The Arabian Nights: Tales of 1,001 Nights

by vol 02 (tr Malcolm C

  As for the vizier ‘Ain Zar, he returned to tell King Tighmus what had happened. The king congratulated him on his safety, and in his delight he ordered drums to be beaten and trumpets blown. He then inspected his men and found that they had lost two hundred strong and courageous riders. For his part, King Kafid prepared to lead out his whole force, and when he reached the battlefield he drew them up in fifteen ranks, each comprising ten thousand riders. They had with them three hundred paladins, specially picked champions, mounted on elephants. Banners and flags were raised, drums were beaten, trumpets blared and the champions came out to fight.

  Tighmus had drawn up his own army in ten ranks of ten thousand riders each, and he had with him a hundred paladins riding on his right and his left. When both sides were in position, every horseman of repute rode forward and the armies clashed. Broad as it was, the ground was too narrow for the horses; drums were beaten, trumpets and bugles blown and there was a deafening noise as horses neighed and men shouted, while thick dust clouds rose over their heads. The battle raged fiercely from the start of day until the approach of darkness, at which both sides parted and retired to their own camps.

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

  I have heard, O fortunate king, that both sides parted and retired to their own camps. On inspecting his troops, King Kafid was furious to find that he had lost five thousand men, while King Tighmus was equally angry at the loss of three thousand of his bravest followers. Kafid then came out to battle a second time and drew up his men as before. Both kings looked for victory and Kafid called to his men: ‘Is there any one of you who will ride out as a challenger on to the field and begin the battle for us?’ At that a champion named Barkik, a formidable paladin, came forward riding on an elephant. He dismounted to kiss the ground in front of Kafid and asked his permission to ride out. He then remounted and rode off, calling: ‘Will anyone dare to challenge me to a duel?’ When King Tighmus heard this, he turned to his men and said: ‘Which of you will go to meet this champion?’ From the ranks there then came a rider mounted on a huge horse, who, after kissing the ground before the king, asked permission to fight. He rode up to Barkik, who called to him: ‘Who are you to treat me so lightly that you come out against me alone? What is your name?’ ‘My name is Ghadanfar ibn Kamkhil,’ the rider replied. ‘I have heard of you in my own country,’ said Barkik, adding, ‘so now prepare yourself to fight between the ranks of the heroes.’

  Ghadanfar, hearing this, drew an iron mace from beneath his thigh while Barkik took his sword in his hand. They fought furiously, and although Barkik’s sword struck Ghadanfar’s helmet, it did him no harm, while Ghadanfar himself struck a blow with his mace that crushed his opponent’s flesh against that of his elephant. At that another opponent came up, shouting: ‘Who are you to kill my brother?’ and, taking a throwing spear in his hand, he used it to strike Ghadanfar on the thigh with a blow that drove the mail coat into his flesh. When Ghadanfar saw that, he drew his sword and struck the man such a blow that it cut him in half, and he fell to the ground, weltering in his own blood. Ghadanfar himself then rode back to King Tighmus.

  On seeing that, Kafid shouted an order to his army to advance on to the field and fight, and there they were met by King Tighmus and his men. There was a fierce battle with horses neighing and men shouting; swords were drawn and every noted horseman rode forward. While the riders charged, the cowards fled from the fight as the drums were beaten and the trumpets blown. Nothing could be heard over the din of shouts and the clash of weapons as champions died. Things went on like this until, when the sun was high in the sky, Tighmus broke off the battle and led his men back to camp, where an inspection showed that he had lost five thousand riders, while four standards had been broken. This angered him, but Kafid, for his part, found that he had lost six hundred of his bravest riders and that nine of his standards had been broken.

  There was now a three-day pause in the battle, after which Kafid wrote a letter to a king called Faqun the Dog, a kinsman of his on his mother’s side, which he sent off with a messenger from his camp. Faqun, on hearing what was happening, collected his men and set off to join him.

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

  I have heard, O fortunate king, that King Faqun collected all his men and set off to join Kafid.

  Tighmus was seated at his ease when one of his men came to tell him that he had seen a distant dust cloud rising into the sky. He ordered a squadron of his men to ride out to reconnoitre it, and they obediently left. When they came back, they said: ‘O king, we saw the dust cloud and after a time the wind dispersed it and under it we could see seven standards, behind each of which were three thousand riders, and they were on their way to King Kafid.’

  When King Faqun reached King Kafid, he greeted him and asked what the news was and what was the battle in which he was engaged. Kafid told him: ‘You know that King Tighmus is my enemy and that it was he who killed my brothers and my father, and so now I have come to fight him and to revenge myself on him.’ ‘May the sun shine on you with blessing,’ replied Faqun, and the delighted Kafid took him off to a tent.

  So much for Tighmus and Kafid, but as for Janshah, he spent two months without seeing his father and without allowing any of the slave girls in his service to visit him. He then became very agitated and he asked one of his servants what had happened to keep his father from coming to see him. When he was told that his father was fighting King Kafid, he ordered his horse to be brought so that he might ride to join him. ‘To hear is to obey,’ said his servants, but when the horse had been fetched he said to himself: ‘It is my own affairs that preoccupy me, and I think that what I should do is to take my horse and ride to the city of the Jews. When I get there it may be that God will allow me to meet the merchant who hired me last time to work for him. He might do the same thing with me again and, who knows, some good might come of it.’ He then rode out with a thousand men, leading the people to suppose that he was on his way to fight alongside his father. When evening came, Janshah and his men camped in a large meadow, where they spent the night. When Janshah was sure that all his men were asleep, he got up secretly, tightened his belt and mounted his horse. He rode off in the direction of Baghdad because he had heard from the Jews that a Baghdadi caravan used to come to them once every two years and he thought to himself that he could go with it to their city. With this fixed resolution he set off on his way, and when his men woke up they could see no trace of him or of his horse. They rode out and searched for him in all directions, but when they failed to find any news of him they had to go back to his father to tell him what Janshah had done. Tighmus was so angry that sparks almost flew from his mouth. He dashed the crown from his head, reciting the formula ‘There is no might and no power except with God’ and adding: ‘I have lost my son and am faced by my enemy.’ His client kings and his viziers urged him to be patient, saying: ‘Patience can only be followed by something good.’

  Janshah himself was filled with sorrow and care both for his father’s sake and because of the loss of his beloved, and it was with a wounded heart and tearful eyes that he passed sleepless nights and days. Meanwhile, Tighmus, in view of the losses that his army had suffered, broke off his battle with Kafid and, retreating from him, he retired into his city where he shut the gates and strengthened the walls. Every month Kafid would advance to the city looking for battle and he would remain there for seven nights and eight days before leading his men back to their camp, where the wounded could be treated. When they withdrew, the townspeople would busy themselves repairing their weapons and strengthening their walls, as well as preparing mangonels, and for seven years the two kings continued with this form of warfare.

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

  I have heard, O fortunate king, that Tighmus and Kafid continued with this form of warfare for seven years.

  So much for them, but as for Janshah, he travelled on, crossing open country and deserts, and whenever he came to a town he would ask about Takni, the jewelled castle, but nobody could tell him anything about it, claiming that they had never heard of the name at all. When he asked about the city of the Jews, however, a merchant told him that it lay in the farthest east and he invited Janshah to go with him and his party to the Indian city of Mizrakan, from where they planned to go first to Khurasan, from there to the city of Shim‘un, and then on to Khwarizm. The city of the Jews was near Khwarizm at a distance of a year and three months’ journey. Janshah waited until the caravan set off and then went with it to Mizrakan. When he got there he asked about Takni, the jewelled castle, but no one could tell him anything and the same thing happened when he went with the caravan to the Indian capital, where people told him that they had never heard of the name Takni.

  During the course of his journey he experienced great hardships and formidable perils, as well as hunger and thirst, but in spite of these he travelled on from India, not stopping until he reached Khurasan, ending up at the city of Shim‘un. When he entered Shim‘un, he asked about the city of the Jews and was told how to reach it. After journeying night and day he got to the place where he had escaped from the apes, and then he pressed on until he reached the river that flows past that city. He sat on the bank waiting patiently for Saturday to come, as then, through the power of God, the river would dry up. When he had crossed it, he went to the house of the Jew where he had stayed on his first visit, greeting him and his family. They gave him a hospitable welcome and brought him food and drink, after which they asked him about his disappearance, to which he replied that he had been in the realm of Almighty God. He spent the night with them, and the next morning, while he was looking round the city, he caught sight of a crier who was calling out: ‘O people, who wants a thousand dinars and a beautiful slave girl in return for a half day’s work?’ ‘I will do the work,’ said Janshah. ‘Follow me,’ the crier replied, and Janshah followed him to the house of the Jewish merchant to which he had gone on his first visit. ‘This boy will do the work that you want,’ said the man, and the merchant welcomed him warmly and brought him to his harem. He gave him food and drink and after the meal he produced the dinars and the beautiful girl, with whom Janshah spent the night.

  The next morning he took both the dinars and the girl and handed them over to the Jew who had first entertained him, after which he went back to the merchant for whom he was to work. He rode out with this man until they reached a lofty mountain, towering into the sky, and the man then produced rope and a knife and told Janshah to throw the mare he was riding down on to the ground. He did this, and, after tying it up, he cut its throat, skinned it and cut off its legs and head. Then, on the merchant’s orders, he cut open its belly. ‘Get inside,’ said the merchant, ‘and I will sew it up. Then you are to tell me whatever you see there, for this is the task for which you have been paid.’ When this had been done, the merchant hid himself at some distance from the mare and after a time a huge bird swooped down on it and carried it off into the air, alighting on the summit of the mountain. It was then about to eat the mare, but, sensing this, Janshah cut himself free and, taking fright, the bird flew off. Janshah looked down and saw the merchant looking as small as a sparrow standing beneath the mountain. He shouted down to ask what he wanted, and the man replied: ‘Throw me down some of the stones there and then I’ll show you how to get down.’ Janshah replied: ‘It was you who left me stranded here five years ago when I had to suffer hunger and thirst and to endure much toil and great hardship. Now you have brought me back here in order to kill me. By God, I shall not throw anything down to you.’

  Janshah now started off on his way to Shaikh Nasr, king of the birds…

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

  I have heard, O fortunate king, that Janshah started off on his way to Shaikh Nasr, king of the birds, and he travelled night and day with tears in his eyes and a heart filled with sorrow, eating herbs from the ground when he was hungry and drinking from streams, until at last he reached the palace of our lord Solomon and saw Shaikh Nasr sitting by the door. He went up to him and kissed his hands, and the shaikh returned his greeting, welcoming him warmly. ‘My son,’ he asked, ‘what has happened to bring you here, when earlier you left happy and contented with the Lady Shamsa?’ Janshah wept and told him what had taken place when Shamsa had flown away saying: ‘If you love me, then come to me at the jewelled castle of Takni.’

  Shaikh Nasr was taken aback by this and said: ‘By God, my son, and by the truth of our lord Solomon, I know nothing about that castle and in all my life I have never heard the name.’ ‘What am I to do,’ exclaimed Janshah, ‘as the passion of my love is killing me?’ ‘You will have to wait until the birds come,’ the shaikh told him, ‘and we can then ask them about the castle as it may be that one of them will know about it.’ This calmed Janshah, and he entered the palace and went to the chamber enclosing the pool where he had seen the three birds.

  He had stayed with the shaikh for some time and was sitting there as usual when the shaikh told him that it was nearly time for the birds to arrive. The news delighted him and a few days later, when they had come, the shaikh came to him and said: ‘Learn these magic names and then come and meet the birds.’ The birds arrived to greet the shaikh, one species of them after another, but when he asked them about the castle of Takni, they all said that they had never heard of it. Janshah burst into tears and with a sigh he fell down unconscious. The shaikh then sought out a huge bird and told it to take him to the lands of Kabul, describing for it both the lands themselves and the way to get there. ‘To hear is to obey,’ said the bird, and when Janshah had mounted on its back the shaikh told him to be careful and not to lean to the side, lest he be torn in pieces. ‘Block your ears against the wind,’ he added, ‘lest the revolving spheres and the thunder of the oceans do you an injury.’

  Janshah followed the shaikh’s advice and the bird took off, rising high into the air and flying night and day. Then it landed in the presence of the king of the wild beasts, whose name was Shah Badri, telling him that it had lost the way that Shaikh Nasr had described for it. It then wanted to fly off again with Janshah, but he said: ‘Go on your way and leave me here either to die or to find the way to Castle Takni, for I shall not return to my own country.’ The bird then left him with Shah Badri and flew away. Shah Badri now asked: ‘My son, who are you and where have you come from with that great bird?’ In reply Janshah told him all that had happened to him from beginning to end, a tale that astonished him. He said: ‘By the truth of our master Solomon, I know nothing about this castle, but I shall reward anyone who can guide us to it and then send you off there.’ Janshah shed bitter tears, but he had not waited for long before Shah Badri came to him and said: ‘Get up, my son. Take these tablets and learn what is written on them. Then, when the wild beasts come, we shall ask them about that castle.’

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

  I have heard, O fortunate king, that Shah Badri told Janshah to take the tablets and learn what was written on them, adding: ‘Then, when the wild beasts come, we shall ask them about that castle.’ It was no more than an hour before the beasts arrived, one species after another, and when they had greeted Shah Badri, he asked them about Takni, but they all said that they did not know it and had never heard of it. Janshah wept with regret that he had not gone off with Shaikh Nasr’s bird, but Shah Badri told him not to be downcast, explaining: ‘I have an elder brother whose name is King Shammakh and who was once held pri
soner by our master Solomon against whom he had rebelled. He and Shaikh Nasr are the oldest of all the jinn and it may be that he knows of the castle, as he rules over all the jinn in these lands.’ Shah Badri then mounted Janshah on the back of one of his beasts and gave him a letter to Shammakh, in which he asked that Shammakh look after him. The beast immediately set off with Janshah and carried him day and night until he had reached the king. It halted at a distance from him and stayed there by itself as Janshah dismounted from its back.

  Janshah then went to King Shammakh, kissed his hands and gave him Shah Badri’s letter. When he had read it and grasped its contents, he welcomed his visitor but said: ‘By God, my son, never in my life have I heard of this castle, nor have I seen it.’ Janshah wept in distress and Shammakh told him to explain who he was, where he had come from and where he was going. Accordingly Janshah told him all that had happened to him from beginning to end. Shammakh was astonished by his tale and said: ‘My son, I do not think that our master Solomon ever heard of this castle or saw it in his life. I do, however, know a very old monk who lives in the mountains and who is obeyed by birds, beasts and jinn because of his many conjurations. He used to recite these against the kings of the jinn until they were forced to obey him because of the strength of the spells and the magic powers that he possessed, and all the birds and beasts go to present their services to him. I myself rebelled against Solomon and became his prisoner, but it was this monk who overcame me by his guile and his magical conjurations, after which I remained in his service. I know that he has travelled through every land and clime; he knows every road, every district, every place, every castle and every city, and I do not believe that there is anywhere with which he is not familiar. I shall send you to him in the hope that he may be able to guide you to your castle, for if he cannot do this, then no one can, since birds, beasts and jinn alike obey him and come at his call.