by abc
lately arrived from Moussoul, and, owing to a misadventure which
befel us this very night, only reached our inn to find that the
doors were closed to us till to-morrow morning. Not knowing
what to do, we wandered in the streets till we happened to pass
your house, when, seeing lights and hearing the sound of voices,
we resolved to ask you to give us shelter till the dawn.
If you will grant us this favour, we will, with your permission,
do all in our power to help you spend the time pleasantly."
Sadie answered the merchant that she must first consult her sisters;
and after having talked over the matter with them, she returned to tell
him that he and his two friends would be welcome to join their company.
They entered and bowed politely to the ladies and their guests.
Then Zobeida, as the mistress, came forward and said gravely,
"You are welcome here, but I hope you will allow me to beg one thing
of you--have as many eyes as you like, but no tongues; and ask
no questions about anything you see, however strange it may appear
to you."
"Madam," returned the vizir, "you shall be obeyed. We have quite
enough to please and interest us without troubling ourselves about
that with which we have no concern." Then they all sat down,
and drank to the health of the new comers.
While the vizir, Giafar, was talking to the ladies the Caliph
was occupied in wondering who they could be, and why the three
Calenders had each lost his right eye. He was burning to inquire
the reason of it all, but was silenced by Zobeida's request, so he
tried to rouse himself and to take his part in the conversation,
which was very lively, the subject of discussion being the many
different sorts of pleasures that there were in the world.
After some time the Calenders got up and performed some curious dances,
which delighted the rest of the company.
When they had finished Zobeida rose from her seat, and, taking Amina
by the hand, she said to her, "My sister, our friends will excuse us
if we seem to forget their presence and fulfil our nightly task."
Amina understood her sister's meaning, and collecting the dishes,
glasses, and musical instruments, she carried them away, while Sadie
swept the hall and put everything in order. Having done this she
begged the Calenders to sit on a sofa on one side of the room,
and the Caliph and his friends to place themselves opposite.
As to the porter, she requested him to come and help her and
her sister.
Shortly after Amina entered carrying a seat, which she put down
in the middle of the empty space. She next went over to the door
of a closet and signed to the porter to follow her. He did so,
and soon reappeared leading two black dogs by a chain, which he
brought into the centre of the hall. Zobeida then got up from her
seat between the Calenders and the Caliph and walked slowly across
to where the porter stood with the dogs. "We must do our duty,"
she said with a deep sigh, pushing back her sleeves, and, taking a
whip from Sadie, she said to the man, "Take one of those dogs to my
sister Amina and give me the other."
The porter did as he was bid, but as he led the dog to Zobeida it
uttered piercing howls, and gazed up at her with looks of entreaty.
But Zobeida took no notice, and whipped the dog till she was
out of breath. She then took the chain from the porter, and,
raising the dog on its hind legs, they looked into each other's eyes
sorrowfully till tears began to fall from both. Then Zobeida took
her handkerchief and wiped the dog's eyes tenderly, after which she
kissed it, then, putting the chain into the porter's hand she said,
"Take it back to the closet and bring me the other."
The same ceremony was gone through with the second dog,
and all the while the whole company looked on with astonishment.
The Caliph in particular could hardly contain himself, and made
signs to the vizir to ask what it all meant. But the vizir
pretended not to see, and turned his head away.
Zobeida remained for some time in the middle of the room, till at
last Sadie went up to her and begged her to sit down, as she
also had her part to play. At these words Amina fetched a lute
from a case of yellow satin and gave it to Sadie, who sang several
songs to its accompaniment. When she was tired she said to Amina,
"My sister, I can do no more; come, I pray you, and take my place."
Amina struck a few chords and then broke into a song, which she
sang with so much ardour that she was quite overcome, and sank
gasping on a pile of cushions, tearing open her dress as she did
so to give herself some air. To the amazement of all present,
her neck, instead of being as smooth and white as her face,
was a mass of scars.
The Calenders and the Caliph looked at each other, and whispered together,
unheard by Zobeida and Sadie, who were tending their fainting sister.
"What does it all mean? ' asked the Caliph.
"We know no more than you," said the Calender to whom he had spoken.
"What! You do not belong to the house?"
"My lord," answered all the Calenders together, "we came here
for the first time an hour before you."
They then turned to the porter to see if he could explain
the mystery, but the porter was no wiser than they were themselves.
At length the Caliph could contain his curiosity no longer,
and declared that he would compel the ladies to tell them the meaning
of their strange conduct. The vizir, foreseeing what would happen,
implored him to remember the condition their hostesses had imposed,
and added in a whisper that if his Highness would only wait till
morning he could as Caliph summon the ladies to appear before him.
But the Caliph, who was not accustomed to be contradicted,
rejected this advice, and it was resolved after a little more talking
that the question should be put by the porter. Suddenly Zobeida
turned round, and seeing their excitement she said, "What is the matter--
what are you all discussing so earnestly?"
"Madam," answered the porter, "these gentlemen entreat you to explain
to them why you should first whip the dogs and then cry over them,
and also how it happens that the fainting lady is covered with scars.
They have requested me, Madam, to be their mouthpiece."
"Is it true, gentlemen," asked Zobeida, drawing herself up,
"that you have charged this man to put me that question?"
"It is," they all replied, except Giafar, who was silent.
"Is this," continued Zobeida, growing more angry every moment,
"is this the return you make for the hospitality I have shown you?
Have you forgotten the one condition on which you were allowed
to enter the house? Come quickly," she added, clapping her hands
three times, and the words were hardly uttered when seven black slaves,
each armed with a sabre, burst in and stood over the seven men,
throwing them on the ground, and preparing themselves, on a sign from
their mistress, to cut off their heads.
The seven culprits all thought
their last hour had come, and the
Caliph repented bitterly that he had not taken the vizir's advice.
But they made up their minds to die bravely, all except the porter,
who loudly inquired of Zobeida why he was to suffer for other
people's faults, and declared that these misfortunes would never
have happened if it had not been for the Calenders, who always
brought ill-luck. He ended by imploring Zobeida not to confound
the innocent with the guilty and to spare his life.
In spite of her anger, there was something so comic in the groans
of the porter that Zobeida could not refrain from laughing.
But putting him aside she addressed the others a second time,
saying, "Answer me; who are you? Unless you tell me truly you
have not another moment to live. I can hardly think you are men
of any position, whatever country you belong to. If you were,
you would have had more consideration for us."
The Caliph, who was naturally very impatient, suffered far more
than either of the others at feeling that his life was at the
mercy of a justly offended lady, but when he heard her question
he began to breathe more freely, for he was convinced that she
had only to learn his name and rank for all danger to be over.
So he whispered hastily to the vizir, who was next to him,
to reveal their secret. But the vizir, wiser than his master,
wished to conceal from the public the affront they had received,
and merely answered, "After all, we have only got what we deserved."
Meanwhile Zobeida had turned to the three Calenders and inquired if,
as they were all blind, they were brothers.
"No, madam," replied one, "we are no blood relations at all,
only brothers by our mode of life."
"And you," she asked, addressing another, "were you born blind
of one eye?"
"No, madam," returned he, "I became blind through a most surprising
adventure, such as probably has never happened to anybody.
After that I shaved my head and eyebrows and put on the dress
in which you see me now."
Zobeida put the same question to the other two Calenders,
and received the same answer.
"But," added the third, "it may interest you, madam, to know
that we are not men of low birth, but are all three sons of kings,
and of kings, too, whom the world holds in high esteem."
At these words Zobeida's anger cooled down, and she turned to
her slaves and said, "You can give them a little more liberty,
but do not leave the hall. Those that will tell us their histories
and their reasons for coming here shall be allowed to leave unhurt;
those who refuse--" And she paused, but in a moment the porter,
who understood that he had only to relate his story to set himself
free from this terrible danger, immediately broke in,
"Madam, you know already how I came here, and what I have to say
will soon be told. Your sister found me this morning in the place
where I always stand waiting to be hired. She bade me follow her
to various shops, and when my basket was quite full we returned
to this house, when you had the goodness to permit me to remain,
for which I shall be eternally grateful. That is my story."
He looked anxiously to Zobeida, who nodded her head and said,
"You can go; and take care we never meet again."
"Oh, madam," cried the porter, "let me stay yet a little while.
It is not just that the others should have heard my story and that I
should not hear theirs," and without waiting for permission he
seated himself on the end of the sofa occupied by the ladies,
whilst the rest crouched on the carpet, and the slaves stood against
the wall.
Then one of the Calenders, addressing himself to Zobeida as the
principal lady, began his story.
The Story of the First Calender, Son of a King
In order, madam, to explain how I came to lose my right eye,
and to wear the dress of a Calender, you must first know that I
am the son of a king. My father's only brother reigned over the
neighbouring country, and had two children, a daughter and a son,
who were of the same age as myself.
As I grew up, and was allowed more liberty, I went every year to pay
a visit to my uncle's court, and usually stayed there about two months.
In this way my cousin and I became very intimate, and were much
attached to each other. The very last time I saw him he seemed more
delighted to see me than ever, and gave a great feast in my honour.
When we had finished eating, he said to me, "My cousin, you would
never guess what I have been doing since your last visit to us!
Directly after your departure I set a number of men to work on a building
after my own design. It is now completed, and ready to be lived in.
I should like to show it to you, but you must first swear two things:
to be faithful to me, and to keep my secret."
Of course I did not dream of refusing him anything he asked, and gave
the promise without the least hesitation. He then bade me wait
an instant, and vanished, returning in a few moments with a richly
dressed lady of great beauty, but as he did not tell me her name,
I thought it was better not to inquire. We all three sat down to table
and amused ourselves with talking of all sorts of indifferent things,
and with drinking each other's health. Suddenly the prince said to me,
"Cousin, we have no time to lose; be so kind as to conduct this lady
to a certain spot, where you will find a dome-like tomb, newly built.
You cannot mistake it. Go in, both of you, and wait till I come.
I shall not be long."
As I had promised I prepared to do as I was told, and giving my hand
to the lady, I escorted her, by the light of the moon, to the place
of which the prince had spoken. We had barely reached it when he
joined us himself, carrying a small vessel of water, a pickaxe,
and a little bag containing plaster.
With the pickaxe he at once began to destroy the empty sepulchre
in the middle of the tomb. One by one he took the stones and piled
them up in a corner. When he had knocked down the whole sepulchre
he proceeded to dig at the earth, and beneath where the sepulchre
had been I saw a trap-door. He raised the door and I caught sight
of the top of a spiral staircase; then he said, turning to the lady,
"Madam, this is the way that will lead you down to the spot which I
told you of."
The lady did not answer, but silently descended the staircase,
the prince following her. At the top, however, he looked at me.
"My cousin," he exclaimed, "I do not know how to thank you for
your kindness. Farewell."
"What do you mean?" I cried. "I don't understand."
"No matter," he replied, "go back by the path that you came."
He would say no more, and, greatly puzzled, I returned to my room
in the palace and went to bed. When I woke, and considered
my adventure, I thought that I must have been dreaming, and sent
a servant to ask if the prince was dressed and could see me.
But on hearing that he had not slept at home I was much alarmed,
and hastened to
the cemetery, where, unluckily, the tombs were all so
alike that I could not discover which was the one I was in search of,
though I spent four days in looking for it.
You must know that all this time the king, my uncle, was absent
on a hunting expedition, and as no one knew when he would be back,
I at last decided to return home, leaving the ministers to make
my excuses. I longed to tell them what had become of the prince,
about whose fate they felt the most dreadful anxiety, but the oath I
had sworn kept me silent.
On my arrival at my father's capital, I was astonished to find
a large detachment of guards drawn up before the gate of the palace;
they surrounded me directly I entered. I asked the officers in command
the reason of this strange behaviour, and was horrified to learn
that the army had mutinied and put to death the king, my father,
and had placed the grand-vizir on the throne. Further, that by his
orders I was placed under arrest.
Now this rebel vizir had hated me from my boy-hood, because once,
when shooting at a bird with a bow, I had shot out his eye by accident.
Of course I not only sent a servant at once to offer him my regrets
and apologies, but I made them in person. It was all of no use.
He cherished an undying hatred towards me, and lost no occasion
of showing it. Having once got me in his power I felt he could
show no mercy, and I was right. Mad with triumph and fury he
came to me in my prison and tore out my right eye. That is how I
lost it.
My persecutor, however, did not stop here. He shut me up in a large
case and ordered his executioner to carry me into a desert place,
to cut off my head, and then to abandon my body to the birds of prey.