He stood up and took the sword from the hand of the executioner. When they saw this, the prisoners were sure that they were about to be killed, but when he had them brought before him, he released them from their bonds. He told Marjana: ‘Explain to all of them the tale that you told me.’ She replied: ‘Know, your majesty, that this shaikh is the vizier Dandan, my principal witness, for he knows the truth of the matter.’ She immediately went up to them and to the leaders of Rum and of the Franks who were there. She told them her story and Queen Nuzhat al-Zaman, the vizier Dandan and their fellow captives confirmed what she said. When she came to the end, happening to turn, she caught sight of the third jewel, the match of the other two that Princess Abriza had owned, on the neck of Prince Kana-ma-Kana. Recognizing it, she gave a great, resounding cry and said to the king: ‘My son, know that now there is extra proof that I have been telling the truth. The jewel that is on the neck of this captive is the exact match of the one that I placed on your neck, and he is your brother’s son, Kana-ma-Kana.’ Turning to Kana-ma-Kana, she said: ‘Let me see this jewel, prince of the age.’ He took it from his neck and gave it to her. After she had taken it, she asked Nuzhat al-Zaman for the third one, and when this had been given her, she took them both and passed them to King Rumzan. The proof of the truth of her story was clear to him and he knew for a fact that he was the uncle of Prince Kana-ma-Kana and that his father had been ‘Umar ibn al-Nu‘man.
At this, he rose immediately and embraced the vizier Dandan and then Prince Kana-ma-Kana. A joyful shout arose; the good news then spread; drums of all sorts were beaten and pipes sounded, as the general gladness increased. Hearing the noise of the Rumis’ celebrations, the troops of Iraq and Syria all mounted, including Sultan al-Ziblkan, who wondered to himself what could be the cause of the shouting and the joy in the army of the Rumis and the Franks. The Iraqi troops advanced to the battlefield, ready to fight, and King Rumzan turned and saw the Muslims coming out in battle order. When, in answer to his question, he was told the reason for this, he instructed Princess Qudiya-fa-Kana, the daughter of his brother Sharkan, to go at once to the Syrians and the Iraqis to tell them that King Rumzan had turned out to be the uncle of Prince Kana-ma-Kana.
She went off, released from hurtful sorrow, and came to Sultan al-Ziblkan. She greeted him and told him of the coincidence which had led to King Rumzan’s being shown to be her uncle and the uncle of Kana-ma-Kana. On her arrival, she had found him weeping in fear for the emirs and the leaders, but when she had explained the affair from start to finish, the Muslims were delighted and their sadness vanished. Al-Ziblkan himself rode out with all the principal officers, led by Princess Qudiya-fa-Kana, who brought them to the pavilion of King Rumzan. When they went in they found him sitting with his nephew, Kana-ma-Kana. Rumzan had consulted him as well as the vizier Dandan about al-Ziblkan, and they had agreed to hand over Damascus to him and to leave him in charge of it, as he had been before, while they themselves went to Iraq.
As a result, al-Ziblkan was appointed sultan of Damascus and instructed to go back there, which he did, accompanied by his troops. The others went with him for a while to say goodbye, after which they returned to their quarters and a proclamation was made to the troops to set out for Iraq, at which the two armies intermingled. The kings said to one another: ‘Our hearts will find no rest and our anger no cure unless we take vengeance and clear away our shame by avenging ourselves on Shawahi, the old woman known as Dhat al-Dawahi.’
Rumzan started on the journey with his principal officers and his state officials. Kana-ma-Kana was delighted with his uncle and called down blessings on Marjana for having made them known to one another. He and his men then moved off and they continued on their journey until they reached their own lands. The grand chamberlain, Sasan, having heard of their arrival came out to kiss the hand of King Rumzan, who gave him a robe of honour. Rumzan then took his seat and made his nephew Kana-ma-Kana sit beside him. ‘Uncle,’ said Kana-ma-Kana, ‘you are the only fitting ruler for this kingdom.’ ‘God forbid that I should act against you in your own kingdom,’ said Rumzan. The vizier Dandan then advised them to share the rule as equals, with each being in charge for one day at a time; to which they agreed.
Morning now dawned and Shahrazad broke off from what she had been allowed to say. Then, when it was the hundred and forty-fourth night, SHE CONTINUED:
I have heard, O fortunate king, that the two kings agreed that each of them should rule for a day at a time. There was feasting, with slaughtered animals and great celebrations which continued for a long time, during which King Kana-ma-Kana was spending his nights with his cousin, Qudiya-fa-Kana. After that, while the two kings were sitting enjoying the fact that their affairs had been set to rights, they suddenly saw a dust cloud rising – so high that it blocked the horizon. They were approached by a merchant who came to them crying out for help and saying: ‘Kings of the age, how is it that in the lands of the unbelievers I am safe, but I am then robbed in your country, known for its justice and security?’ King Rumzan turned to him and asked him what had happened. The man replied: ‘I am a merchant and for a long time I have been in foreign parts, spending almost twenty years abroad. I have a document from Damascus, written for me by the late Sultan Sharkan, because I presented him with a slave girl. I approached your lands, bringing with me a hundred loads of Indian rarities which I was taking to Baghdad, your inviolable city, where you ensure safety and justice. My caravan was then attacked by Bedouin and Kurds gathered together from all parts. They killed my men and made off with my goods. This is why I am in such a state.’ He then burst into tears in front of King Rumzan and complained brokenly.
The king was moved with pity and sympathy for him, as was his nephew Kana-ma-Kana. Swearing they would go after the raiders, they rode off with a hundred riders, each the equal of a thousand men, with the merchant going in front to show them the way. They travelled throughout the day and all the following night until dawn. The next day, they found themselves looking down on a thickly wooded valley full of streams and discovered that the raiders had come here before dispersing, having divided up the merchant’s goods among themselves. Those of them who were still there were surrounded by the hundred riders; King Rumzan and his nephew Kana-ma-Kana shouted at them and it was not long before they had all been captured, three hundred of them in all, collected from the scum of the Bedouin. The goods the merchant had had with him were recovered and the men were tied up and taken to Baghdad.
King Rumzan and his nephew Kana-ma-Kana sat on one and the same throne and all the robbers were brought before them. When they were asked about their circumstances and about their leaders, they said: ‘We have only three leaders, and it is they who collected us from all over the lands.’ They were told to identify these men, which they did. The kings ordered that the three should be held and the others allowed to go free, after all the goods that they had with them had been seized and handed over to the merchant. After inspecting his property, the merchant found that a quarter of it was missing and the kings promised him that they would replace everything he had lost. He then produced two letters, one in the handwriting of Sharkan and the other written by Nuzhat al-Zaman. It was this merchant who had bought Nuzhat al-Zaman from the Bedouin when she was still a virgin and had presented her to her brother Sharkan, which was followed by the episode already mentioned.
King Kana-ma-Kana studied the two letters. He recognized the handwriting of his uncle, Sharkan, and he had heard the story of his aunt, Nuzhat al-Zaman. He took her the second letter which she had written for the merchant who had been robbed, telling his aunt the man’s story from beginning to end. She recognized who he was and identified her own handwriting, and so she sent him guest provisions and recommended him to the care of her brother, King Rumzan, and her nephew, King Kana-ma-Kana, who ordered him to be given money, black slaves and servants to attend on him. Nuzhat al-Zaman herself sent him a hundred thousand dirhams and fifty loads of merchandise, together with other presents. She
then summoned him and when he arrived, she came out, greeted him and told him that she was the daughter of King ‘Umar ibn al-Nu‘man, that her brother was King Rumzan and that King Kana-ma-Kana was her nephew. The merchant was overjoyed and congratulated her on her safety and on the fact that she had met her brother. He kissed her hands and thanked her for what she had done, adding: ‘By God, you do not allow good deeds to be wasted.’ She then retired into her private apartments.
The merchant stayed with the kings for three days, after which he took his leave of them and set off for Syria. The kings then sent for the three robbers who had led the gang of highwaymen and asked them about themselves. One of them came forward and said: ‘Know that I am a Bedouin, who used to stay on the road waiting for small boys and virgin girls whom I would kidnap and sell to merchants. I did this for a long time until recently, on the prompting of the devil, I made an agreement with these two wretches to collect the scum of the Bedouin and the dregs of the lands in order to plunder goods and intercept merchants.’
The kings said to him: ‘Tell us what was your most remarkable experience when you were acting as a kidnapper.’ ‘Kings of the age,’ the man replied, ‘the most remarkable thing that happened to me took place twenty-two years ago, when one day I kidnapped a Jerusalem girl. She was a beautiful creature, but she was a servant, wearing tattered clothes, with a piece of wrapping on her head. I saw her coming out of a khan and I immediately took her by means of a trick. I mounted her on a camel and hurried off with her, hoping to take her to my family in the desert and to keep her with me to herd the camels and to gather dung from the valley floor. She wept bitterly and I went up to her and gave her a painful beating. I then took her off to Damascus, where a merchant saw her with me and then lost his wits and wanted to buy her from me because he was so struck by her powers of expression. He went on offering me more and more for her until I sold her to him for a hundred thousand dirhams. When I handed her over, she made a great display of eloquence and I heard that he dressed her in fine clothes and presented her to the ruler of Damascus who, in turn, gave him twice as much as he paid me. This, kings of the age, is the most remarkable thing that has happened to me, and, by my life, the price paid was a small one for that girl.’
The kings were astonished when they heard this story, but when it came to the ears of Nuzhat al-Zaman, the light became darkness in her face and she cried out to her brother Rumzan: ‘There is no doubt at all that this is the very same Bedouin who kidnapped me from Jerusalem.’ She then told them the whole story of what had happened to her in foreign parts – the hardships, blows, hunger, humiliation and degradation – after which she said: ‘I can now lawfully kill him.’ She drew a sword and went to kill him, but he shouted out: ‘Kings of the age, don’t let her kill me until I tell you of the wonderful things that have happened to me.’ ‘Aunt,’ said Kana-ma-Kana, her nephew, ‘let him tell us a story and after that do what you want.’
She drew back and the kings said: ‘Now tell us a story.’ ‘Kings of the age,’ he asked, ‘if I tell you a wonderful tale, will you pardon me?’ When they had agreed to this, he began to tell them of his most remarkable experience. ‘Know,’ he said, ‘that a short time ago I was very sleepless one night and I thought that morning was never going to come. As soon as it did, I got up, belted on my sword, mounted my horse and, with my spear resting beneath my thigh, I went out to hunt. On the way, I met a party of men who asked me what I was doing. When I told them, they said that they would come with me and so we joined forces. Then, as we were riding along, an ostrich suddenly appeared and, when we made for it, it bounded away, opening its wings. We went on after it until noon and it led us into a desert where there were no plants and no water, and where the only sounds to be heard were the hissing of snakes, the cries of the jinn and the screaming of ghuls. Here we lost sight of the ostrich and didn’t know whether it had flown up into the sky or vanished into the ground. We turned our horses’ heads and thought of going back, but then we saw that it was far too hot for us to start, as not only was the heat oppressive but we were parched with thirst. Our horses came to a halt and we had no doubt that we were on the point of death.’ HE WENT ON:
While we were in this state, in the distance we caught sight of a wide stretch of grassland where gazelles were frolicking. A tent had been pitched there, beside which a horse was tethered and a spear with a gleaming point fixed into the ground. We had been in despair, but our spirits now revived and we turned our horses’ heads towards the tent, making for the meadow and the water. As we all rode off, I was among the first and we carried on until we got to the meadow, where we halted by a spring from which we drank and watered our horses. I was then seized by the haughty spirit of the Age of Ignorance and I made for the entrance to the tent. There I saw a young man with no down on his cheeks, looking like a crescent moon, while to his right was a slender girl like the branch of a ban tree. When I looked at her, I fell in love with her. Exchanging greetings with the young man, I said: ‘My Bedouin brother, tell me who you are and what relation to you is this girl who is with you.’ The youth looked down at the ground for a time, before raising his head and saying: ‘Tell me who you are and who are these riders with you.’ I told him: ‘I am Hammad ibn al-Fazari, the renowned rider, who is counted among the Bedouin as the equal of five hundred. We left our camp to hunt and were overtaken by thirst, as a result of which I have come to the entrance of your tent, hoping for a drink of water.’ At this, he turned to the pretty girl and told her to bring me water and what food there was. She got up, trailing her skirts, with her golden anklets on her legs, tripping over her own hair. Then, soon afterwards, she came to me with a silver jug full of cold water in her right hand and in her left a bowl filled with dates, curds, as well as the meat of wild beasts.
Such was the love that I felt for her that I could take neither food nor drink, but quoted these lines:
The dye on her hand was like a crow perched on snow.
Sun and moon are joined together in her face,
The one hiding itself, the other being afraid.
After I had eaten and drunk, I said to the young man: ‘Know that I have told you the truth about myself, and I now want you to tell me truthfully about your own situation.’ The young man replied: ‘This girl is my sister.’ At which I said: ‘I want you to marry her to me of your own free will, for otherwise I will kill you and take her by force.’ At that, he looked down at the ground for a time, before raising his eyes to me and saying: ‘You are right in claiming to be a well-known rider and a renowned champion, the lion of the desert, but if you attack me treacherously and take my sister after killing me, this will bring shame on you. If, as you say, you are riders to be counted among the champions, who face war and combat unconcernedly, then give me a little time to equip myself, buckle on my sword, take up my spear and mount my horse. Then all of you can meet me on the battlefield. If I get the better of you, I shall kill every last one of you, while if you overcome me and kill me, then this sister of mine will be yours.’
When I heard what he had to say, I told him: ‘That is fair and there can be no dispute about it.’ I turned back my horse’s head; the mad passion of my love for the girl had increased and when I got back to my companions, I told them about her beauty and that of the young man who was with her, noting his courage and fortitude, as well as his claim to be able to face a thousand riders in battle. Then I told them of all the wealth and the treasures that were in the tent, saying: ‘This youth, you must know, would not live here in isolation unless he were a man of great courage. My recommendation is that whoever kills him should take his sister.’ My companions agreed to this, put on their battle gear, mounted their horses and rode out against the young man, whom they found equipped and mounted. His sister then sprang out and clung on to his stirrup, drenching her veil with tears, wailing and lamenting out of fear for him. She recited these lines:
I complain to God of suffering and sorrow
That the Lord of the Heavenl
y Throne may burden them with fear.
Little brother, they intend to kill you,
Although there is no reason for the fight, which is no fault of yours.
The riders know you as a champion,
The bravest hero in both east and west.
You defend your sister, whose resolve is weak.
You are her brother and for you she prays to God.
Do not allow them to have my heart’s blood,
Letting them seize and capture me by force.
By God’s truth, I shall never live in any land,
Fertile though it may be, if you are not there too.
I shall then kill myself for love of you,
And go to my grave, lying on a bed of earth.
When her brother heard these lines, he wept bitterly, and, turning his horse’s head towards his sister, he recited these lines in answer to hers:
Stay here and watch the marvels I shall do
When battle is joined and I rain blows on them.
If their lion leader should come out,
The bravest and the most steadfast of them all,
I’ll strike him with a blow worthy of my clan,
Leaving my spear sunk in him to its heel.
The Arabian Nights: Tales of 1,001 Nights: Volume 1 Page 80