The Arabian Nights (New Deluxe Edition)
Page 19
With him to make compare Beauty they brought,
But Beauty hung his head in abject shame.
They said, “O Beauty, have you seen his like?”
Beauty replied, “I have ne’er seen the same.”
My lady, they walked until they reached the trapdoor, went down, and were gone for a long time. Then the old man and the black men came out without the young man and shoveled the earth back as it was before. Then they boarded the ship, set sail, and disappeared.
I came down from the tree and, going to the spot they had covered, began to dig and shovel away. Having patiently cleared the earth away, I uncovered a single millstone, and when I lifted it up, I was surprised to find a winding stone staircase. I descended the steps, and when I came to the end, I found myself in a clean, whitewashed hall, spread with various kinds of carpets, beddings, and silk stuffs. There I saw the young man sitting on a high couch, leaning back on a round cushion, with a fan in his hand. A banquet was set before him, with fruits, flowers, and scented herbs, as he sat there all alone. When he saw me, he started and turned pale, but I greeted him and said, “My lord, set your mind at ease, for there is nothing to fear. I am a human being like you, my dear friend, and like you, the son of a king. God has brought me to you to keep you company in your loneliness. But tell me, what is your story, and what causes you to dwell under the ground?”
But morning overtook Shahrazad, and she lapsed into silence. Then Dinarzad said, “Sister, what a strange and entertaining story!” Shahrazad replied, “What is this compared with what I shall tell you tomorrow night if I stay alive!”
THE FIFTY-FIFTH NIGHT
The following night Dinarzad said to her sister Shahrazad, “Please, sister, if you are not sleepy, tell us the rest of the story of the king’s son and the young man under the ground.” Shahrazad replied, “With the greatest pleasure”:
I heard, O King, that the third dervish said to the girl:
My lady, when I asked the young man to tell me his story, and he was assured that I was of his kind, he rejoiced and regained his composure. Then he made me draw near to him and said, “O my brother, my case is strange and my tale is amazing. My father is a very wealthy jeweler, who deals even with kings and who has many black and white slaves as well as traders who travel on ships to trade for him. But he was not blessed with a child. One night he dreamt that he was going to have a son who would be short-lived, and he woke up in the morning, feeling depressed. My mother happened to conceive on the following night, and my father noted the date of her conception. When the months passed and her time came, she gave birth to me, and my father was exceedingly happy. Then the astrologers and wise men, noting my birth date, read my horoscope and said, ‘Your son will live fifteen years, after which there will be a conjunction of the stars, and if he can escape it, he will live. For there stands in the salty sea a mountain called the magnetic mountain, on top of which stands a brass horseman riding on a brass horse and holding in his mouth a lead tablet. Fifty days after this horseman falls from the horse, your son will die, and his killer will be the man who will have thrown the horseman off the horse, a man named ’Ajib, son of King Khasib.’ My father was stricken with grief. But he raised me and educated me as the years went by until I was fifteen. Ten days ago, the news reached my father that the brass horseman has been thrown into the sea by a man called King ’Ajib, son of King Khasib. When my father heard the news, he wept bitterly at our impending separation and became like a madman. Then for fear that ’Ajib, son of King Khasib, would kill me, my father built me this house under the ground and brought me in the ship with everything I need for the duration of fifty days. Ten days have already passed, and there remain only forty days until the conjunction of the stars is over and my father comes back to take me home. This is my story and the cause of my loneliness and isolation.”
My lady, when I heard his narrative and strange tale, I said to myself, “I am the one who overthrew the brass horseman, and I am ’Ajib, son of King Khasib, but by God, I will never kill him.” Then I said to him, “O my lord, may you be spared from death and safe from harm. God willing, there is nothing to worry about or fear. I will stay with you to serve you and entertain you these forty days. I will help you and go home with you, and you in turn will help me to return to my native land, and God will reward you.” My words pleased him, and I sat to chat with him and entertain him.
When night came, I got up and, lighting a candle, I filled and lit three oil lamps. Then I offered him a box of sweets, and after we both ate and savored some, we sat and chatted most of the night. When he fell asleep, I covered him, and then I too lay down and slept. When I woke up in the morning, I heated some water for him and gently woke him up, and when he awoke, I brought him the hot water, and he washed his face and thanked me saying, “God bless you, young man. By God, when I escape the man who is called ’Ajib, son of Khasib, and God saves me from him, I will make my father reward you and grant you every favor.” I replied, “May all your days be free from harm, and may God set my appointed day before yours!” Then I offered him something to eat, and after the two of us ate I rose and cut pieces of wood for checkers and set the pieces on the checkerboard. We diverted and amused ourselves, playing and eating and drinking till nightfall. Then I rose, lit the lamps, and offered him some sweets, and after we ate and savored some, we sat and chatted, then went to sleep.
My lady, in this way we passed many days and nights, and I became an intimate friend of his, felt a great affection for him, and forgot my cares and sorrows. I said to myself, “The astrologers lied when they told his father, ‘Your son will be killed by one called ’Ajib, son of Khasib,’ for by God, this is I and in no way will I kill him,” and for thirty-nine days I kept serving him, entertaining him, and carousing with him through the night. On the night of the fortieth day, feeling glad at his safe escape, he said, “Brother, I have now completed forty days. Praise be to God who has saved me from death by your blessed coming. By God, I shall make my father reward you and send you to your native land. But, brother, kindly heat some water for me, so that I may wash my body and change my clothes.” I replied, “With the greatest pleasure.” Then I rose, heated some water, and took the young man into a little room where I gave him a good bath and put on him fresh clothes. Then I spread for him a high bed, covered with a leather mat, and there he lay down to rest, tired from his bath. He said to me, “Brother, cut me up a watermelon and sweeten the juice with sugar.” I rose and, bringing back a fine watermelon, set it on a platter, saying, “My lord, do you know where the knife is?” He replied, “Here it is, on the high shelf over my head.” I sprang up and, reaching over him in haste, drew the knife from the sheath, and as I stepped back, I slipped on the leather mat, as had been foreordained, and fell prostrate on the young man, and the knife, which was in my hand, pierced his heart and killed him instantly. When I saw that he was dead and realized that it was I who had killed him, I let out a loud scream, beat my face, tore my clothes, and cried, “O people, O God’s creatures, there remained for this young man only one day out of the forty, yet he still met his death at my hand. O God, I ask for your forgiveness, wishing that I had died before him. These my afflictions I suffer, draught by bitter draught, ‘so that God’s will may be fulfilled.’”
But morning overtook Shahrazad, and she lapsed into silence. Then Dinarzad said, “What a strange and entertaining story!” Shahrazad replied, “What is this compared with what I shall tell you tomorrow night if I stay alive!”
THE FIFTY-SIXTH NIGHT
The following night Dinarzad said to her sister Shahrazad, “Sister, if you are not sleepy, tell us the rest of the story of the third dervish.” Shahrazad replied, “With the greatest pleasure”:
I heard, O King, that the third dervish said to the girl:
My lady, when I was sure that I had killed him, as the God above had foreordained, I rose and, ascending the stairs, replaced the trapdoor and covered it with earth. Then I looked toward the sea and s
aw the ship that had brought him, cleaving the waters toward the island to fetch him. I said to myself, “The moment they come and see their boy slain and find that I am his slayer, they will surely kill me.” I headed toward a nearby tree and, climbing it, hid among the branches, and hardly had I done so when the ship reached the island and touched the shore, and the black servants came out with the old father of the young man I had killed. They came to the spot, and when they removed the earth, they were surprised to find it soft. They went down and found the young man lying down, with his face still glowing after the bath, dressed in clean clothes and the knife deep in his heart. When they examined him and found that he was dead, they shrieked, beat their faces, wept, wailed, and invoked awful curses on the murderer. His father fell into such a deep swoon that the black servants thought that he was dead. At last he came to himself, and they wrapped the young man in his clothes and carried him up, together with the old man. Then one of the slaves went and came back with a seat covered with silk, and they carried the old man, laid him there, and sat by his head. All this took place under the tree in which I hid, watching everything they did and listening to everything they said. My heart felt hoary before my head turned gray because of the afflictions, misfortunes, calamities, and sorrows I had suffered. O my lady, the old man remained in a swoon till close to sunset. When he came to himself, looked at his son, and recalled what had happened—that what he feared had come to pass—he wept, beat his face, and recited the following verses:
By my life, hurry; they have gone away,
And my tears from my eyes profusely flow.
Their resting place is far, O far away;
What shall I say of them, what shall I do?
I wish that I had never seen their sight.
Helpless I stand and no solution know.
Comfort and consolation can I find
When burning sorrow sets my heart aglow?
O luck, off with me to their dwelling place;
Cry out to them about my tears that flow
They died and left my heart with burning pain,
The fire that in the loving breast did glow.
I wish that death would take me to their place;
Forever lasts the bond between us two.
For God’s sake, luck, be careful with our fate,
Our pending union, careful be and slow.
How blessed we lived together in one home
A life of bliss that did no hindrance know
Until with parting’s arrow we were shot,
And who can of such arrows bear the blow?
By death was felled the noblest of the tribe,
The age’s pearl, with beauty on his brow.
I mourned or silently I seemed to say,
“I wish that death had not hastened the blow.
On me and mine did envy fix his eye,
O son, I’d have given my life for you.
How can I meet you soon, my only one,
My son, for whom I would my soul bestow?
Your gifts you lavished like the bounteous moon,
And like the moon your fame did rise and grow.
If moon I call you, no, the moon goes down,
And if I call you sun, the sun sinks low.
O you, whose beauties were on every tongue,
You whom the virtues did with grace endow,
For you I will forever grieve and mourn;
No other love but you I’ll ever know.
Longing for you your father has consumed,
But helpless now he stands since death felled you.
Some evil eyes on you have had their feast,
Would they were pierced or black and blind did grow.”
Then the old man took a breath, and with a deep sigh his soul left his body. The black servants shrieked and, throwing dust on their heads and faces, wailed and cried bitterly. Then they carried the old man and his son to the ship and laid them down side by side. Soon they set sail and vanished from my sight. Then I descended from the tree and went back to the underground dwelling. When I entered, I saw some of the young man’s belongings, which reminded me of him, I and I repeated the following verses:
I see their traces and with longing pine
In their empty dwelling, and my tears flow.
And Him who has their loss decreed I beg,
That He may on me their return bestow.
But morning overtook Shahrazad, and she lapsed into silence. Then her sister said, “Sister, what a strange and entertaining story!” Shahrazad replied, “What is this compared with what I shall tell you tomorrow night if I stay alive!”
THE FIFTY-SEVENTH NIGHT
The following night Dinarzad said to her sister Shahrazad, “If you are not sleepy, tell us the rest of the dervish’s story.” Shahrazad said:
I heard, O King, that the third dervish said to the girl:
My lady, for a month I lived on the island, spending my day in the open and my night in the underground hall, until one day I noticed that the water on the west side of the island was receding little by little. By the end of the month dry land appeared on the east side, and I felt happy and certain of my safety. I waded through the shallow water, and when I reached permanent dry land, I saw nothing but sand as far as the eye can see. Then I noticed a great fire raging in the distance, and I gathered my energy and braved the sand toward the fire, saying to myself, “Someone must surely have kindled such a fire, and there perhaps is where I can find help,” and I repeated the following verses:
Perhaps my fate will his own bridle turn
And bring good fortune, O my fickle fate,
Replacing past ills with present good deeds,
My needs to answer and my hopes elate.
When I drew near, I found out that the fire was in reality a palace overlaid with copper plates that, as the sun shone on them, glowed and from a distance appeared like a fire. I was glad to see the palace and sat down to rest, but hardly had I done so when I was approached by ten neatly dressed young men accompanied by an old man, and I was astonished to see that each young man was blind in the right eye, and marveled at this coincidence. When they saw me, they greeted me, delighted to see me, and when they asked me about myself, I told them about my misfortunes. Marveling at my tale, they took me into the palace, where I saw ranged around the hall ten couches, each with blue bedding and blue coverlet, with a smaller couch in the middle, covered likewise in blue. We entered and each young man took his seat on a couch, and the old man seated himself on the smaller couch in the middle, saying to me, “Young man, sit down on the floor and do not inquire about our situation or the loss of our eyes.” Then he rose and one by one set before each of them his own food and did the same for me. After we ate, he offered us wine, each in his own cup, and they sat to carouse and ask me about my extraordinary case and strange adventures, and I told them my tale until most of the night was gone. Then the young men said to the old man, “Old man, will you give us our due, for it is time to go to bed?” The old man rose, entered a chamber, and came back, carrying on his head ten trays, each covered with a blue cover. He set a tray before each young man and, lighting ten candles, stuck one on each tray. Then he drew off the covers, and there appeared on each tray nothing but ashes, powdered charcoal, and kettle soot. Then, rolling up their sleeves, every young man blackened his face and smeared his clothes with soot and ashes, beat his breast and face, and wept and wailed, crying out again and again, “‘We would be sitting pretty but for our curiosity.’” They carried on like this until it was close to sunrise. Then the old man rose and heated some water for them, and the young men ran, washed themselves, and put on clean clothes.
My lady, when I saw what the young men had done and how they had blackened their faces, I was filled with bewilderment and curiosity and forgot my own misfortunes. Unable to remain silent, I asked them, “What brought this on, after we frolicked and enjoyed ourselves? You seem, God be praised, perfectly sane, and such actions befit only madmen. I ask you by al
l that is dearest to you to tell me your tale and the cause of losing your eyes and smearing your faces with soot and ashes.” They turned to me and said, “Young man, don’t let our youth and our behavior deceive you. It is better for you not to ask.” Then they laid out some food, and we began to eat, but my heart was still on fire and I burned with curiosity to find out the cause of their action, especially after having eaten and drunk with them. Then we sat to converse until late afternoon, and when it got dark, the old man offered us wine, and we sat drinking till past midnight. Then the young men said, “Give us our due, old man, for it is time to go to bed.” The old man rose, disappeared, then came back a while later with the same trays, and the young men repeated what they had done the previous night.
My lady, to make a long story short, I stayed with them for a full month, and every night they did the same thing and washed themselves early in the morning, while I watched, marveling at their action, until my curiosity and my anxiety increased to the point that I was no longer able to eat or drink. At last I said to them, “Young men, if you don’t relieve me and tell me why you blacken your faces and repeat, ‘We would be sitting pretty but for our curiosity,’ let me relieve myself of such sights by leaving you and going home, for as the saying goes, ‘Better for me and meet to see you not, for if the eye sees nought, the heart grieves not.’” When they heard my words, they came up to me and said, “Young man, we have kept our secret from you only out of pity for you, so that you would not suffer what we have suffered.” I replied, “You must tell me.” They said, “Young man, listen to our advice and don’t ask, lest you become one-eyed like us.” I repeated, “I must know the secret.” They replied, “Young man, when you find out the secret, remember that we will no longer harbor you nor let you stay with us again.”
Then they fetched a ram, slaughtered it, skinned it, and made the skin into a sack. Then they said, “Take this knife and get into the sack, and we shall sew you up in it. Then we shall go away and leave you alone. Soon a bird called Rukh8 will pick you up with his talons, fly with you high in the air for a while; then you will feel that he has set you down on a mountain and moved away from you. When you feel that the bird has done so, rip the skin open with this knife and come out, and when the bird sees you, he will fly away. Proceed immediately and walk for half a day, and you will see before you a towering palace, built with sandal- and aloewood and covered with plates of red gold, studded with emeralds and all kinds of precious stones. Enter the palace, and you will have your wish, for we have all entered that palace, and that was the cause of losing our eyes and blackening our faces. It would be too tedious to tell you the whole story, for each of us has his own tale for losing his right eye.”