Complete Works of F Marion Crawford

by F. Marion Crawford

  Nevertheless he did not lose heart, for the celestial messenger had told him that by the will of Allah he should marry Zehowah, and Allah was certainly able to give him a king’s daughter in marriage without the aid of gifts, of gold, of musk, of ‘Ood, of aloes or of pearls.

  He rose, therefore, when he had eaten enough and had rested himself and his mare, and after thanking the people of the village for their entertainment he rode on his way. He passed through a hill country, sometimes fertile and sometimes stony and deserted, but he found water by the way and such food as he needed; and accomplished the remainder of the journey without hindrance.

  On the morning of the second day he came to a halting-place from which he could see the city of Riad, and he was astonished at the size and magnificence of the Sultan’s palace, which was visible above the walls of the fortification. Yet he was aware that he had seen all this before as in a dream not altogether forgotten when a man wakes at dawn after a long and restless night.

  He gazed awhile, after he had made his ablutions, and then calling to his mare to come to him, he mounted and rode through the southern gate into the heart of the city.

  CHAPTER II

  WHEN KHALED REACHED the palace he dismounted from his mare, and leading her by the bridle entered the gateway. Here he met many persons, guards, and slaves both black and white, and porters bearing provisions, and a few women, all hurrying hither and thither; and many noticed him, but a few gazed curiously into his face, and two or three grooms followed him a little way, pointing out to each other the beauties of his mare.

  ‘Truly,’ they said, ‘if we did not know the mares of the stud better than the faces of our mothers, we should swear by Allah that this beast had been stolen from the Sultan’s stables by a thief in the night, for she is of the best blood in Nejed.’

  These being curious they saluted Khaled and asked him whence he came and whither he was going, seeing that it is not courteous to ask a stranger any other questions.

  ‘I come from the Red Desert,’ Khaled answered, ‘and I am going into the palace as you see.’

  The grooms saw that there was a rebuke in the last part of his answer and hung back and presently went their way.

  ‘Are such mares bred in the Red Desert?’ they exclaimed. ‘The stranger is doubtless the sheikh of some powerful tribe. But if this be true, where are the men that came with him? And why is he dressed like a man of the city?’

  So they hastened out of the gateway to find the Bedouins who, they supposed, must have accompanied Khaled on his journey.

  But Khaled went forward and came to a great court in which were stone seats by the walls. Here a number of people were waiting. So he sat down upon one of the seats and his mare laid her nose upon his shoulder as though inquiring what he would do.

  ‘Allah knows,’ Khaled said, as though answering her. So he waited patiently.

  At last a man came out into the courtyard who was richly dressed, and whom all the people saluted as he passed. But he came straight towards Khaled, who rose from his seat.

  ‘Whence come you, my friend?’ he inquired after they had exchanged the salutation.

  ‘From the Red Desert, and I desire permission to speak with the Sultan when it shall please his majesty to see me.’

  ‘And what do you desire of his majesty? I ask that I may inform him beforehand. So you will have a better reception.’

  ‘Tell the Sultan,’ said Khaled, ‘that a man is here who has neither father nor mother nor any possessions beyond a swift mare, a keen sword and a strong hand, but who is come nevertheless to ask in marriage Zehowah, the Sultan’s daughter.’

  The minister smiled and gazed at Khaled in silence for a moment, but when he had looked keenly at his face, he became grave.

  ‘It may be,’ he thought, ‘that this is some great prince who comes thus simply as in a disguise, and it were best not to anger him.’

  ‘I will deliver your message,’ he answered aloud, ‘though it is a strange one. It is customary for those who come to ask for a maiden in marriage to bring gifts — and to receive others in return,’ he added.

  ‘I neither bring gifts nor ask any,’ said Khaled. ‘Allah is great and will provide me with what I need.’

  ‘I fear that he will not provide you with the Sultan’s daughter for a wife,’ said the minister as he went away, but Khaled did not hear the words, though he would have cared little if he had.

  Now it chanced that Zehowah was sitting in a balcony surrounded with lattice, over the courtyard, on that morning and she had seen Khaled enter, leading his mare by the bridle. But though she watched the stranger and his beast idly for some time she thought as little of the one as of the other, for her heart was not turned to love, and she knew nothing of horses. But her women thought differently and spoke loudly, praising the beauty of both.

  ‘There is indeed a warrior able to fight in the front of our armies,’ they said. ‘Truly such a man must have been Khaled ibn Walad, the Sword of the Lord, in the days of the Prophet — upon whom peace.’

  By and by there was a cry that the Sultan was coming into the room, and the women rose and retired. The Sultan sat down upon the carpet by his daughter, in the balcony.

  ‘Do you see that stranger, holding a beautiful mare by the bridle?’ he asked.

  ‘Yes, I see him,’ answered Zehowah indifferently.

  ‘He is come to ask you in marriage.’

  ‘Another!’ she exclaimed with a careless laugh. ‘If it is the will of Allah I will marry him. If not, he will go away like the rest.’

  ‘This man is not like the rest, my daughter. He is either a madman or some powerful prince in disguise.’

  ‘Or both, perhaps,’ laughed Zehowah. She laughed often, for although she was not inclined to love, she was of a gentle and merry temper.

  ‘His message was a strange one,’ said the Sultan. ‘He says that he neither brings gifts nor asks them, that he has neither father nor mother, nor any possessions excepting a swift mare, a keen sword and a strong hand.’

  ‘I see the mare, the sword and the hand,’ answered Zehowah. ‘But the hand is like any other hand — how can I tell whether it be strong? The sword is in its sheath, and I cannot see its edge, and though the mare is pretty enough, I have seen many of your own I liked as well. The elephants of the Indian prince were more amusing, and the prince himself was more beautiful than this stranger with his black beard and his solemn face.’

  ‘That is true,’ said the Sultan with a sigh.

  ‘Do you wish me to marry this man?’ Zehowah asked.

  ‘My daughter, I wish you to choose of your own free will. Nevertheless I trust that you will choose before long, that I may see my child’s children before I die.’

  For the Sultan was old and white-bearded, and was already somewhat bowed with advancing years and with burden of many cares and the fatigues of many wars. Yet his eye was bright and his heart fearless still, though his judgment was often weak and vacillating.

  ‘Do you wish me to marry this man?’ Zehowah asked again. ‘He will be a strange husband, for he is a strange suitor, coming without gifts and having neither father nor mother. But I will do as you command. If you leave it to me I shall never marry.’

  ‘I did not say that I desired you to take this one especially,’ protested the Sultan, ‘though for the matter of gifts I care little, since heaven has sent me wealth in abundance. But my remaining years are few, and the years of life are like stones slipping from a mountain which move slowly at first, and then faster until they outrun the lightning and leap into the dark valley below. And what is required of a husband is that he be a true believer, young and whole in every part, and of a charitable disposition.’

  ‘Truly,’ laughed Zehowah, ‘if he have no possessions, charity will avail him little, since he has nothing to give.’

  ‘There is other charity besides the giving of alms, my daughter, since it is charity even to think charitably of others, as you know. But I have not said that
you should marry this man, for you are free. And indeed I have not yet talked with him. But I have sent for him and you shall hear him speak. See — they are just now conducting him to the hall of audiences. But indeed I think he is no husband for you, after all.’

  The Sultan rose and went to receive Khaled, and Zehowah went to the secret window above her father’s raised seat in the hall.

  Khaled made the customary salutation with the greatest respect, and the Sultan made him sit down at his right hand as though he had been a prince, and asked him whence he had come. Then a refreshment was brought, and Khaled ate and drank a little, after which the Sultan inquired his business.

  ‘I come,’ said Khaled boldly, ‘to ask your daughter Zehowah in marriage. I bring no gifts, for I have none to offer, nor have I any inheritance. My mare is my fortune, my sword is my argument and my wit is in my arm.’

  ‘You are a strange suitor,’ said the Sultan; but he kept a pleasant countenance, since Khaled was his guest. ‘You are no doubt the sheikh of a tribe of the Red Desert, though I was not aware that any tribes dwelt there.’

  ‘So far as being the sheikh of my tribe,’ said Khaled with a smile, ‘your majesty may call me so, for my tribe consists of myself alone, seeing that I have neither father nor mother nor any relations.’

  ‘Truly, I have never talked with such a suitor before,’ answered the Sultan. ‘At least I presume that you are a son of some prince, and that you have chosen to disguise yourself as a rich traveller and to hide your history under an allegory.’

  The Sultan would certainly not have allowed himself to overstep the bounds of courtesy so far, but for his astonishment at Khaled’s daring manner. He was too keen, however, not to see that this man was something above the ordinary and that, whatever else he might be, he was not a common impostor. Such a fellow would have found means to rob a caravan of valuable goods, to offer as gifts, would have brought himself a train of camels and slaves and would have given himself out as a prince of some distant country from which it would not be possible to obtain information.

  ‘Istaghfir Allah! I am no prince,’ Khaled answered. ‘I ask for the hand of your daughter. The will of Allah will be accomplished.’

  He knew that Zehowah was watching and listening behind the lattice in her place of concealment, for the memory of such things had not been taken from him when he had lost the supernatural vision of the genii and had become an ordinary man. He was determined therefore to be truthful and to say nothing which he might afterwards be called upon to explain. For he never doubted but that Zehowah would be his wife, since the angel had told him that it should be so.

  ‘And what if I refuse even to consider your proposal?’ inquired the Sultan, to see what he would say.

  ‘If it is the will of Allah that I marry your daughter, your refusal would be useless, but if it is not his will, your refusal would be altogether unnecessary.’

  The Sultan was much struck by this argument which showed a ready wit in the stranger and which he could only have opposed by asserting that his own will was superior to that of heaven itself.

  ‘But,’ said he, defending himself, ‘any of the previous suitors might have said the same.’

  ‘Undoubtedly,’ replied Khaled, unabashed. ‘But they did not say it. Your majesty will certainly now consider the matter.’

  ‘In the meanwhile,’ the Sultan answered, very graciously, ‘you are my guest, and you have come in time to take part in the third day of the feast, to which you are welcome in the name of Allah, the merciful.’

  Thereupon the Sultan rose and Khaled was conducted to the apartments set apart for the guests. But the Sultan returned to the harem in a very thoughtful mood, and before long he found Zehowah who had returned to her seat in the balcony.

  ‘This is a very strange suitor,’ he said, shaking his head and looking into his daughter’s face.

  ‘He is at least bold and outspoken,’ she answered. ‘He makes no secret of his poverty nor of his wishes. Whatever he be, he is in earnest and speaks truth. I would like well to know the only secret which he wishes to keep — who he really is.’

  ‘It may be,’ said the Sultan thoughtfully, ‘that if I threaten to cut off his head he will tell us. But on the other hand, he is a guest.’

  ‘He is not of those who are easily terrified, I think. Tell me, my father, do you wish me to marry him?’

  ‘How could you marry a man who has no family and no inheritance? Would such a marriage befit the daughter of kings?’

  ‘Why not?’ asked Zehowah with much calmness.

  The Sultan stared at her in astonishment.

  ‘Has this stranger enchanted your imagination?’ he inquired by way of answer.

  ‘No,’ replied Zehowah scornfully. ‘I have seen the noblest, the most beautiful and the richest of the earth, ready to take me to wife, and I have not loved. Shall I love an outcast?’

  ‘Then how can you ask my wishes?’

  ‘Because there are good reasons why I should marry this man.’

  ‘Good reasons? In the name of Allah let me hear them, if there are any.’

  ‘You are old, my father,’ said Zehowah, ‘and it has not pleased heaven to send you a son, nor to leave you any living relation to sit upon the throne when your years are accomplished. You must needs think of your successor.’

  ‘The better reason for choosing some powerful prince, whose territory shall increase the kingdom he inherits from me, and whose alliance shall strengthen the empire I leave behind me.’

  ‘Istaghfir Allah! The worse reason. For such a prince would be attached to his own country, and would take me thither with him and would neglect the kingdom of Nejed, regarding it as a land of strangers whom he may oppress with taxes to increase his own splendour. And this is not unreasonable, since no king can wisely govern two kingdoms separated from each other by more than three days’ journey. No man can have other than the one of two reasons for asking me in marriage. Either he has heard of me and desires to possess me, or he wishes to increase his dominions by the inheritance which will be mine.’

  ‘Doubtless, this is the truth,’ said the Sultan. ‘But so much the more does this stranger in all probability covet my kingdom, since he has nothing of his own.’

  ‘This is what I mean. For, having no other possessions to distract his attention, he will remain always here, and will govern your kingdom for its own advantage in order that it may profit himself.’

  ‘This is a subtle argument, my daughter, and one requiring consideration.’

  ‘The more so because the man seems otherwise well fitted to be my husband, since he is a true believer, and young, and fearless and outspoken.’

  ‘But if this is all,’ objected the Sultan, ‘there are in Nejed several young men, sons of my chief courtiers, who possess the same qualifications. Choose one of them.’

  ‘On the contrary, to choose one of them would arouse the jealousy of all the rest, with their families and slaves and freedmen, whereby the kingdom would easily be exposed to civil war. But if I take a stranger it is more probable that all will be for him, since you are beloved, and there is no reason why one party should oppose him and another support him, since none of them know anything of him.’

  ‘But he will not be beloved by the people unless he is liberal, and he has nothing wherewith to be generous.’

  ‘And where are the treasures of Riad?’ laughed Zehowah. ‘Is it not easy for you to go secretly to his chamber and to give him as much gold as he needs?’

  ‘That is also true. I see that you have set your heart upon him.’

  ‘Not my heart, my father, but my head. For I have infinitely more head than heart, and I see that the welfare of the kingdom will be better secured with such a ruler, than it would have been under a foreign prince whose right hand would be perpetually thrust out to take in Nejed that which his left hand would throw to courtiers in his own country. Do I speak wisdom or folly?’

  ‘It is neither all folly nor all wisdom.’r />
  ‘I have seen this man, I have heard him speak,’ said Zehowah. ‘He is as well as another since I must marry sooner or later. Moreover I have another argument.’

  ‘What is that?’

  ‘Either he is a man strong enough to rule me, or he is not,’ Zehowah answered with a laugh. ‘If he can govern me, he can govern the kingdom of Nejed. But if not I will govern it for him, and rule him also.’

  The Sultan looked up to heaven and slightly raised his hands from his knees.

  ‘Allah is merciful and forgiving!’ he exclaimed. ‘Is this the spirit befitting a wife?’

  ‘Is it charity to cause happiness?’

  ‘Undoubtedly it is charity.’

  ‘And which is greater, the happiness of many or the happiness of one?’

  ‘The happiness of many is greater,’ answered the Sultan. ‘What then?’ he asked after a time, seeing that she said nothing more.

  ‘I have spoken,’ she replied. ‘It is best that I should marry him.’

  Then there was silence for a long time, during which the Sultan sat quite motionless in his place, watching his daughter, while she looked idly through the lattice at the people who came and went in the court below. She seemed to feel no emotion.