Tales of the Marvellous and News of the Strange (Hardcover Classics)

by Malcolm C (Tr Lyons

  When Shimrakh told his son to set out, he gave him an armed escort together with equipment and money and sent with him monks and reputable shaikhs, choosing an auspicious day for his departure. When he reached Jerusalem he was met by the priests and monks assigned to the church, together with the patriarch and the archbishop. They provided him with food and barley and presented him with fine presents, as people came from all parts to look at him.

  When he came to the church door, he put on the appropriate clothes together with a burnous and a woollen shawl. Golden crosses and golden censers were carried before him, and he was preceded by bishops and monks. After having approached the sacrificial altar, he went to the picture of Jesus son of Mary, on whom be peace, and after stroking this with his hand he immersed himself in the font. He drank wine as the Evangel was read out over him and he was provided with protective amulets, after which he took his seat on a regal throne of red gold. His picture was painted on one of the church walls, with name and date added. It was a speaking likeness, adorned with red gold, with topazes for eyes, and beside it was the picture of a lioness suckling him. A weighty covering of brocade was hung above it, and a crystal candle fed with oil of jasmine was lit before it to shed light on its beauty.

  When all this had been finished Mauhub sacrificed beasts, gave away robes of honour and distributed largesse. This became an annual feast day for the people there. He then went to a mansion that had been furnished for him with the main body of the Christians preceding him and the deacons surrounding him. On his arrival he rested and showed himself to no one.

  At that time the Egyptian princess Mahliya, daughter of al-Mutariq the son of Sabur, had arrived in Jerusalem. She was the same age as Mauhub and had been sent by her father to do what the other royal children did. It is said that her father had had thirty sons, but when they reached the age of ten, every one of them had died. Al-Mutariq had with him a number of sorcerers from Samannud and its districts, as well as from the temples of Sanawir and Ikhmim. When he saw what had happened to his sons, he summoned these men, together with the principal officers of his kingdom, and complained to them of his plight. They told him: ‘O king whom we obey, you know that no diviner, sorcerer or astrologer can do anything about what the Creator in His foreknowledge has decreed. In the case of Moses’s Pharaoh, He helped him choose an isolated cell, and when he was forced to abandon his great empire he could retreat there on his own when things became difficult and he was faced with a situation beyond his power, and not come out until he had succeeded in achieving what he wanted. Our advice is that you should follow his example and go off on your own. It may then be that this sorrow will clear away from you.’ The king approved of this and rewarded his advisors.

  He entered the cell and found it strewn with ashes. There was a gown of wool and iron fetters hanging on a chain from the roof. He put on the gown, fettered his hands and, after smearing himself with ashes, he implored God in all humility. ‘My God, the God of Moses, Lord of Jesus, Who brings death to the living and life to the dead, remove this sorrow from me; grant me a child to comfort and help me.’

  When he had left the cell, he summoned his favourite girl and lay with her. She conceived and gave birth to a daughter like a rising sun, for which he praised God, naming the child Mahliya. He summoned wet nurses to suckle her, and when she was older he brought in teachers, who taught her not only all that the children of kings needed to know but sorcery and divination as well, until she surpassed all her contemporaries in beauty and culture.

  When she was fourteen, her father wanted to entrust her with the affairs of his state as he saw how admirably she could administer them. He sent her to Jerusalem, following the custom of his ancestors, providing her with a large armed escort as well as great sums of money. He also sent her mother with her, together with her nurses, personal friends and a thousand mamluks who were in her service. After having instructed her in what she would need to do, he accompanied her to see her off.

  She arrived at the church at the same time that Mauhub entered it, and she followed the usual custom by taking the Eucharist and kissing the picture of Christ as well as the patriarch. After that she took her seat on the golden throne to have her portrait painted and it was then that she noticed the picture of Mauhub that had just been completed. The face was shining, and in front of it was the candle, while by its side was the lioness. She tried to distract herself by looking at other pictures, but her eyes always returned to this one until she could see no other.

  For a time she stayed in a state of bewilderment, staring admiringly at it, plunged in thought, until the painter had completed her own portrait. She then dispensed alms and made sacrifices, but without being fully conscious of what she was doing. When that had been going on for a time, as the bystanders noticed, a senior priest went up to her and said: ‘Great queen, now that you have done what you had to, why are you sitting looking at this picture, while the people are restless and sweating, and you must be tired after your journey?’ She turned to him and said: ‘Tell me, whose is this portrait and when was it painted, for I can see no other picture to match it amongst the others in this church?’ The great patriarch told her: ‘This is the portrait of Mauhub, the son of Shimrakh.’ She then asked about the lioness beside it and was told that she had suckled him. ‘She will have added courage to his heart and lent him strength,’ said the queen, and she then asked when he had come to Jerusalem. ‘He is here now,’ the patriarch told her, ‘as he has not yet returned home.’

  While the patriarch was talking to her, Iblis took possession of her heart. She went to the mansion prepared for her in which she was supposed to rest, but sorrows swept over her, marked by sigh upon sigh. She could enjoy neither food nor cool drinks, and so she called for her mother and said to her: ‘Mother, they tell me that there is a great king here called Mauhub, the son of Shimrakh, and he is here for the same purpose that we are. When kings meet in any country it is their practice to exchange splendid gifts, and I should like to send him some Egyptian treasures and cloths, so that he may help me by talking about this later to other kings.’

  When her mother had approved of this, she gave orders that splendid Egyptian cloth, fine jewels and lively riding beasts should be selected as gifts for Mauhub, together with handsome slaves, swift horses, soft goats’ hair and old wine. From amongst all these she chose as gifts what surpassed all description, and this was loaded on to a hundred reddish camels to be sent off with the best of her viziers.

  She wrote Mauhub a signed letter which ran: ‘In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful, Lord of the sky, Who makes waters flow, Who creates all things, Who brings the dead to life and death to the living: O king, strengthened by God, I am sending you this gift to complete part of my religious obligations and to fulfil my duty, as I have heard that you are enjoying a happy stay in this country. I present you with some of what I have brought with me from Egypt, although this is only a part of what Our Lord gives His servants. Let the king accept it if he sees fit, in accordance with the will of the Great and Glorious God, and may God exalt him and fulfil his resolves.’ She then sealed the letter.

  When the gift reached Mauhub and he had read the letter, it gave him a high opinion of Mahliya’s intelligence, and he accepted the gift with approbation. After allowing her vizier to come into his presence, he made him approach and questioned him about Mahliya. When he had been told her name and those of her father and mother he realized her importance and was impressed by her description. He then wrote to her to tell her of the arrival of her gift and he sent her precious things from his own lands, Indian aloes, musk, amber and camphor, loaded on Bactrian camels, and he dictated the following letter to his vizier: ‘In the name of Almighty God, the Eternal Lord, the Highest Witness: Supreme and fortunate queen, I should have been the first to send a gift to you, but in your noble-mindedness you took the lead and hurried to display your praiseworthy generosity. I have sent to you less than a single servant of yours would deserve, relying
on your acceptance of my excuse. Should you agree to receive this, God willing, it would be the most excellent of favours.’ He signed the letter as coming from ‘The distressed servant, king Mauhub’, addressed to ‘The queen who must be obeyed, Mahliya.’

  His gift made a deep impression on her, filling her with delight, and when she opened his letter she kissed it. Her passion for him increased and she remained in a state of perplexity, tearful, sad and restless for a number of days. Mauhub then gave orders for his tents to be pitched outside Jerusalem in preparation for a visit to Baal, and he went to the great church to celebrate a farewell Eucharist. When Mahliya heard of this she ordered her own tents to be pitched next to his and she took her place in the middle of her escort, muffled in a turban.

  Mauhub took his leave of the church, distributing alms amongst the wretched poor. He then went to his tent, surrounded by his men and his personal servants. The gleaming radiance of his beauty was enhanced by his fresh moustache, the lines of down on his cheeks, his lustre and his widely set eyebrows, while its perfection was completed by his languid gaze. He wore robes of red brocade embroidered with gold and set with rubies and coloured pearls; on his head was a blue Yemeni turban, and he had an Indian sword strapped on with gold thread. He was mounted on a lofty sorrel horse and surrounding him were five hundred followers of the same age as himself holding maces of gold and silver in their hands, wearing gowns of brocade with gilt belts and coloured turbans.

  When he rode past the tent of Mahliya and her escort, he stopped to look both at her and at the splendour of her tents, together with the numbers of her retinue and her escort. He asked to whom all this belonged and was told that they belonged to Mahliya, the daughter of al-Mutariq, the son of Sabur of Egypt. As he stood looking, it became clear to Mahliya what kind of a person he was. Love for him almost overmastered her and robbed her of endurance, but she managed to control herself and hurried back to her tent, where she collapsed in a faint. Her servants gathered around her in tears, not knowing what was wrong with her.

  She remained unconscious for part of the day and when she had recovered her mother asked her what the matter had been. She said [lac.] ‘I stood up, but weariness overcame me, and I fainted. He is the only man for me.’ ‘May God protect you!’ exclaimed her mother, who then distributed alms on her behalf. When night fell she stayed tossing to and fro on her bed in her grief, alone in her sorrow, with tears flooding her cheeks like pearls falling over corals. She spent the whole night like that.

  When morning came she ordered her tents to be struck and the beasts to be saddled. Then, wearing her most splendid clothes, she went out surrounded by her servants and her escort, preceded by a cross of red gold with a flashing ruby in its centre, carried on a long lance. Her route took her by Mauhub’s tents, and she told her viziers that, if he asked who this was, they were to say: ‘This is Mahliya’s vizier, who is foremost in her regard.’

  When Mauhub saw this splendour, he gave his greetings and asked about Mahliya. ‘She has gone ahead with her escort,’ he was told, at which he asked his informant for his name. ‘I am Mukhadi‘, the queen’s vizier,’ the man told him, and Mauhub said: ‘I can see that you are a man of wit and intelligence. Would you like to come hunting with me, for I am told that there are many wild beasts on our route?’ ‘I cannot refuse,’ replied the vizier, ‘for this is something that I would very much like.’

  The two of them spent the night in light conversation, and in the morning Mauhub sent one of his personal attendants to Mahliya’s tent to ask about her and the vizier Mukhadi‘. The man was told that Mukhadi‘ was with the queen, dealing with some business of hers, and that he sent his greetings to the king. On hearing this, Mauhub gave the order to leave, being distressed at having missed the queen, while, for her part, she waited a day before moving off in order that love for her might take a firmer hold of Mauhub’s heart.

  In the evening she gave the order to move and throughout the night she travelled in the middle of her escort until, when morning came, she put on fresh clothes and joined up with Mauhub’s men. She was riding a black horse with a gilded saddle and was surrounded by slaves and servants carrying batons of gold and silver. She halted at the tent of Mauhub and asked permission to enter. The chamberlain went in to tell his master that Mukhadi‘ had come. Mauhub was moved by joy and got up to receive ‘him’ with an embrace. ‘What kept you from me?’ he asked, adding: ‘I sent to ask after you, but my messenger could not meet you.’ At that Mahliya said: ‘I was with the queen, who had some business to attend to.’

  The two of them talked for a time, but then a letter arrived from Mauhub’s father Shimrakh, asking how he was and urging him to hurry back. Mahliya got up in order to ride off quickly, and Mauhub went to say goodbye. He asked her to sit with him for the rest of the day, but she refused and returned to her tent distressed and saddened by the extent of her suffering. Similarly Mauhub was greatly saddened and disquieted, for all that he thought his friendly conversation had been with Mahliya’s vizier, Mukhadi‘.

  During the course of their journey, they exchanged gifts and letters, as well as meeting each other. Their hearts were filled with love and longing, but neither knew the other’s feelings. When they reached the city of Baal, Mauhub entered in all humility and abasement, dressed as a monk. He prostrated himself to the statue, kissing it and lighting candles and lamps burning jasmine oil. He then took his seat on a chair amongst the deacons and monks to receive the Eucharist. When he had finished, Baal addressed him, expounding his religion, tracing his future, exhorting him with commands and prohibitions and ending: ‘Great king and leader, you will meet sorrows, difficulties and dangers, grave matters, the revelation of hidden secrets, heavy cares and troubles following one after the other. All this will be thanks to a beautiful gazelle acting as a lover wounded at heart. Take your time in dealing with this affair, Mauhub, and now, farewell, great king.’

  Mauhub could not understand this and was filled with surprise at what had been said to him, but awe restrained him from asking about what Baal had said. On that same morning Mahliya entered and, after following the religious observance, she took her seat in order to listen to Baal’s instructions. After giving her orders and prohibitions he ended by saying: ‘Queen, you will enjoy the most splendid of stations, and happiness will come to you as you rule over the kings of mankind.’ [lac.] She could not understand what he said but she had an inner feeling that it concerned Mauhub. She said nothing in reply but made sacrifices and distributed alms.

  Both she and Mauhub rode off, and her mare approached his horse, at which he swore that he would ride with her stirrup to stirrup. This was what she did, and on her arm she was carrying a Yemeni falcon, which was followed by hawks of other kinds, together with panthers and dogs. When they reached the hunting grounds they both turned aside and devoted the whole day to the chase with great success, leaving Mauhub delighted by the good fortune that ‘the vizier’ had brought.

  When they returned to their tents she leaned across to say goodbye to him, and he said: ‘Mukhadi‘, my brother, I would like you to come with me to my tent and take a meal there, so that we can spend the rest of this day in conversation.’ She excused herself, saying: ‘Sir, the queen is here and I must be in attendance on her. Otherwise I should quickly accept your offer.’ Mauhub mounted her on one of his own horses and entrusted her with greetings to the queen, imagining all the time that his friendly conversation had been with Mukhadi‘, not knowing that this was the queen.

  Mauhub took the game that they had caught to his tent, while Mahliya went off to hers, suffering from redoubled distress and sorrow, as was Mauhub. She spent the night full of sadness and grief, finding the dawn slow to break, with her sleep burdened by thoughts. A letter then arrived from her father, urging her to hurry home, and she got up perplexed, fearful and full of tears, only to collapse in a faint. When she recovered, she was visited by her mother, who asked her what the matter was. She said: ‘I dreamed that I saw myself in
a green garden with running streams whose trees were in leaf, but while I was looking at its beauty, suddenly an enormous lion filled the place with its roars and advanced on me and me alone. When it was in front of me, it crouched down and when I gestured to it, it abased itself to me. I grasped its mane and mounted on its back, at which it got up and set off with me at an even pace. I was filled with joy, but just then the messenger woke me with a letter from the king, and sorrow drained me of tears thanks to the loss of the pleasure that I had felt when riding through that well-watered place.’ Her mother told her: ‘Daughter, you have got your wish, as there is a good interpretation for this dream. The garden is a pleasant life, and the lion is the king of kings whom you will rule and who will submit to you.’ This cleared away some of her sorrow, but her thoughts remained centred on Mauhub, and how both of them had just then been urged by their fathers to hurry home.

  To her own father she sent the best of answers and went straight to Mauhub, splendidly dressed in her finest clothes, accompanied by her mamluks laden with gifts for him. Amongst these was a mirror, which, when he looked into it, would show her to him, wherever she was. If he spread out a rug and lay down on it, were he to look at the mirror it would seem that he was lying there with her. When she arrived he went out to meet her and said: ‘Mukhadi‘, my brother, I am distressed at parting from you and feel great grief that you have to leave.’ ‘The queen has made up her mind to go off tomorrow, God willing,’ she said, ‘and so I have come to say goodbye and to give you her greetings and a message to say: “I have sent you a gift to remind you of me when you are alone, and cheer you in your sadness. If you need anything from our country, entrust the affair to me, so that it may turn out well.” ’

  This only increased his sorrowful cares, but he accepted the gift and when Mahliya rose he was still convinced that she was the vizier Mukhdadi‘. They took leave of one another, with Mauhub standing as Mahliya mounted. When she was in the saddle he said: ‘Mukhadi‘, my brother, give my greetings to the queen and tell her to write to me if she needs anything, and she will get a favourable reply.’ He then retired gloomily to his tent, weeping constantly and unable to sleep.