned to the sun. Then went he to whereAbarak was leaning, and summoned Koorookh, and the twain mounted him, androse up high over the City of Shagpat to watch the ripening of the Event,as a vulture watcheth over the desert.
The Shaving of Shagpat; an Arabian entertainment — Complete Page 20