by Robert Irwin
For the third day Judar went from lake to lake, but when evening came he had caught nothing, and was forced to accept the baker’s loaves and coppers. Ill-luck pursued him for a whole week, and at the end of that time he said despondently: ‘Today I will go to Lake Karoon.’
He journeyed to Lake Karoon, and was about to cast his net when there suddenly came up to him a Moor riding upon a mule and wearing a magnificent robe. The mule was richly saddled and bridled and bore upon its flank a saddle-bag embroidered with gold.
‘Peace be to you, Judar son of Omar,’ cried the Moor, dismounting.
‘And to you peace, good pilgrim,’ answered the fisherman.
‘Judar,’ said the Moor, ‘I need your help. If you accept my offer you shall have much to gain and be my companion and trusted friend.’
‘Good sir,’ Judar replied, ‘tell me what you have in mind and I will gladly do your bidding.’
‘First,’ said the Moor, ‘recite the opening chapter of the Koran.’
Judar recited it with him, and then the stranger took out a silken cord and handed it to the fisherman, saying: ‘Fasten my arms behind me as firmly as you can, then throw me into the lake and wait a little. If you see me lift up my hands out of the water, cast in your net and haul me quickly ashore. But if you see me put up my feet, you will know that I am dead. In that case leave me in the water and take the mule with the saddle-bag to the market-place. There you will find a Jew called Shamayah; give him the beast and he will pay you a hundred dinars. Take them and go your way. But you must on no account reveal the secret.’
Judar fastened the Moor tightly; then, at his request, he pushed him forward and threw him into the lake. After a little while he saw his feet come out of the water, and he knew that the Moor was dead. Leaving the body in the lake, Judar took the mule to the market-place, where he found the Jew sitting on a chair at the door of his shop.
‘The man must have perished!’ exclaimed the Jew when he saw the mule. ‘It was greed that destroyed him.’
He took the beast and gave Judar a hundred pieces of gold, charging him to keep the matter secret.
Judar hastened to the baker’s and, giving him a dinar, took as many loaves as he required. The baker made up his account and said: ‘I now owe you enough for two days’ bread.’ He then bought meat and vegetables and returned home with the provisions, to find his brothers asking their mother for something to eat.
‘I have nothing to give you,’ she was saying. ‘Have patience until your brother returns.’
‘Take this,’ Judar cried, throwing to them the bread. And the two fell upon the loaves like famished beasts.
Then Judar gave his mother the rest of the gold, saying: ‘If my brothers come tomorrow, give them money to buy some food and eat while I am away.’
Next morning he went again to Lake Karoon, and was just about to cast his net when he was approached by another Moor, dressed more sumptuously than the first. He, too, was on a mule and had a saddle-bag which held a pair of little caskets.
‘Peace be to you, Judar!’ he cried.
‘And to you peace, pilgrim,’ replied the fisherman.
‘Did you meet a Moor yesterday, mounted upon a mule like mine?’ he asked.
Fearing lest he should be accused of having drowned the man, Judar denied all knowledge of him. But the Moor cried: ‘Poor wretch! He was my brother. He came here before me. Was it not you that tied his hands behind him and threw him into the lake? And did he not say to you: “If you see my hands come up through the water, haul me quickly ashore, but if my feet appear you will know that I am dead”? It was his feet that came up; you took the mule to Shamayah the Jew and he gave you a hundred pieces of gold.’
‘If you know all that,’ said Judar, ‘why do you ask me?’
‘Because I wish you to do with me as you did with my brother,’ replied the Moor.
And he thereupon took out a silken cord and handed it to the fisherman, saying: ‘Fasten my arms and throw me into the lake. If I meet the same end as my brother’s, take my mule to the Jew and he will give you a hundred pieces of gold.’
‘Very well,’ Judar answered.
He tied his arms and threw him into the lake, and the Moor disappeared under the water. After a while his feet emerged.
‘He is dead and finished,’ said Judar to himself. ‘May Allah send me a Moor each day to drown, that I may earn a hundred pieces of gold!’
Then he took the mule to the market-place.
‘The second one is dead!’ exclaimed the Jew when he saw him.
‘May Allah give you long life!’ cried the fisherman.
‘That is the reward of avarice,’ added the Jew. And he took the mule from him and gave him a hundred dinars.
Judar went home and gave the gold to his mother.
‘My son,’ she cried, ‘where did you come by this?’
Judar recounted to her all that had happened.
‘You should never go to Lake Karoon again,’ said the old woman. ‘I greatly fear that you may come to harm at the hands of these Moors.’
‘But, mother,’ replied Judar, ‘it is at their request that I throw them into the lake. Am I to give up this trade which brings me every day a hundred dinars, and for such little labour? By Allah, I will go there day after day until I have drowned them all and not a single Moor has been left alive.’
The next day he went again to Lake Karoon; and presently a third Moor, even more richly attired than the other two, came riding on a mule with a saddle-bag.
‘Peace be to you, Judar son of Omar!’ he cried.
‘How is that they all know my name?’ thought Judar to himself as he returned his greeting.
‘Have any Moors passed by this lake?’ inquired the stranger.
‘Yes, two,’ replied Judar.
‘Where did they go?’ he asked.
‘I bound their arms and threw them into the lake,’ replied the fisherman. ‘They were both drowned. I am ready to render you the same service.’
‘Miserable fool!’ smiled the Moor. ‘Do you not know that every life has its predestined end?’
Then, dismounting, he gave the fisherman a silken cord and said: ‘Judar, do with me as you did with them.’
‘Turn around and let me bind your arms,’ said the fisherman. ‘Time is short and I am in a hurry.’
Judar threw the Moor into the lake and stood waiting for his feet to emerge from the water. But to his surprise a pair of hands came out instead, and he heard the Moor crying: ‘Good fellow, cast out your net!’
He threw the net over him and, drawing him in, saw that in each hand he was holding a fish, red as coral.
‘Open the two caskets,’ cried the Moor, as he quickly rose to his feet.
Judar opened the caskets, and the Moor put a fish in each and securely shut them up. Then he threw his arms about the fisherman’s neck and kissed him on both cheeks saying: ‘May the Most High preserve you from all hardships! By Allah, but for your help I would have surely perished.’
‘Sir,’ said Judar, ‘I beg you in Allah’s name to tell me the story of the drowned Moors, the red fish, and the Jew Shamayah.’
‘The two who were drowned were my brothers,’ the Moor replied. ‘One was called Abdul Salam, and the other Abdul Ahad. My name is Abdul Samad, and the man whom you take to be a Jew is my fourth brother, a true Malikite Moslem whose real name is Abdul Rahim. Our father, Abdul Wadud, taught us the occult sciences, witchcraft, and the art of opening hidden treasures, to which we applied ourselves with such diligence that in the end we made the demons and the jinn our servants. When our father died we inherited all his wealth and divided his gold and his treasures, his talismans and his books; but a quarrel arose amongst us concerning a book called The Lore of the Ancients. It is unique among writings and cannot be valued in gold or jewels: for it holds the answer to all mysteries and the clue to every hidden treasure. Our father made it the study of his life, and we four conned a little of its contents. Each of us strove to
gain possession of it, so as to be acquainted with its secrets. When our feud had reached its height, we were visited by the old sheikh who had reared our father and taught him magic and divination; his name was Al-Kahin al-Abtan. He ordered us to bring him the book, and he took it in his hand and said: “You are the sons of my son, and I cannot wrong any one of you. I therefore pronounce that none shall have this book but he that opens the Treasure of Al-Shamardal and brings me the Celestial Orb, the Vial of Kohl, the Ring, and the Sword. The Ring is served by a jinnee called Rattling Thunder, and he that wears it can vanquish kings and sultans and make himself master of the vast earth. The man who holds the sword and shakes it can rout whole armies, for flames as bright as lightning shoot forth from it at his bidding. By means of the Celestial Orb a man can view the world from east to west while sitting in his chamber: he has but to turn the orb towards the land he desires to see and, looking upon it, he shall behold that land with all its people. If he is incensed against a city and has a mind to burn it down, let him turn the orb towards the sun’s disc, and all its dwellings shall be consumed with fire. As for the Vial, he that applies its kohl to his eyes shall see the buried treasures of the earth.
‘ “This then is the condition which I impose upon you. Whoever fails to open that treasure shall forfeit his claim to this book; but he that opens it and brings me the four precious things it holds shall become sole master of it.”
‘We all agreed to his condition, and the old sage went on: “Know, my children, that the Treasure of Al-Shamardal is under the power of the sons of the Red King. Your father told me that he himself had vainly tried to open it, for the sons of the Red King had fled away from him to Egypt. He pursued them to that land, but could not capture them because they had thrown themselves into an enchanted lake called Lake Karoon. When he returned and told me of his failure I made for him a computation and discovered that the treasure could be opened only under the auspices of an Egyptian youth called Judar son of Omar, who would be the means of capturing the Red King’s sons. This youth was a fisherman and could be met with on the shores of Lake Karoon. He alone could break the spell that bound it, and it was for him to cast into the lake those who would tackle the sons of the Red King. The man whose destiny it was to vanquish them, his hands would come out of the water and Judar would bring him safe to land with his net. But those who were destined to drown, their feet would come out first and they would be abandoned to their fate.”
‘Two of my brothers said: “We will go, even though we perish,” and I resolved to do the same. But my third brother, Abdul Rahim, said: “I will not risk my life.” We thereupon arranged with him that he should go to Egypt in the guise of a Jewish merchant, so that if any of us perished in the attempt he should take the mule and the saddle-bag from Judar and pay him a hundred pieces of gold.
‘My first brother was slain by the sons of the Red King, and so was my second brother. But against me they could not prevail and I took them prisoner.’
‘Where did you imprison them?’ Judar asked.
‘Did you not see them?’ answered the Moor. ‘I shut them up in the two caskets.’
‘But those were fish,’ said Judar in amazement.
‘No, they are not fish,’ replied the Moor. ‘They are jinn in the shape of fish. Now you must know that the treasure can be opened only in your presence. Will you agree to come with me to the city of Fez-and-Meknes and open the treasure? I will give you everything that you demand and you shall be my brother in the sight of Allah. When our quest has been accomplished, you shall return to your people with a joyful heart.’
‘Sir,’ Judar replied, ‘I have a mother and two brothers to support. If i go with you, who will provide for them?’
‘A poor excuse,’ rejoined the Moor. ‘If it is money that prevents you, I will give you a thousand dinars for your mother to spend and my promise that you shall return within four months.’
On hearing mention of this sum, the fisherman cried: ‘Give me the thousand dinars, my master. I will at once carry them to my mother and set out with you.’
He handed him the gold, and Judar hastened to his mother and recounted to her all that had passed between him and the Moor.
Take these thousand dinars,’ he said, ‘and spend them on yourself and my brothers. I am going away to Maghreb with the Moor, and shall be back within four months. I may return with a vast fortune.’
‘My son, I shall be desolate without you,’ said the old woman. ‘I greatly fear for your safety.’
‘No harm can befall the man who is in Allah’s protection,’ he replied. ‘Besides, the Moor is a good and honest fellow.’
And he went on praising him to her until his mother said: ‘May Allah incline his heart towards you! Go with him, my son; perhaps he will reward your labours.’
He took leave of his mother and returned to the Moor.
‘Have you consulted your mother?’ Abdul Samad asked.
‘Yes,’ he replied, ‘and she has given me her blessing.’
The Moor bade Judar mount behind him on the mule, and they rode from midday till late in the afternoon. By that time the fisherman felt very hungry, and, noticing that his companion had nothing with him to eat, he remarked: ‘Sir, you have forgotten to bring any provisions for the journey.’
‘Are you hungry?’ asked the Moor.
‘I am indeed,’ Judar replied.
They both dismounted from the mule.
‘Bring down the saddle-bag,’ said the Moor.
Judar brought it down.
‘Now, my brother, what would you like?’ his companion asked.
‘Anything will do,’ Judar answered.
‘In Allah’s name, tell me what you would rather have,’ said the Moor.
‘Some bread and cheese,’ replied the fisherman.
‘Poor Judar,’ said the Moor, ‘you surely deserve better than that. Ask for some excellent dish.’
‘Anything would be excellent to me just now,’ Judar replied.
‘Would you like some roast chicken?’ asked the Moor.
‘I would,’ answered the fisherman.
‘And some honeyed rice?’ asked the Moor.
‘Yes, by Allah,’ replied Judar.
‘And such-and-such a dish,’ went on the Moor, until he had named four-and-twenty dishes.
‘The man is mad,’ thought Judar to himself. ‘Where will he bring me all these dishes from when he has no cook and no kitchen?’ Then, aloud, he said: ‘That is enough. But why do you make my mouth water when I cannot see a thing?’
‘You are welcome, Judar,’ said the Moor with a smile. And, putting his hand into the bag, he took but a gold plate with two roast chickens upon it steaming hot. He thrust his hand in a second time and there appeared a plate filled with kebab. And he went on bringing dishes out of the bag until he had produced the two dozen courses he had named.
‘Now eat, my friend,’ said the Moor.
‘Sir,’ exclaimed the confounded Judar, ‘you must surely have a kitchen and numerous cooks in that saddle-bag of yours!’
‘It is enchanted,’ replied the Moor, laughing. ‘It is served by a jinnee. If we were to ask for a thousand dishes every hour, the jinnee would come and prepare them for us immediately.’
‘Upon my life,’ Judar exclaimed, ‘that is an excellent bag!’
The two ate together, and when they were satisfied the Moor threw away what remained of the meal and replaced the empty dishes into the bag. He put his hand in again and brought out a ewer filled with water. They drank, made their ablutions, and recited the afternoon prayers; then, returning the ewer to the bag, they mounted on the mule and resumed their journey.
Presently the Moor said to Judar: ‘Do you know how far we have travelled from Egypt?’
‘No, by Allah,’ Judar replied.
‘We have travelled a whole year’s journey,’ said the Moor. ‘You must know that this mule of mine is a jinnee and can make a year’s journey in a single day. But for your sake it has bee
n going at an easy pace.’
For four days they travelled westwards, riding every day till midnight and having all their food provided by the enchanted bag. Judar demanded of the Moor whatever he fancied, and the Moor supplied it promptly upon a gold dish. On the fifth day they reached Maghreb and entered the city of Fez-and-Meknes. As they made their way into the town, everyone who met the Moor greeted him and kissed his hand. At length they halted before a certain house; the Moor knocked, and the door was opened by a girl as radiant as the moon.
‘Rahmah, my daughter,’ said the Moor, ‘open for us the great hall.’
‘Welcome, father,’ the girl replied, and went in, swinging her hips.
‘She must be a princess,’ said Judar to himself, marvelling at her beauty.
The girl opened the great hall, and the Moor took the saddlebag off the mule.
‘Go,’ he said to the beast, ‘and may Allah’s blessing be upon you!’
At once the earth opened, swallowed up the mule, and closed again.
‘Praise be to Allah,’ Judar exclaimed, ‘who kept us safe on the creature’s back!’
‘Do not be amazed, Judar,’ said the Moor. ‘Did I not tell you that the mule was a jinnee? Come now, let us go into the hall.’
Judar followed him into the hall and was astounded at the abundance of fine carpets, the rare ornaments, and the hangings of gold and jewels which decked its walls. As soon as the two were seated the Moor bade his daughter bring him a certain bundle. She fetched it for him and he took out from it a robe worth a thousand dinars.
‘Put this on, Judar,’ he said, ‘and be welcome in this house.’
Judar put it on and was so transformed that he looked like some Moroccan king. Then the Moor plunged his hand into the bag and drew from it dish after dish until he had spread out before his guest a banquet of forty courses.
‘Eat, sir,’ he said, ‘and pardon us our shortcomings. We do not know what kind of food you fancy. Tell us what you relish and we will set it before you without delay.’