Arabian Nights

by abc

  into which opened a hundred doors, ninety-nine of them being

  of rare woods and one of gold. Through each of these doors

  I caught glimpses of splendid gardens or of rich storehouses.

  Entering one of the doors which was standing open I found myself

  in a vast hall where forty young ladies, magnificently dressed,

  and of perfect beauty, were reclining. As soon as they saw

  me they rose and uttered words of welcome, and even forced me

  to take possession of a seat that was higher than their own,

  though my proper place was at their feet. Not content with this,

  one brought me splendid garments, while another filled a basin

  with scented water and poured it over my hands, and the rest

  busied themselves with preparing refreshments. After I had eaten

  and drunk of the most delicate food and rarest wines, the ladies

  crowded round me and begged me to tell them all my adventures.

  By the time I had finished night had fallen, and the ladies lighted

  up the castle with such a prodigious quantity of tapers that even day

  could hardly have been brighter. We then sat down to a supper of dried

  fruits and sweetmeats, after which some sang and others danced.

  I was so well amused that I did not notice how the time was passing,

  but at length one of the ladies approached and informed me it

  was midnight, and that, as I must be tired, she would conduct

  me to the room that had been prepared for me. Then, bidding me

  good-night, I was left to sleep.

  I spent the next thirty-nine days in much the same way as the first,

  but at the close of that time the ladies appeared (as was their custom)

  in my room one morning to inquire how I had slept, and instead

  of looking cheerful and smiling they were in floods of tears.

  "Prince," said they, "we must leave you, and never was it so hard

  to part from any of our friends. Most likely we shall never see

  you again, but if you have sufficient self-command perhaps we may yet

  look forward to a meeting."

  "Ladies," I replied, "what is the meaning of these strange words--

  I pray you to tell me?"

  "Know then," answered one of them, "that we are all princesses--

  each a king's daughter. We live in this castle together, in the way

  that you have seen, but at the end of every year secret duties

  call us away for the space of forty days. The time has now come;

  but before we depart, we will leave you our keys, so that you

  may not lack entertainment during our absence. But one thing

  we would ask of you. The Golden Door, alone, forbear to open,

  as you value your own peace, and the happiness of your life.

  That door once unlocked, we must bid you farewell for ever."

  Weeping, I assured them of my prudence, and after embracing

  me tenderly, they went their ways.

  Every day I opened two or three fresh doors, each of which

  contained behind it so many curious things that I had no chance

  of feeling dull, much as I regretted the absence of the ladies.

  Sometimes it was an orchard, whose fruit far exceeded in bigness

  any that grew in my father's garden. Sometimes it was a court

  planted with roses, jessamine, dafeodils, hyacinths and anemones,

  and a thousand other flowers of which I did not know the names.

  Or again, it would be an aviary, fitted with all kinds of singing birds,

  or a treasury heaped up with precious stones; but whatever I might see,

  all was perfect of its own sort.

  Thirty-nine days passed away more rapidly than I could have

  conceived possible, and the following morning the princesses were

  to return to the castle. But alas! I had explored every corner,

  save only the room that was shut in by the Golden Door, and I

  had no longer anything to amuse myself with. I stood before the

  forbidden place for some time, gazing at its beauty; then a happy

  inspiration struck me, that because I unlocked the door it was not

  necessary that I should enter the chamber. It would be enough

  for me to stand outside and view whatever hidden wonders might be therein.

  Thus arguing against my own conscience, I turned the key, when a smell

  rushed out that, pleasant though it was, overcame me completely,

  and I fell fainting across the threshold. Instead of being warned

  by this accident, directly I came to myself I went for a few

  moments into the air to shake of the effects of the perfume,

  and then entered boldly. I found myself in a large, vaulted room,

  lighted by tapers, scented with aloes and ambergris, standing in golden

  candle-sticks, whilst gold and silver lamps hung from the ceiling.

  Though objects of rare workmanship lay heaped around me, I paid them

  scant attention, so much was I struck by a great black horse which stood

  in one corner, the handsomest and best-shaped animal I had ever seen.

  His saddle and bridle were of massive gold, curiously wrought;

  one side of his trough was filled with clean barley and sesame,

  and the other with rose water. I led the animal into the open air,

  and then jumped on his back, shaking the reins as I did so, but as he

  never stirred, I touched him lightly with a switch I had picked up

  in his stable. No sooner did he feel the stroke, than he spread

  his wings (which I had not perceived before), and flew up with me

  straight into the sky. When he had reached a prodigious height,

  he next darted back to earth, and alighted on the terrace belonging

  to a castle, shaking me violently out of the saddle as he did so,

  and giving me such a blow with his tail, that he knocked out my

  right eye.

  Half-stunned as I was with all that had happened to me, I rose

  to my feet, thinking as I did so of what had befallen the ten

  young men, and watching the horse which was soaring into the clouds.

  I left the terrace and wandered on till I came to a hall,

  which I knew to have been the one from which the roc had taken me,

  by the ten blue sofas against the wall.

  The ten young men were not present when I first entered, but came

  in soon after, accompanied by the old man. They greeted me kindly,

  and bewailed my misfortune, though, indeed, they had expected

  nothing less. "All that has happened to you," they said, "we also

  have undergone, and we should be enjoying the same happiness still,

  had we not opened the Golden Door while the princesses were absent.

  You have been no wiser than we, and have suffered the same punishment.

  We would gladly receive you among us, to perform such penance

  as we do, but we have already told you that this is impossible.

  Depart, therefore, from hence and go to the Court of Bagdad,

  where you shall meet with him that can decide your destiny."

  They told me the way I was to travel, and I left them.

  On the road I caused my beard and eyebrows to be shaved, and put

  on a Calender's habit. I have had a long journey, but arrived this

  evening in the city, where I met my brother Calenders at the gate,

  being strangers like myself. We wondered much at one another,

  to see we were all blind of the same eye, but we had no leisure

  to discourse at length of our common calamities. We had only so much

 
; time as to come hither to implore those favours which you have been

  generously pleased to grant us.

  He finished, and it was Zobeida's turn to speak: "Go wherever

  you please," she said, addressing all three. "I pardon you all,

  but you must depart immediately out of this house."

  The Seven Voyages of Sindbad the Sailor

  IN the times of the Caliph Haroun-al-Raschid there lived in Bagdad

  a poor porter named Hindbad, who on a very hot day was sent

  to carry a heavy load from one end of the city to the other.

  Before he had accomplished half the distance he was so tired that,

  finding himself in a quiet street where the pavement was sprinkled

  with rose water, and a cool breeze was blowing, he set his burden

  upon the ground, and sat down to rest in the shade of a grand house.

  Very soon he decided that he could not have chosen a pleasanter place;

  a delicious perfume of aloes wood and pastilles came from the open

  windows and mingled with the scent of the rose water which steamed

  up from the hot pavement. Within the palace he heard some music,

  as of many instruments cunningly played, and the melodious warble

  of nightingales and other birds, and by this, and the appetising smell

  of many dainty dishes of which he presently became aware, he judged

  that feasting and merry making were going on. He wondered who lived

  in this magnificent house which he had never seen before, the street

  in which it stood being one which he seldom had occasion to pass.

  To satisfy his curiosity he went up to some splendidly dressed servants

  who stood at the door, and asked one of them the name of the master

  of the mansion.

  "What," replied he, "do you live in Bagdad, and not know that here

  lives the noble Sindbad the Sailor, that famous traveller who sailed

  over every sea upon which the sun shines?"

  The porter, who had often heard people speak of the immense wealth

  of Sindbad, could not help feeling envious of one whose lot seemed

  to be as happy as his own was miserable. Casting his eyes up

  to the sky he exclaimed aloud,

  "Consider, Mighty Creator of all things, the differences between

  Sindbad's life and mine. Every day I suffer a thousand hardships

  and misfortunes, and have hard work to get even enough bad barley

  bread to keep myself and my family alive, while the lucky Sindbad

  spends money right and left and lives upon the fat of the land!

  What has he done that you should give him this pleasant life--

  what have I done to deserve so hard a fate?"

  So saying he stamped upon the ground like one beside himself with misery

  and despair. Just at this moment a servant came out of the palace,

  and taking him by the arm said, "Come with me, the noble Sindbad,

  my master, wishes to speak to you."

  Hindbad was not a little surprised at this summons, and feared that his

  unguarded words might have drawn upon him the displeasure of Sindbad,

  so he tried to excuse himself upon the pretext that he could not

  leave the burden which had been entrusted to him in the street.

  However the lackey promised him that it should be taken care of,

  and urged him to obey the call so pressingly that at last the porter

  was obliged to yield.

  He followed the servant into a vast room, where a great company

  was seated round a table covered with all sorts of delicacies.

  In the place of honour sat a tall, grave man whose long white

  beard gave him a venerable air. Behind his chair stood a crowd

  of attendants eager to minister to his wants. This was the famous

  Sindbad himself. The porter, more than ever alarmed at the sight

  of so much magnificence, tremblingly saluted the noble company.

  Sindbad, making a sign to him to approach, caused him to be seated

  at his right hand, and himself heaped choice morsels upon his plate,

  and poured out for him a draught of excellent wine, and presently,

  when the banquet drew to a close, spoke to him familiarly, asking his

  name and occupation.

  "My lord," replied the porter, "I am called Hindbad."

  "I am glad to see you here," continued Sindbad. "And I will answer

  for the rest of the company that they are equally pleased, but I wish

  you to tell me what it was that you said just now in the street."

  For Sindbad, passing by the open window before the feast began,

  had heard his complaint and therefore had sent for him.

  At this question Hindbad was covered with confusion, and hanging down

  his head, replied, "My lord, I confess that, overcome by weariness and

  ill-humour, I uttered indiscreet words, which I pray you to pardon me."

  "Oh!" replied Sindbad, "do not imagine that I am so unjust as to blame

  you. On the contrary, I understand your situation and can pity you.

  Only you appear to be mistaken about me, and I wish to set you right.

  You doubtless imagine that I have acquired all the wealth and luxury

  that you see me enjoy without difficulty or danger, but this is far

  indeed from being the case. I have only reached this happy state

  after having for years suffered every possible kind of toil and danger.

  "Yes, my noble friends," he continued, addressing the company,

  "l assure you that my adventures have been strange enough to deter even

  the most avaricious men from seeking wealth by traversing the seas.

  Since you have, perhaps, heard but confused accounts of my seven voyages,

  and the dangers and wonders that I have met with by sea and land,

  I will now give you a full and true account of them, which I think

  you will be well pleased to hear."

  As Sindbad was relating his adventures chiefly on account of

  the porter, he ordered, before beginning his tale, that the burden

  which had been left in the street should be carried by some of his

  own servants to the place for which Hindbad had set out at first,

  while he remained to listen to the story.

  First Voyage

  I had inherited considerable wealth from my parents, and being

  young and foolish I at first squandered it recklessly upon every

  kind of pleasure, but presently, finding that riches speedily take

  to themselves wings if managed as badly as I was managing mine,

  and remembering also that to be old and poor is misery indeed,

  I began to bethink me of how I could make the best of what still

  remained to me. I sold all my household goods by public auction,

  and joined a company of merchants who traded by sea, embarking with

  them at Balsora in a ship which we had fitted out between us.

  We set sail and took our course towards the East Indies by the

  Persian Gulf, having the coast of Persia upon our left hand and upon

  our right the shores of Arabia Felix. I was at first much troubled

  by the uneasy motion of the vessel, but speedily recovered my health,

  and since that hour have been no more plagued by sea-sickness.

  From time to time we landed at various islands, where we sold or

  exchanged our merchandise, and one day, when the wind dropped suddenly,

  we found ourselves becalmed close to a small island like a green meadow,

  which only rose slightly above the surface of the water. Our sails

  were furled, and the capt
ain gave permission to all who wished

  to land for a while and amuse themselves. I was among the number,

  but when after strolling about for some time we lighted a fire

  and sat down to enjoy the repast which we had brought with us,

  we were startled by a sudden and violent trembling of the island,

  while at the same moment those left upon the ship set up an outcry

  bidding us come on board for our lives, since what we had taken

  for an island was nothing but the back of a sleeping whale.

  Those who were nearest to the boat threw themselves into it,

  others sprang into the sea, but before I could save myself the whale

  plunged suddenly into the depths of the ocean, leaving me clinging

  to a piece of the wood which we had brought to make our fire.

  Meanwhile a breeze had sprung up, and in the confusion that ensued

  on board our vessel in hoisting the sails and taking up those who were

  in the boat and clinging to its sides, no one missed me and I was

  left at the mercy of the waves. All that day I floated up and down,

  now beaten this way, now that, and when night fell I despaired for

  my life; but, weary and spent as I was, I clung to my frail support,

  and great was my joy when the morning light showed me that I had

  drifted against an island.

  The cliffs were high and steep, but luckily for me some tree-roots

  protruded in places, and by their aid I climbed up at last,

  and stretched myself upon the turf at the top, where I lay,

  more dead than alive, till the sun was high in the heavens.

  By that time I was very hungry, but after some searching I came

  upon some eatable herbs, and a spring of clear water, and much

  refreshed I set out to explore the island. Presently I reached

  a great plain where a grazing horse was tethered, and as I stood

  looking at it I heard voices talking apparently underground, and in

  a moment a man appeared who asked me how I came upon the island.