So Noureddin took the ten dirhems and donning his own clothes, went out to the market and walked about the city, till he knew its highways and gates; after which he returned to the church and saw the Princess Meryem come up, attended by four hundred damsels, high-bosomed maids like moons, amongst whom was the daughter of the one-eyed vizier and those of the amirs and grandees of the realm; and she walked in their midst as she were the moon among the stars. When he saw her, he could not contain himself but cried out from the bottom of his heart, saying, ‘O Meryem! O Meryem!’ Which when the damsels heard, they ran at him with shining swords like flashes of lightning and would have killed him forthright. But the princess turned and looking on him, knew him but too well and said to her maidens, ‘Leave this youth; doubtless he is mad, for the signs of madness appear on his face.’
When Noureddin heard this, he uncovered his head and made signs with his hands and twisted his legs, rolling his eyes and foaming at the mouth. ‘Did I not tell you he was mad?’ said the princess. ‘Bring him to me and stand off from him, that I may hear what he saith; for I know the speech of the Arabs and will look into his case and see if his madness be curable or not.’ So they laid hold of him and brought him to her; after which they withdrew to a distance and she said to him, ‘Hast thou come hither on my account and ventured thy life and feignest thyself mad?’ ‘O my lady,’ answered he, ‘hast thou not heard the saying of the poet:
Quoth they, “Thou’rt surely raving mad for her thou lov’st;” and I, “There is no pleasantness in life but for the mad,” reply.
“Compare my madness with herself for whom I rave; if she Accord therewith, then blame me not for that which I aby.”’
‘By Allah, O Noureddin,’ rejoined she, ‘thou hast sinned against thyself, for I warned thee of this before it fell out; yet wouldst thou not hearken to me, but followedst thine own inclinations; albeit that whereof I gave thee to know I learnt not by means of divination nor augury nor dreams, but by eye-witness and very sight; for I saw the one-eyed vizier and knew that he was not come to Alexandria but in quest of me.’ ‘O my lady Meryem,’ replied he, ‘we seek refuge with God from the error of the intelligent!’ Then his affliction redoubled on him and he recited these verses:
Pardon his fault whose slipping feet caused bite in error fall, And let the master’s clemency embrace his erring thrall.
All that an evildoer can is to repent his fault, Although too late repentance come to profit him at all.
Lo, by confession I have done what courtesy requires: Where then is that for which good grace and generous mercy call?
And they ceased not from lovers’ chiding, which to set out would be tedious, relating to each other that which had befallen them and reciting verses and making moan, one to the other, of the violence of passion and the pangs of longing and desire, whilst the tears ran down their cheeks like rivers, till there was left them no strength to say a word. Now the princess was clad in a green dress, inwoven with red gold and broidered with pearls and jewels, which added to her beauty and grace; and right well saith the poet of her:
Like the full moon she shineth in garments all of green, With loosened vest and collars and flowing hair beseen.
‘What is thy name?’ I asked her, and she replied, ‘I’m she Who roasts the hearts of lovers on coals of love and teen.
I am the pure white silver, ay, and the gold wherewith The bondmen from strait prison and dour released been.’
Quoth I, ‘I’m all with rigours consumed;’ but ‘On a rock,’ Said she, ‘such as my heart is, thy plaints are wasted clean.’
‘Even if thy heart,’ I answered, ‘be rock in very deed, Yet hath God caused fair water well from the rock, I ween.’
They abode thus till the day departed and night darkened on them, when Meryem went up to her women and said to them, ‘Have ye locked the door?’ And they answered, ‘We have locked it.’ So she took them and went with them to a place called the Chapel of the Lady Mary the Virgin, Mother of Light, because the Christians pretend that her heart and soul are there. The girls betook themselves to prayer and worship and made the round of all the church; and when they had made an end of their visitation, the princess said to them, ‘I desire to pass the night alone in the Virgin’s chapel and seek a blessing thereof, for that yearning thereafter hath betided me, by reason of my long absence in the land of the Muslims: and as for you, when ye have made an end of your visitation, do ye sleep where ye will.’ ‘Be it as thou wilt,’ replied they, and leaving her alone in the chapel, dispersed about the church and slept.
The lady Meryem waited till they were out of sight and hearing, then went in search of Noureddin, whom she found sitting on coals of fire in a corner, awaiting her. He rose and kissed her hands and she sat down and made him sit by her side. Then she pulled off all that was upon her of clothes and ornaments and fine linen and taking Noureddin in her arms, strained him to her bosom. And they ceased not from kissing and clipping and clicketing to the tune of ‘In and out,’ saying the while, ‘How short are the nights of union and how long the nights of separation!’ and reciting the following cinquains:
O night of delight and first fruits of fair fate, Forefront of white nights, with glad fortune elate,
Thou brought’st me the morn in the afternoon late. Thee as kohl in the eyes of the dawn shall we rate
Or as slumber on eyes of ophthalmiac shed?
The night of estrangement, how lonesome was it! Its first and its last, one with other, were knit,
As a ring, sans beginning or ending to wit, And the Day of Uprising broke, ere it would flit;
For estrangement, thereafter, the lover is dead.
As they were in this great delight and engrossing joy, they heard one of the servants of the Saint smite the gong upon the roof, to call the folk to the rites of their worship, and he was even as saith the poet:
I saw him smite upon the gong and unto him did say, ‘Who taught the antelope to smite upon the gong, I pray?’
And to my soul, ‘Which irks thee most, the smiting of the gongs Or signal for departure given? Decide betwixt the tway.’
Then she rose forthwith and donned her clothes and ornaments: but this was grievous to Noureddin, and his gladness was troubled; the tears streamed from his eyes and he recited the following verses:
The rose of a soft cheek, all through the livelong night, I stinted not to kiss and bite with many a bite,
Till, in our middle tide of pleasure, when our spy Lay down to rest, with eyes in slumber closed outright,
They smote the gongs, as they who smote upon them were Muezzins that to prayer the faithful do invite.
She rose from me in haste and donned her clothes, for fear Our watcher’s darted star should on our heads alight,
And said, ‘O thou my wish and term of all desire, Behold, the morn is come with visage wan and white.’
I swear, if but a day were given to me of power And I became a king of puissance and of might,
I’d break the corners down o’ the churches, all of them, And every priest on earth with slaughter I’d requite.
Then she pressed him to her bosom and kissed his cheek and said to him, ‘O Noureddin, how long hast thou been in the town?’ ‘Seven days’ answered he. ‘Hast thou walked about in it,’ asked she, ‘and dost thou know its ways and issues and its sea-gales and land-gates?’ And he said, ‘Yes.’ Quoth she, ‘Knowest thou the way to the offertory-chest of the church?’ ‘Yes,’ replied he; and she said, ‘Since thou knowest all this, as soon as the first watch of the coming night is over, go to the offertory- chest and take thence what thou wilt. Then open the door, that gives upon the passage leading to the sea, and go down to the harbour, where thou wilt find a little ship and ten men therein, and when the captain sees thee, he will put out his hand to thee. Give him thy hand and he will take thee up into the ship, and do thou wait there till I come to thee. But have a care lest sleep overtake thee this night, or thou wilt repent whenas repentance shall avail thee nothing.�
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Then she took leave of him and going forth from him, roused her women and the rest of the damsels, with whom she betook herself to the church door and knocked; whereupon the old woman opened to her and she went forth and found the knights and serving-men standing without. They brought her a dapple mule and she mounted: whereupon they raised over her head a canopy with curtains of silk, and the knights took hold of the mule’s halter. Then the guards encompassed her about with drawn swords in their hands and fared on with her, followed by her maidens, till they brought her to the palace of the king her father.
Meanwhile, Noureddin abode concealed behind the curtain, under cover of which Meryem and he had passed the night, till it was high day, when the [great] door was opened and the church became full of people. Then he mingled with the folk and accosted the old woman, who said to him, ‘Where didst thou lie last night?’ ‘In the town,’ answered he, ‘as thou badest me.’ ‘O my son,’ answered she, ‘thou didst well; for, hadst thou passed the night in the church, she had slain thee on the foulest wise.’ And he said, ‘Praised be God who hath delivered me from the peril of this night!’ Then he busied himself with the service of the church, till the day departed and the night came with the darkness, when be opened the offertory-chest and took thence of jewels what was light of weight and great of worth.
Then he waited till the first watch of the night was past, when he made his way to the postern and opening it, went forth, calling on God for protection, and fared on, till he came to the sea. Here he found the vessel moored to the shore, near the gate, with her captain, a tall old man of comely aspect, with a long beard, standing in the waist, surrounded by his ten men. Noureddin gave him his hand, as Meryem had bidden him, and the captain took it and pulling him on board, cried out to his crew, saying, ‘Cast off the moorings and put out to sea with us, ere the day break.’ ‘O my lord the captain,’ said one of the sailors, ‘how shall we put out now when the king hath notified us that to-morrow he will embark in this ship and go round about this sea, being fearful for his daughter Meryem from the Muslim thieves?’ But the captain cried out at them, saying, ‘Woe to you, O accursed ones! Dare ye gainsay me and bandy words with me?’ So saying, he drew his sword and dealt the sailor who had spoken a thrust in the throat, that the steel came out gleaming from his nape, and quoth another of the sailors, ‘What crime hath our comrade committed, that thou shouldst cut off his head?’ The captain replied by putting his hand to his sword and striking off the speaker’s head, nor did he leave smiting the rest of the sailors, till he had slain them all and cast their bodies ashore. Then he turned to Noureddin and cried out at him with a terrible great cry, that made him tremble, saying, ‘Go down and pull up the mooring-stake.’ Noureddin feared lest he should strike him also with the sword; so he leapt ashore and pulling up the stake, sprang aboard again, swiftlier than the dazzling lightning. The captain ceased not to bid him do this and do that and tack and wear and look at the stare and Noureddin did all that he bade him, with heart a-tremble for fear; whilst he himself spread the sails and the ship stretched out with them with a fair wind into the surging sea, swollen with clashing billows. Noureddin held on to the tackle, drowned in the sea of solicitude and knowing not what was hidden for him in the future; and whenever he looked at the captain, his heart quaked and he knew not whither he went with him.
He abode thus, distraught with concern and inquietude, till it was broad day, when he looked at the captain and saw him take hold of his beard and pull at it, whereupon it came off in his hand and Noureddin, examining it, saw that it was but a false beard stuck on. So he considered the captain straitly, and behold, it was the Princess Meryem, his mistress and the beloved of his heart, who had waylaid the captain and killed him and skinned off his beard, which she had clapped on to her own face. At this Noureddin was transported for joy and his breast dilated and he marvelled at her valour and prowess and the stoutness of her heart and said to her, ‘Welcome, O thou my hope and my desire and the end of all my wishes!’ Then desire and gladness agitated him and he made sure of attaining his hope and his wish ; wherefore he broke out into carol and sang the following verses:
Say to those who know nought of my transport and heat For a loved one, whose favours they never may meet,
‘Ask my folk of my passion: my verses are sweet And dainty the ditties of love I repeat
On a people whose thought in my heart hath its seat.’
Their mention with me chaseth sickness away From my bosom and heals me of pain and dismay;
My love and my longing increase on me aye And my heart is distracted with ecstasy; yea,
I’m a byword become ‘mongst the folk in the street.
I will not accept aught of blame on their part Nor seek solace in other than them for love’s smart.
Love hath pierced me, for grief and regret, with a dart and hath kindled a brazier therefrom in my heart;
Yea, still in my liver there rageth its heat.
My sickness the folk for a wonderment cite And my wakefulness all through the darkness of night.
What ailed them my weakness with rigour to smite? In passion the shedding my blood they deem right;
Yet justly they me with injustice entreat.
I wonder who charged you to drive to despair A youth who still loves and will love you fore’er?
By my life and by Him your Creator I swear, If a saying of you should the backbiters bear,
By Allah, they lie in the tale they repeat!
May God not dispel from me sickness and pain Nor my heart of its thirst and its longing assain,
Of your love for satiety when I complain! Indeed, to none other that you am I fain.
Wring my heart or show favour, as seems to you meet.
My heart to your mem’ry shall ever be true, Though your rigours should rack it and cause it to rue;
Rejection abides and acceptance with you: So whatever you will with your bondman, that do;
He’ll grudge not his life to lay down at your feet.
The princess marvelled at his song and thanked him therefor, saying, ‘Him whose case is thus it behoveth to walk the ways of men and eschew the fashion of losers and poltroons.’ Now she was stout of heart and versed in the sailing of ships over the salt sea, and she knew all the winds and their changes and all the courses of the sea. ‘O my lady,’ said Noureddin, ‘hadst thou prolonged this case on me, I had surely died for excess of fear and chagrin, more by token of the fire of passion and love- longing and the cruel anguish of separation.’ She laughed at his speech and presently rising, brought out somewhat of meat and drink; and they ate and drank and made merry. Then she brought out rubies and other gems and precious stones and trinkets of gold and silver and all manner things of price, light of carriage and great of worth, that she had taken from the palace of her father and his treasuries, and showed them to Noureddin, who rejoiced therein with an exceeding joy.
Meanwhile the wind blew fair for them and they sailed on, without hindrance, till they drew near the city of Alexandria and sighted its landmarks, old and new, and Pompey’s Pillar. When they reached the port, Noureddin landed and making the ship fast to one of the Fulling- Stones, took somewhat of the treasures that Meryem had brought with her, and said to her, ‘O my lady, abide in the ship against I [return and] carry thee up into the city on such wise as I should wish.’ Quoth she, ‘It behoves that this be done quickly, for tardiness in affairs engenders repentance.’ ‘There is no tardiness in me,’ answered he and leaving her in the ship, went up into the city to the druggist’s house, to borrow of his wife for Meryem veil and muffler and mantle and walking boots, after the usage of the women of Alexandria, knowing not that there was appointed to betide him of the vicissitudes of time, the father of wonders, that which was not in his reckoning.
Meanwhile, when the King of France arose in the morning, he missed his daughter and questioned her eunuchs and women of her. ‘O our lord,’ answered they, ‘she went out last night, to go to the church, and after
that we know nothing of her.’ But, as the king talked with them, there arose a great clamour of cries without the palace, that the place rang thereto, and he said, .What is to do?’ ‘O king,’ answered the folk, ‘we have found ten men slain on the sea-shore, and thy ship is missing. Moreover, we found the postern of the church, that gives upon the alley leading to the sea, open and the Muslim prisoner, who serves in the church, missing.’ Quoth the king, ‘If my ship be missing, without doubt my daughter is in it.’ So he summoned the captain of the port and cried out at him, saying, ‘By the virtue of the Messiah and the True Faith, except thou overtake my ship forthright with troops and bring it back to me, with those who are therein, I will put thee to death after the foulest fashion and make an example of thee!’
The captain went out from before him, trembling, and betook himself to the old woman of the church, to whom said he, ‘Heardest thou aught from the captive, that was with thee, concerning his native land and what countryman he was?’ And she answered, ‘He used to say, “I come from the town of Alexandria.”’ When the captain heard this, he returned forthright to the port and cried out to the sailors to make sail. So they did his bidding and straightway putting out to sea, sailed night and day till they came in sight of the city of Alexandria, what time Noureddin landed, leaving the princess in the ship. They soon espied the king’s bark and knew it; so they moored their own vessel at a distance therefrom and putting off in a little ship they had with them, which drew but three feet of water and in which were a hundred fighting-men, amongst them the one-eyed vizier (for that he was a stubborn tyrant and a froward devil and a wily thief, none could avail against his craft, as he were Abou Mohammed el Bettal ) rowed up to the bark and boarding her, all at once, found none therein save the Princess Meryem. So they took her and the ship, and returning to their own vessel, after they had landed and waited a long while, set sail forthright for the land of the Franks, having accomplished their errand, without drawing sword.
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