The Arabian Nights: Tales of 1,001 Nights: Volume 1

by Penguin; Robert Irwin; Malcolm Lyons; Ursula Lyons

  Taj al-Muluk said to ‘Aziz: ‘Recite me some poetry, brother, so as to cheer me and to remove these cares of mine, cooling the raging fire in my heart.’ At that, ‘Aziz chanted the following lines:

  All the grief of which lovers talk

  Is mine alone, exhausting endurance.

  If you wish to be watered by my tears,

  Their seas will serve all those who come for water,

  And if you wish to see what lovers suffer,

  From the power of passion, then look at my body.

  Shedding tears, he went on to recite:

  Whoever does not love graceful necks and eyes,

  But still lays claim to worldly pleasure, does not tell the truth.

  Love holds a concept that cannot be grasped

  By any man except for those who love.

  May God not move love’s burden from my heart,

  Nor take away the sleeplessness from my eyes.

  He next chanted the following lines:

  In his Canon, Avicenna claims

  That music is the lover’s cure,

  Together with union with one like his love,

  As well as wine, a garden and dried fruits.

  To find a cure, I chose a different girl,

  Aided by fate and opportunity,

  Only to find that lovesickness is fatal,

  While Avicenna’s ‘cure’ is senseless talk.

  When ‘Aziz had finished his poem, Taj al-Muluk was astonished at his eloquence and the excellence of his recitation and told him that he had removed some of his cares. The vizier then said: ‘Among the experiences of the ancients are some that leave the hearer lost in wonder.’ ‘If you remember anything of this kind,’ Taj al-Muluk said, ‘let me hear what you can produce in the way of delicate poetry and long stories.’ The vizier then chanted these lines:

  I used to think that union could be bought

  By prized possessions and payment of cattle.

  In ignorance I thought your love too inconsiderable

  A thing on which to waste a precious life.

  That was before I saw you make your choice

  And single out your beloved with choice gifts.

  I realized there was no stratagem for me

  To reach you, and I tucked my head beneath my wing,

  Making my home within the nest of love,

  Where endlessly I must pass all my days.

  So much, then, for them, but as for the old woman, she remained isolated in her house. It happened that the princess felt a longing to take a walk in the garden. As she would not go out without the old woman, she sent a message and made her peace with her, reconciling her and telling her that she wanted to go out into the garden to look at the trees and their fruits and to enjoy herself among the flowers. The old woman agreed to go with her but said that she first wanted to return home to change her clothes before coming back. ‘Go home, then,’ the princess said, ‘but don’t be long.’ The old woman left her and went to Taj al-Muluk. ‘Get ready,’ she said. ‘Put on your most splendid clothes, go to the garden and, after you have greeted the gardener, hide yourself there.’ ‘To hear is to obey,’ he replied, and they agreed between themselves on a signal, after which the old woman returned to Princess Dunya.

  When she had left, the vizier and ‘Aziz dressed Taj al-Muluk in the most splendid of royal robes, worth five thousand dinars, and around his waist they fastened a girdle of gold set with gems and precious stones. They then set off for the garden, and when they reached its gate, they found the gardener sitting there. When he saw Taj al-Muluk, he got to his feet and greeted him with reverence and honour, opening the gate for him and saying: ‘Come in and look around the garden.’ He did not know that the princess was going to visit it that day.

  Taj al-Muluk went in, but he had been there for only an hour when he heard a noise, and before he knew what was happening, the eunuchs and the slave girls had come out of the postern gate. When the gardener saw them, he went to tell Taj al-Muluk, saying: ‘Master, what are we going to do, for my lady, Princess Dunya, is here?’ ‘No harm will come to you,’ said Taj al-Muluk, ‘for I shall hide myself somewhere in the garden.’ The man told him to be very careful, and then left him and went off.

  The princess entered the garden with her maids and the old woman, who told herself: ‘If the eunuchs come with us, we shall not get what we want.’ She then said to the princess: ‘Lady, I can tell you how best to relax,’ and after the princess had told her to speak, she went on: ‘We don’t need these eunuchs now; you can’t relax as long as they are with us, so send them off.’ The princess agreed and sent the eunuchs away.

  Soon after that, she began to walk, while, unbeknown to her, Taj al-Muluk was watching her in all her beauty. Every time he looked, he would lose his senses because of her surpassing loveliness. The old woman kept talking to her mistress in order to inveigle her into approaching the pavilion, which had been painted as the vizier had instructed. The princess entered it and looked at the paintings, where she saw the birds, the hunter and the pigeons. ‘Glory be to God!’ she exclaimed. ‘This is exactly what I saw in my dream.’ Looking with amazement at the pictures of the birds, the hunter and the net, she said: ‘Nurse, I used to blame men and hate them, but look at how the hunter has cut the throat of the female pigeon. The male escaped, but he was going to come and rescue his mate when he was met by the hawk, which seized him.’ The old woman, pretending to know nothing about this, kept her occupied with conversation until the two of them came close to Taj al-Muluk’s hiding place.

  She then gestured to get Taj al-Muluk to walk beneath the windows of the pavilion, and the princess, who was standing there, happened to turn. She caught sight of Taj al-Muluk and had the chance to study his beauty and his symmetrical form. ‘Where has this handsome young man come from, nurse?’ she asked. ‘I know nothing about him,’ the old woman told her, ‘but I think that he must be the son of a great king, for he is handsome and beautiful to the furthest degree.’ Princess Dunya fell in love; the ties of the spells that had bound her were undone, and she was dazzled by Taj al-Muluk’s beauty and the symmetry of his form. Passion stirred in her and she said to the old woman: ‘Nurse, this young man is handsome.’ ‘True,’ replied the nurse, and she gestured to Taj al-Muluk to indicate that he should go home. He was on fire with love and his passion and ardour had increased, but he went off without stopping and, after saying goodbye to the gardener, he returned home. His longing had been aroused, but he did not disobey the old woman and he told the vizier and ‘Aziz that she had signalled to him to go. They advised him to be patient, telling him that she would not have done that had she not thought that it would be useful.

  So much for Taj al-Muluk, the vizier and ‘Aziz, but as for the princess, she was overwhelmed by love, and her passion and ardour increased. She told the old woman: ‘I don’t know how I can meet this young man except with your help.’ ‘I take refuge in God from Satan the accursed,’ said the old woman. ‘You don’t want men, so how have you come to be so disturbed by love for this one, although, by God, he is the only fit mate for your youth?’ ‘Help me, nurse,’ said the princess, ‘and if you can arrange for me to meet him, I shall give you a thousand dinars, while if you don’t, I am sure to die.’ ‘Do you go back to your palace,’ said the old woman, ‘and I shall arrange your meeting and give my life to satisfy the two of you.’

  Princess Dunya then returned to her palace, while the old woman went to Taj al-Muluk. When he saw her, he jumped to his feet and greeted her with respect and honour and sat her down beside him. ‘The scheme has worked,’ she said, and she told him what had happened with the princess. ‘When can we meet?’ he asked her, and when she said tomorrow, he gave her a thousand dinars and a robe worth another thousand. She took these and then left, going straight on until she reached the princess. ‘Nurse,’ the princess asked, ‘what news do you have of my beloved?’ ‘I have found where he is,’ she replied, ‘and tomorrow I shall bring him to you.’ In her del
ight at this, the princess gave her a thousand dinars and a robe worth another thousand. The old woman took these and went off to her house, where she spent the night.

  In the morning, she went out and set off to meet Taj al-Muluk. She dressed him in women’s clothes and told him: ‘Follow behind me; sway as you walk; don’t hurry and pay no attention to anyone who talks to you.’ After giving him these instructions, she went out and he followed behind her in his women’s clothes. All the way along she was telling him what to do and encouraging him to stop him taking fright. She continued to walk on ahead, with him at her heels, until they reached the palace door. She led him in and started to pass through doorways and halls, until she had taken him through seven doors. At the seventh, she said to him: ‘Take heart, and when I shout to you: “Come in, girl,” don’t hang back but hurry. When you get into the hall, look left and you will see a room with several doors in it. Count five of them and go in through the sixth door, where you will find what you seek.’ ‘And where will you go yourself?’ asked Taj al-Muluk. ‘Nowhere,’ she replied, ‘but I may fall behind you, and if the chief eunuch detains me, I’ll chat with him.’

  She walked on, followed by Taj al-Muluk, until she came to the door where the chief eunuch was. He saw that she had a companion, this being Taj al-Muluk disguised as a slave girl, and he asked about ‘her’. ‘She is a slave girl. Princess Dunya has heard that she knows how to do various types of work and wants to buy her.’ ‘I know nothing about a slave girl or anyone else,’ said the eunuch, ‘but no one is going in until I search them, as the king has ordered.’

  Morning now dawned and Shahrazad broke off from what she had been allowed to say. Then, when it was the one hundred and thirty-fifth night, SHE CONTINUED:

  I have heard, O fortunate king, that the eunuch said: ‘I know nothing about a slave girl or anyone else, but no one is going in until I search them, as the king has ordered.’ The old woman made a show of anger and said: ‘I know you as a sensible, well-mannered man, but if you have changed, I shall tell the princess and let her know that you have obstructed the arrival of her slave girl.’ She then shouted to Taj al-Muluk and said: ‘Come on, girl,’ at which he came into the hall as she had told him, while the eunuch kept silent and said nothing.

  Taj al-Muluk counted five doors and went in through the sixth, where he found Princess Dunya standing waiting for him. When she saw him, she recognized him and clasped him to her breast, as he clasped her to his. The old woman then came in, having contrived to get rid of the slave girls for fear of exposure. ‘You can act as doorkeeper,’ the princess told her, and she then remained alone with Taj al-Muluk. The two of them continued hugging, embracing and intertwining legs until early dawn. Then, when it was nearly morning, she left him, closing the door on him and going into another room, where she sat down in her usual place. Her slave girls came to her, and after dealing with their affairs and talking to them, she told them to leave her, saying that she wanted to relax alone. When they had gone, she went to Taj al-Muluk, and the old woman brought them some food, which they ate. She then shut the door on them, as before, and they engaged in love-play until daybreak, and things went on like this for a whole month.

  So much, then, for Taj al-Muluk and Dunya, but as for the vizier and ‘Aziz, after Taj al-Muluk had gone to the princess’s palace and stayed there for so long, they believed that he would never come out and would undoubtedly perish. ‘Aziz asked the vizier what they should do. ‘My son,’ said the vizier, ‘this is a difficult business. If we don’t go back and tell his father, he will blame us for it.’ They made their preparations immediately and set off for the Green Land and the Twin Pillars, the royal seat of King Sulaiman Shah. They crossed the valleys by night and by day until they reached the king, and they told him what had happened to his son, adding that since he had entered the palace of the princess they had heard no news of him.

  The king was violently agitated and bitterly regretted what had happened. He gave orders that war should be proclaimed, with the troops moving out of the city, where tents were pitched for them. The king himself sat in his pavilion until his forces had gathered from all parts of his kingdom. He was popular with his subjects because of his justice and beneficence, and so when he moved out in search of his son, Taj al-Muluk, it was with an army which spread over the horizon.

  So much for them, but as for Taj al-Muluk and Princess Dunya, they continued as they had been for six months, with their love for each other growing every day. The strength of Taj al-Muluk’s love and his passion and ardour increased until he told the princess what was in his heart and said: ‘Know, my heart’s darling, that the longer I stay with you, the more my passionate love increases, for I have not fully reached my goal.’ ‘And what do you want, light of my eyes and fruit of my heart?’ she asked. ‘For if you want more than hugs and embraces and the intertwinings of legs, then do what you want, for only God is a partner in our love.’ ‘That is not the kind of thing that I mean,’ he said, ‘but rather I would like to tell you the truth about myself. You have to know that I am not a merchant but a king and the son of a king. My father’s name is Sulaiman Shah, the great king, who sent his vizier to your father to ask for your hand for me, but when you heard of this, you would not agree.’ Then he told her his story from beginning to end, and there is nothing to be gained from repeating it. Taj al-Muluk went on: ‘I want now to go to my father to get him to send another envoy to your father to ask him again for your hand, so that we may relax.’ When she heard this, the princess was overjoyed, because it coincided with what she herself wanted, and the two of them spent the night in agreement on this.

  As fate had decreed, on that particular night they were overcome by sleep and they did not wake until the sun had risen. By then, King Shahriman was seated on his royal throne with the emirs of his kingdom before him. The master of the goldsmiths came into his presence carrying a large box, and, on approaching, he opened this before the king. From it he took a finely worked case which was worth a hundred thousand dinars because of what it contained in the way of gems, rubies and emeralds, such that no king of the lands could amass. When the king saw the case, he admired its beauty and he turned to the chief eunuch, Kafur, whose meeting with the old woman has already been described, and he told him to take the case and bring it to Princess Dunya.

  The eunuch took the case and went to Dunya’s room, where he found the door shut and the old woman sleeping on the threshold. ‘Are you still asleep as late as this?’ he exclaimed. When she heard his voice, the old woman woke in alarm. ‘Wait until I fetch you the key,’ she said, and then she left as fast as she could and fled away. So much for her, but as for the eunuch, he realized that there was something suspicious about her and, lifting the door from its hinges, he entered the room where he found Dunya asleep in the arms of Taj al-Muluk. When he saw this, he was at a loss to know what to do and he thought of going back to the king. The princess woke up and on finding him there she changed colour, turned pale and said: ‘Kafur, conceal what God has concealed.’ ‘I cannot hide anything from the king,’ he answered, and locking the door on them, he returned to the king. ‘Have you given your mistress the case?’ he asked. ‘Take the box,’ said Kafur. ‘There it is; I cannot hide anything from you, and so you have to know that I saw a handsome young man sleeping with the Lady Dunya on the same bed, and they were embracing.’

  The king ordered that both of them be brought before him. ‘What have you done?’ he said to them, and in his rage he seized a whip and was about to strike Taj al-Muluk when the princess threw herself on him and said to her father: ‘Kill me before you kill him.’ The king spoke angrily to her and ordered the servants to take her to her room. He then turned to Taj al-Muluk and said: ‘Where have you come from, damn you? Who is your father and how did you dare to approach my daughter?’ Taj al-Muluk said: ‘King, know that if you kill me, you will be destroyed and you and all the inhabitants of your kingdom will have cause for regret.’ When the king asked him why this was, he
went on: ‘Know that I am the son of King Sulaiman Shah, and before you know it, he will bring his horse and foot against you.’

  When King Shahriman heard that, he wanted to postpone the execution and to keep Taj al-Muluk in prison until he could see whether what he said was true, but the vizier said: ‘My advice is that you should kill this scoundrel quickly, for he has the insolence to take liberties with the daughters of kings.’ So the king told the executioner: ‘Cut off his head, for he is a traitor.’ The executioner seized Taj al-Muluk and bound him. He then raised his hand, by way of consulting the emirs, first once and then again. In doing so, he wanted to delay things, but the king shouted at him: ‘How long are you going to consult? If you do this once more, I shall cut off your head.’ So the executioner raised his arm until the hair in his armpit could be seen, and he was about to strike…

  Morning now dawned and Shahrazad broke off from what she had been allowed to say. Then, when it was the one hundred and thirty-sixth night, SHE CONTINUED:

  I have heard, O fortunate king, that the executioner raised his arm until the hair in his armpit could be seen, and he was about to strike when suddenly there were loud screams and people shut up their shops. ‘Don’t be too fast,’ the king said to the executioner, and he sent someone to find out what was happening. When the man came back, he reported: ‘I have seen an army like a thunderous sea with tumultuous waves. The earth is trembling beneath the hooves of their galloping horses, but I don’t know who they are.’