The Arabian Nights: Tales of 1,001 Nights: Volume 1
Page 95
When Qamar al-Zaman heard this, he became furiously angry. ‘It is clear to me,’ he told the vizier, ‘that it was you who instructed the eunuch to act as he did…’
Morning now dawned and Shahrazad broke off from what she had been allowed to say. Then, when it was the hundred and eighty-eighth night, SHE CONTINUED:
I have heard, O fortunate king, that when Qamar al-Zaman heard this, he became furiously angry. ‘It is clear to me,’ he told the vizier, ‘that it was you who instructed the eunuch to act as he did and you stopped him from telling me about the girl who slept with me last night. You are more intelligent than the eunuch, vizier, so tell me at once where the girl who slept in my arms last night has gone. It was you who sent her to me and told her to do this. She and I slept until morning and when I woke up, she was nowhere to be found. So where is she now?’ ‘My lord Qamar al-Zaman, may the Name of God encompass you. I swear by God that we sent no one to you last night. You slept alone, with the door locked on the other side and the eunuch sleeping behind it. No one came in, neither a girl nor anyone else. Take a firm grasp of your reason; return to your senses, master, and don’t disturb yourself.’
This infuriated Qamar al-Zaman, who said: ‘Vizier, I love that beautiful girl with the dark eyes and the rosy cheeks, whom I embraced all last night.’ The vizier was astonished at his words and asked whether he had seen her with his own eyes when he was awake or in a dream. ‘You ill-omened old man,’ replied the prince, ‘do you suppose that I saw her with my ears? Of course I saw her with my eyes while I was awake! I turned her over with my hand and stayed awake with her for half the night, looking with delight at her beauty and her grace, together with her enticing charms. But you had taught her and instructed her not to speak to me, so she pretended to be asleep and I slept by her side until morning. Then, when I woke up, I couldn’t find her.’ ‘Master,’ said the vizier, ‘it may be that you saw this in a confused dream or fantasy while you slept, either as a result of eating a certain mixture of foods or as a temptation brought by evil spirits.’ ‘Ill-omened old man,’ replied Qamar al-Zaman, ‘how dare you make fun of me and tell me that this might have been a confused dream, when this eunuch confirmed to me that the girl was here and said that he would come back to me immediately and tell me her story?’
He got up straight away and, advancing on the vizier, he seized his beard in his hand. The beard was a long one and Qamar al-Zaman twisted it round his hand and used it to drag the vizier down from the couch, after which he threw him to the ground. So violently did he tear out hairs from the old man’s beard that the vizier felt that his last moment had come. The prince kept on kicking him, punching him in the chest and ribs and striking the back of his neck with his hands until the vizier was close to death. He then said to himself: ‘If the eunuch saved himself from this mad boy by telling a lie, I have a better right than he to do that and to tell a lie of my own, for otherwise he will kill me. I’ll lie to him and save myself, for he is mad; there is no doubt about it.’
Turning to the prince, he said: ‘Don’t blame me, master, for it was your father who instructed me to tell you about this girl, but you have left me weak and exhausted and in pain from this beating. I am an old man with no strength left to endure blows. Give me a little respite so that I can tell you about the girl.’ When the prince heard this, he stopped striking the vizier. ‘Why didn’t you tell me this before you were ignominiously beaten?’ he said. ‘Get up, then, you ill-omened old man and tell me about her.’ ‘Are you asking about the girl with the lovely face and fine figure?’ said the vizier. ‘Yes,’ said the prince. ‘Tell me who brought her to me, made her sleep by my side and who then removed her from me at night. Where has she gone now, so that I may go to her myself? If it was my father, the king, who did this, using this lovely girl to tempt me into marriage, I am willing to marry her so as to free myself from this distress. He can only have done all this because of my refusal to marry, and this I am now willing, and more than willing, to do. So tell that to my father and advise him to marry me to that girl. I want no one else; she is the only love of my heart. Get up and hurry to my father; advise him to speed on the marriage and then bring me back a reply immediately.’ ‘I will,’ said the vizier, scarcely believing that he had escaped from the prince’s hands. He then left him and went out of the tower, stumbling as he walked because of the violence of his fear and not stopping until he had come into the king’s presence.
Morning now dawned and Shahrazad broke off from what she had been allowed to say. Then, when it was the hundred and eighty-ninth night, SHE CONTINUED:
I have heard, O fortunate king, that the vizier left the tower and hurried on until he came into the presence of King Shahriman. ‘What has happened to you, vizier?’ asked the king when he arrived. ‘Who has injured you? Why is it that I see you in a state of confusion, coming to me in fear?’ ‘I bring you good news, your majesty,’ said the vizier, and when the king asked him what this was, he answered: ‘Your son, Qamar al-Zaman, has lost his wits and has gone mad.’ On hearing this, the light in the king’s eyes became darkness and he told the vizier to explain what kind of madness this was. ‘To hear is to obey,’ replied the vizier and he explained what had happened, telling the king of his encounter with Qamar al-Zaman. ‘In return for your good news of my son’s madness,’ said the king, ‘I bring you good news that your happiness will come to an end and your head will be cut off, you most disastrous of viziers and vilest of emirs. It is you, I know, who are the cause of my son’s condition, thanks to your counsel and the wretchedly faulty advice that you have given me from start to finish. By God, if any harm or madness affects my son, I shall bring catastrophe down on you by having you nailed to the dome of the palace.’
The king then got to his feet and took the vizier to the tower, where he went in to visit his son. When his father entered, Qamar al-Zaman jumped to his feet, quickly getting up from the couch on which he had been sitting. He kissed his father’s hands and then, standing back, he bowed his head towards the ground, standing before his father with his arms folded behind his back. He stood like that for a time, and then lifted his head to look at his father, with tears falling from his eyes and running down his cheeks. He then recited these lines:
If in the past I sinned against you,
And if I have done some wrong,
I repent of my fault, and your forgiveness
Encompasses the wrongdoer when he asks for pardon.
At this, the king embraced his son and kissed him between the eyes, making him sit beside him on the couch. He then turned to the vizier and, looking at him angrily, he said: ‘Dog of a vizier, how can you tell such tales of my son and frighten me about him?’ He turned to Qamar al-Zaman and asked: ‘My son, what day is this?’ ‘Today is Saturday,’ answered the prince. ‘Tomorrow is Sunday, followed by Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.’ ‘My son,’ said the king, ‘praise be to God that your mind is sound. What, then, is the Arabic name for this present month?’ ‘Dhu’l-Qa‘da,’ replied Qamar al-Zaman, ‘which is followed by Dhu’l-Hijja, and then by al-Muharram, followed by Safar, Rabi‘ al-awwal, Rabi‘ al-akhir, Jumada al-ula, Jumada al-akhira, Rajab, then Sha‘ban, Ramadan, and then Shawwal.’
When the king heard this, he was delighted. He spat in the vizier’s face, saying: ‘You evil old man, how can you claim that my son has gone mad? If anyone is mad it is you.’ The vizier shook his head and was about to speak, but then it struck him that it might be better to see what would happen. The king then asked his son: ‘What is this that you told the eunuch and the vizier about sleeping with a pretty girl last night? What is this girl you mentioned?’ Qamar al-Zaman laughed at this. ‘Father,’ he replied, ‘I don’t have the strength to put up with any more mockery. Don’t say another word, as I am tired of what you are doing to me. You can be sure that I am willing to marry, but on condition that you marry me to the girl who slept with me last night. I know for certain that it was you who sent her to me and you who mad
e me desire her. You then sent for her before dawn and took her away from me.’
‘May God’s Name encompass you, my son, and may your mind be saved from madness…’
Morning now dawned and Shahrazad broke off from what she had been allowed to say. Then, when it was the hundred and ninetieth night, SHE CONTINUED:
I have heard, O fortunate king, that King Shahriman said: ‘May God’s Name encompass you, my son, and may your mind be saved from madness. What is this about a girl whom you say I sent to you last night and then had removed before dawn? I swear by God, my son, that I know nothing about this and I ask you in His name to tell me whether that was a confused dream or a fantasy prompted by something you ate. You spent the night obsessed with the thought of marriage, which put delusions into your head. May God damn marriage and the time of marriage, and damn the man who gave this advice! There is no doubt at all that it was this that upset your constitution and so you dreamt that a pretty girl was embracing you, and thought that you actually did see her. All this was a confused dream.’ ‘Stop this talk,’ said Qamar al-Zaman, ‘and swear to me by God, the Creator, the Omniscient, Who crushes tyrants and destroys emperors, that you know nothing about this girl or where she is.’ ‘By the truth of the Omnipotent God, the God of Moses and Abraham,’ replied the king, ‘I have neither knowledge nor information about this. It was only a muddled dream that you saw in your sleep.’
‘I shall show you by analogy that this happened when I was awake,’ said Qamar al-Zaman.
Morning now dawned and Shahrazad broke off from what she had been allowed to say. Then, when it was the hundred and ninety-first night, SHE CONTINUED:
I have heard, O fortunate king, that the prince told his father: ‘I shall show you by analogy that this happened when I was awake. Let me ask you whether anyone has dreamt that he was fighting in a furious battle and, on waking, found a bloody sword in his hand?’ ‘No, by God, my son,’ replied the king. ‘This has never happened.’ ‘Then I shall tell you what happened to me,’ said Qamar al-Zaman. ‘Last night I seemed to wake at midnight and found a girl sleeping beside me, whose shape and form were like mine. I hugged her and turned her over with my hands. I took her ring and put it on my finger, after which I took off my own ring and put it on hers, and then I went to sleep beside her. It was shame that I felt with regard to you that kept me from her and I was afraid that you might have sent her to test me and be hiding somewhere to see what I would do to her. Because of this feeling of shame, I was too embarrassed to kiss her on the mouth, and I thought that you were trying to fill me with a desire to marry. When I woke in the morning, I could see no trace of her nor find out anything about her. It was after that that I had my encounters with the eunuch and the vizier. How can this have been a false dream, when the affair of the ring is true? Had it not been for the ring, I would have thought it a dream, but here is her ring on my little finger. Look at it, father, and see how much it is worth.’
He handed the ring to his father, who took it, examined it and turned it over. ‘There is something of great significance and importance about this,’ he said, returning it to his son. ‘And there is something strange about your experience last night with that girl, although I don’t know where she came from. But the cause of all this trouble is the vizier. For God’s sake, then, my son, show patience until He frees you from this and brings you the happiest of relief. As one of the poets has said:
Perhaps Time may pull on its reins
And bring good luck, for Time is changeable.
My hopes will happily be fulfilled, my needs accomplished,
And after hardships will come ease.
I am now certain, my son, that you are not mad, but yours is a strange tale and none but God Almighty will be able to shed light on it.’ ‘As a favour to me, father,’ said Qamar al-Zaman, ‘search for this girl on my behalf and bring her to me quickly, or else I shall die of grief and no one will know of my death.’ Then, in a show of emotion, he turned to his father and recited these lines:
If your promised union was a lie,
At least join with the longing lover in his sleep or visit him.
She said: ‘How can my phantom visit the eyelids
Of a young man from whom sleep is banned and kept away?‘
When he had finished his poem, Qamar al-Zaman turned to his father humbly and dejectedly, and with tears in his eyes, he went on…
Morning now dawned and Shahrazad broke off from what she had been allowed to say. Then, when it was the hundred and ninety-second night, SHE CONTINUED:
I have heard, O fortunate king, that when Qamar al-Zaman had recited these lines to his father, he wept, complained, moaned and, from a wounded heart, he went on:
Beware of her eyes; she is a sorceress –
None can escape whom she targets with her glance.
Do not be deceived by her soft words;
Wine overcomes the wits.
So tender is her skin that were a rose to touch her cheek,
She would weep and rain tear drops from her eyes.
Were a zephyr to pass by the country where she slept,
It would be scented that night as it left.
Her necklaces complain of the jangling of her belt,
But on her wrists the bracelets make no sound.
Her anklets long to kiss her earrings,
And to the eyes of union her secrets are made clear.
A censurer finds no excuse for my love,
But of what use are eyes that cannot see?
Censurer, God shame you, for you are unfair;
The beauty of this gazelle can deflect sight.
When he had finished his poem, the vizier said to the king: ‘King of the age, how long are you going to sit with your son, inaccessible to your troops? It may be that if you stay away from your officers of state, things will go wrong with the administration of your kingdom. If there are a number of different wounds on the body, it is the most dangerous of them that the sensible man first treats. My advice is that you should move your son from here to the palace pavilion overlooking the sea. You can shut yourself away there with him, provided that you set aside two days each week, Mondays and Thursdays, for court ceremonial, when you can be approached by the emirs, viziers, chamberlains, deputies and state officials, together with the leading men of the kingdom and the rest of your troops and your subjects. They will be able to make their presentations to you and you can settle their affairs, judging between them, taking, giving, ordering and forbidding. For the rest of the week, you can stay with your son, and this can go on until God sends the two of you relief. Don’t think yourself safe from the disasters of Time and the blows of fate. The wise man is always on his guard; how well has the poet expressed it:
When Time was good to you, you thought well of it,
With no fear of the evil fate might bring.
The nights kept peace with you; you were deceived,
For trouble comes when they are undisturbed.
O people, if you were helped once by Time,
It still is prudent to take care.’
When the king heard what the vizier had to say, he considered this to be good and useful advice and it had the effect of making him fear that things might go wrong with the administration of his kingdom. He got up immediately and gave orders that his son was to be moved from the tower to the pavilion in the palace overlooking the sea. The palace itself was surrounded by water and could only be approached along a causeway twenty cubits wide. All around it were windows that looked out on to the sea; its floor was surfaced with coloured marble; its roof was painted with a variety of the most gorgeous paints and embellished with gold and lapis lazuli. Splendid silk furnishings and embroidered rugs were spread out for the prince. The walls were covered with the best of embroideries and there were hangings studded with gems. In this pavilion a couch of juniper wood was placed for him, set with pearls and jewels.
The prince took his seat on this, but because of the extent of his concern a
nd love for the girl, his colour changed, his body grew thinner, he neither ate, drank nor slept, and he looked like a man who had been ill for twenty years. His father sat by his head, plunged into the deepest sorrow, while on Mondays and Thursdays he would permit the emirs, chamberlains, deputies, state officials, soldiers and citizens to come into his presence. On entering, they would present their services and stay with him until the end of the day, when they would go on their way. Afterwards, the king would return to his son in the pavilion, not leaving him by night or by day, and this is how things continued for some time.
So much for Qamar al-Zaman, son of King Shahriman, but as for Princess Budur, daughter of King al-Ghayur, lord of the islands and of the seven castles, after the jinn had carried her and put her back in her bed, she went on sleeping until dawn. When she woke, she sat up and turned to the right and to the left, but could not see the young man who had lain in her arms. Her heart fluttered, her wits deserted her, and the loud cry she uttered woke all her slave girls, nurses and duennas. When they came in, the senior among them went up to her and asked: ‘What has happened to you, lady?’ ‘You ill-omened old woman,’ she replied, ‘where is my darling, the handsome young man who slept in my arms last night? Tell me, where has he gone?’ When her duenna heard this, the light turned to darkness in her eyes and she was terrified lest her mistress do her an injury. ‘My Lady Budur,’ she said, ‘what is this filthy talk?’ ‘Damn you, you ill-omened old woman!’ said Budur. ‘Where is my love, the young man with the radiant face, the fine physique, the black eyes and the joining eyebrows, who slept with me last night from evening until nearly dawn?’ ‘By God,’ answered the old woman, ‘I have not seen any young man or anyone else. Don’t joke with me like this; it goes beyond all bounds and might cost us our lives, for if it came to your father’s ears, who could save us from him?’