Arabian Nights

by Richard Burton

  “As you wish,” replied the king. Then the two went to the parade ground, where the troops were assembled, and the prince looked them over and noted their great number. At this point, the king declared to them, “Listen, all you men! This young man has come to ask for my daughter’s hand in marriage. Quite truthfully, I’ve never met a finer lad, nor anyone with a stouter heart or a stronger arm, for he claims that he can overcome you single-handedly and put you to rout. Indeed, he’s declared that even if you were a hundred thousand, he would prevail. Now, when he charges at you, I want you to greet him with your sharp pikes and sabers and show him that he’s taken on much more than he can handle.” Turning now to the prince, the king said, “Get on with it, my son. It’s time to do your duty!”

  “Your majesty,” the prince replied, “you’re not being fair with me. Am I to go against your men on foot while they are mounted?”

  The king responded, “I asked you to mount before. Well then, choose any of my horses you like.”

  “None of your horses pleases me,” the prince stated. “I’ll only ride the horse that I came on.”

  “Well, where’s your horse?” the king asked.

  “On top of the palace,” said the prince.

  “In what part of my palace?”

  “On the roof.”

  Now when the king heard these words, he cried, “Stop this nonsense! This is the first sign you’ve given that you’re mad. How can the horse be on the roof? But we’ll see at once if you’re telling the truth.” Then he turned to one of his chief officers and said, “Go to my palace and bring me whatever you find on the roof.”

  All the people gathered at the assembly were astounded by the prince’s words, and they began murmuring, “How can a horse come down the steps from the roof? We’ve never heard of a thing like this before!” In the meantime the king’s messenger returned to the palace, climbed the stairs to the roof, and found the horse standing there. Never had it looked more handsome, but when the officer drew near and examined it, he saw that it was made of ebony and ivory. Now this man was accompanied by other officers, who began laughing when they saw that the horse was wooden. “Was this the horse that the young man meant? He must be mad. Well, we’ll soon see, no matter what.”

  And Scheherazade noticed that dawn was approaching and stopped telling her story. When the next night arrived, however, she received the king’s permission to continue her tale and said,

  Then they lifted the horse and carried it to the king. Once they set it down before him, all his lords flocked around it to marvel at its beauty and the rich saddle and bridle. The king, too, admired it and was astounded by it. Then he asked the prince, “Young man, is this your horse?”

  “Yes,” he responded, “this is my horse, and you’ll soon see how wonderful it is.”

  “Then take it and mount it,” commanded the king.

  “I won’t mount it until your troops withdraw a bit,” he replied.

  So the king ordered them to retreat a good bow’s shot from the horse, and the prince cried out, “Now watch, my king, for I’m about to mount my horse and charge your army and scatter them left and right!” Then the prince mounted while the troops arranged themselves in rows before him, and one soldier said to another, “When he comes between the rows, we’ll greet him with the points of our pikes and sabers.”

  “By Allah,” said another, “this is unfortunate. I find it difficult to slay such a handsome youth.”

  And a third continued, “You’ll have to work hard to get the better of him, for I’m sure he’s not doing this without knowing his own strength and potential.”

  Meanwhile after the prince got settled in his saddle, he pushed the button to take off, and all the people strained their eyes to see what he would do. Just then the horse began to heave and rock and sway and make the strangest movements that a steed ever made. Soon its belly was filled with air, and it took off with its rider soaring high into the sky. When the king saw this, he cried out to his men, “Woe to you! Catch him, catch him before he escapes!”

  But his viziers and viceroys yelled back, “Oh king, can a man overtake a flying bird? This man is surely some mighty magician or jinnee, and may Allah save you from him!”

  After watching the prince’s feat, the king returned to the palace, where he went straight to his daughter and told her what had happened on the parade ground. He found her very much distressed because of the prince’s departure, and all at once she fell violently sick and took to bed. Now, when her father saw her in such a miserable state, he embraced her, kissed her on her forehead, and said, “My daughter, praise the Almighty Allah and thank Him for delivering us from this cunning enchanter, this villain, this thief, who thought only of seducing you!” And he repeated to her the story of the prince and how he had disappeared in the sky, and he cursed him, not knowing how dearly his daughter loved him. But she paid no attention to his words and kept on weeping and saying to herself, “By Allah, I’ll neither eat nor drink until Allah reunites me with him!”

  Consequently, her father became greatly concerned about her condition, and no matter how he tried to soothe her, her longing for the prince only increased.

  And Scheherazade noticed that dawn was approaching and stopped telling her story. When the next night arrived, however, she received the king’s permission to continue her tale and said,

  Now when Prince Kamar al-Akmar had risen high in the sky, he turned his horse’s head toward his native land, and all he could do was to think about the beauty of the lovely princess. Since he had asked some of the king’s people what the name of the city was, he knew that the city was called Sana’a and kept its location in mind. Meanwhile, he journeyed as fast as he could to the capital of his own country, and after circling the city, he landed on the roof of his father’s palace, where he left his horse. Then he descended into the palace, and upon seeing that the threshold was strewn with ashes, he thought that one of his family had died. As was his custom, he entered the large salon and found his father, mother, and sisters clad in black mourning garments, and all of them were haggard and had pale faces. When his father caught sight of him and was sure that it was his son, he uttered a great cry and fell down in a fit. After a while he came to himself and embraced the prince with great joy. Then they all began to ask him what had happened to him, and he told them everything from first to last.

  “Praise be Allah for bringing you home safe and sound,” the king said, and he ordered his servants to prepare a great festival while the good news spread throughout the city. Drums and cymbals proclaimed the event. The mourning clothes were discarded. The streets and markets were decorated. The people vied with one another as to who should be the first to make the king even more jubilant than he was. In the meantime the king announced a general amnesty and ordered all the prisoners to be released. Moreover, he had banquets prepared for the people of the city, and for seven days and seven nights everyone ate and drank all he wanted, while the king rode around on horseback with his son so that the people could see the prince and rejoice.

  After a while, the prince asked his father, “What’s happened to the man who made the ebony horse?”

  And the king replied, “I rue the very day that I set eyes on him! He was the cause of your separation from us, my son, and he has been in jail ever since your disappearance.” However, now the king ordered the sage to be released from prison, and after sending for him, he presented him with clothes befitting his dignity and treated him generously and kindly, but he would not allow him to wed his daughter. Consequently, the sage became furious and regretted that he had given the king the horse, especially since he knew that the prince had learned the secret of the steed and how to control its movements. Despite the fact that the prince had managed to operate the horse, his father said to him, “You’d do well not to go near the horse from here on, for you don’t know all that it can do, and you may make a mistake if you mount it again.”

  Now the prince had told his father about his ad
venture with the king of Sana’a and his daughter, and his father remarked that if the king had intended to kill him, he would have done so, but his hour had not yet arrived. In the meantime, the celebrations had come to an end, and the king and his son returned to the palace, where they sat down to eat, drink, and make merry. While they were sitting there, one of the king’s beauitful slave girls, who was skilled in playing the lute, began to sweep her fingers across the strings and sing a song about the separation of lovers. When the prince heard these verses, the sparks of longing flamed up in his heart, and he yearned for the daughter of the king of Sana’a. So he rose right away, and after eluding his father’s sight, he went up to the roof of the palace, where he mounted the horse and pushed the takeoff button, and the horse soared toward the upper regions of the sky. Some time later his father wondered where he was, and after climbing to the roof of the palace, he saw his son high in the firmament and was greatly troubled and regretted that he had not taken the horse and hidden it. Then he said to himself, “By Allah, if my son returns to me, I’ll destroy the horse so that he’ll be forced to stay on the ground, where he belongs, and I won’t have to worry about him anymore.” And he began to weep and moan.

  And Scheherazade noticed that dawn was approaching and stopped telling her story. When the next night arrived, however, she received the king’s permission to continue her tale and said,

  While the king was weeping, his son kept flying through the sky until he came to the city of Sana’a and landed on the roof as he had done before. Then he crept downstairs quietly and, finding the eunuch asleep as usual, he raised the curtain and entered the alcove of the princess’s chamber. To be on the safe side, he stopped to listen and heard her shedding tears and reciting some verses, while her women slept soundly all around her. Soon, however, some of them woke up because of her weeping and said, “Mistress, why are you mourning for someone who doesn’t mourn you?”

  “You fools!” she replied, “Do you think he’s the kind who forgets or who can be forgotten?” And she began to weep and wail again until sleep overcame her.

  Upon hearing and seeing all this, the prince’s heart melted. So he entered her chamber and saw that she was lying asleep without a cover and touched her hand, causing her to open her eyes and look at him.

  “Why all this crying and mourning?” he asked.

  And when she realized that it was he, she threw herself upon him, gave him a kiss, and said, “Because of you and because we were separated.”

  “My lady,” he stated, “I, too, have been desolate because of our separation!”

  “Then why did you leave me?” she asked. “If you had stayed away any longer, I would have died!”

  “But think about my predicament with your father and how he treated me,” he answered. “If it had not been for you, love of my life, I would have certainly slain him, but because I love you, I’ll love him for your sake.”

  “But you still shouldn’t have left me,” she said. “Did you really believe that I could continue having a sweet life after meeting you?”

  “Let us forget what’s happened. That’s all past,” he declared. “Now I’m hungry and thirsty.”

  So she ordered her maidens to bring in something to eat and drink, and they began eating, drinking, and conversing until the night was almost over. When day broke, he rose to say goodbye to her before the eunuch would awake. But Shams al-Nahar asked him, “Where are you going?”

  “To my father’s house,” he responded, “and I give you my word that I’ll come to you once a week.”

  However, she wept and said, “I beg you, by Allah the Almighty, take me with you. I’ll go wherever you go. Don’t make me suffer the bitter separation again.”

  “Will you really go with me?” he asked.

  “Yes.”

  “Then,” said he, “let’s rise and depart.”

  So she got up right away, went to a chest, and adorned herself in her richest and dearest trinkets and jewels. Then, without telling her maidens where she was going, she left the chamber with the prince, who took her up to the roof of the palace. After he mounted the ebony horse, he lifted her up behind him and tied her to him with some strong rope. When everything was set, he pushed the takeoff button, and the horse rose high in the air. When her slave girls saw this, they shrieked aloud and ran and told her father and mother, who rushed to the rooftop only to see the magic horse fly away with the prince and princess. In his anguish, the king cried out, “Prince, I beg of you, by Allah, have mercy on us, and don’t take away our daughter!”

  The prince did not reply, but he thought to himself that the lady might regret being separated from her mother and father, and he asked her, “Oh beauty of the age, do you want me to take you back to your mother and father?”

  “By Allah, my lord,” she said, “my only wish is to be with you. I am so consumed by my love for you that I don’t mind being separated from my mother and father.”

  Upon hearing these words, the prince rejoiced and made the horse fly carefully and gently so as not to disquiet her. Indeed, they kept flying until they caught sight of a green meadow with a spring of running water. Here they landed and ate and drank. Then they remounted and flew until they were in sight of his father’s capital. The prince was filled with joy at seeing the city and thought that he would show to his beloved his father’s dominions so that she would see that they were greater than those of her sire. So they landed in one of his father’s gardens outside the city, and he carried her into a summerhouse with a dome. He left the ebony horse at the door and told the damsel to keep watch over it while he was away. “Sit here,” he said, “until my messenger comes to you. I’m going to my father to ask him to prepare lodgings for you, and then I’ll show you the royal estate.”

  She was delighted when she heard these words and said, “As you wish.”

  And Scheherazade noticed that dawn was approaching and stopped telling her story. When the next night arrived, however, she received the king’s permission to continue her tale and said,

  The prince’s words indicated to her that he wanted to prepare everything for her so she could enter the city with due honor and respect according to her rank. So she was quite pleased. In the meantime, the prince went to the palace of his father, who rejoiced at his return. Then the prince said to him, “I’ve brought the king’s daughter with me, the lovely damsel I told you about the other day. I’ve left her outside the city in the summer garden, and I’d like you to prepare a royal procession for her and go out to meet her in majestic array with all your troops and guards.”

  “I’m more than happy to do this,” replied the king, and he immediately gave orders to have the town decorated. Then he went and mounted his horse and rode out in all splendor and majesty leading a host of high officers and servants followed by a band with drums, kettledrums, fifes, trumpets, and all kinds of instruments. In the meantime, the prince went to his treasury and took out jewelry, rich apparel, and whatever else kings generally keep in a safe place, and he set up a splendid display of his wealth. Moreover, he ordered the servants to prepare a litter with a canopy of green, yellow, and red brocade, and he ordered Indian, Greek, and Abyssinian slave girls to sit inside. Then he left the litter and went to the pavilion where he had set the princess down. Yet, neither she nor the horse was there. When he saw this, he slapped his face, tore his garments, and began wandering around the garden as if he had lost his mind. Eventually, however, he came to his senses and asked himself, “How could she have discovered the secret of the horse? I didn’t tell her anything. Maybe the Persian sage who made the horse happened to come upon her and flew off with her in revenge for the way my father treated him.” Then he sought out the guards of the garden and asked them if they had seen anyone enter the grounds. “Tell me the truth and the whole truth, or I’ll have your heads cut off right away!”

  “No one has entered,” they said, “except for the Persian sage, who came to gather some herbs for healing.”

  So
the prince was sure that it was indeed the sage who had flown off with the maiden.

  And Scheherazade noticed that dawn was approaching and stopped telling her story. When the next night arrived, however, she received the king’s permission to continue her tale and said,

  Confused and bewildered, the prince was ashamed when the king and his entourage arrived. Turning to his sire, he told him what had happened and said, “Take the troops and march back to the city with them. As for me, I’ll never return until I’ve cleared up this affair.”

  When the king heard this he was distressed and wept. “My son,” he said, “calm yourself. Try to get over your sorrow and come home with us. I can arrange a wedding with some other king’s daughter.”

  But the prince paid no attention to his words, and after bidding his father farewell, he set out on a journey, while the king returned to the city, and their joy was changed into sadness.

  Now, it was due to destiny that, after the prince had left the princess in the garden house and gone to his father’s palace, the Persian entered the garden to gather some special herbs. But when he smelled the sweet aroma of musk and other perfumes that emanated from the princess and impregnated the whole place, he followed his nose until he came to the pavilion, where he saw the horse that he had made with his own hands. His heart was filled with joy, for he had bemoaned its loss a great deal since giving it away. So he went up to it, and after examining every part, he found it in perfectly good shape. Just as he was about to mount it and ride away, he said to himself, “Perhaps I should look at what the prince has brought here with the horse before I ride away.” So he entered the pavilion, and when he saw the princess sitting there as though she were the sun shining serenely in the sky, he knew at first glance that she was some highborn lady and was certain that the prince had left her in the pavilion while he had gone to the city to prepare a splendid state procession for her. So he went up to her and kissed the ground before her. Startled, she looked at him and was taken aback by his atrocious appearance and manners.