One Thousand and One Nights

by Richard Burton

  Thine image in my thoughts fares as a pilgrim aye, For all thy

  stead and mine are distant many a day.

  The wishes of my heart do bring thee near to me For ‘gainst the

  speed of thought what is the levin’s ray?

  Depart thou not, that art the lustre of mine eyes; Yea, when

  thou’rt far removed, all void of light are they.

  He returned to his mother’s house, where he passed the night, and on the morrow, after furnishing himself for his journey, he set out and travelled from city to city and from island to island for a whole month. Everywhere he heard talk of the princess Budour’s madness, till he came to a city named Teyreb and seeking news of the townsfolk, so haply he might light on a cure for his foster-sister’s malady, heard that Kemerezzeman, son of King Shehriman, was fallen sick and afflicted with melancholy madness. He enquired the name of this prince’s capital and was told that it stood on the Islands of Khalidan and was distant thence a whole month’s journey by sea and six by land. So he took passage in a ship that was bound thither, and they sailed with a favouring breeze for a whole month, till they came in sight of the city and there remained for them but to enter the harbour; when there came out on them a tempestuous wind which carried away the masts and rent the canvas, so that the sails fell into the sea and the ship foundered, with all on board. Each looked to himself, and as for Merzewan, the current carried him under the King’s palace, wherein was Kemerezzeman. As fate would have it, it was the day on which the King gave audience to his grandees and officers, and he was sitting, with his son’s head in his lap, whilst an eunuch whisked away the flies. The prince had not spoken, neither had he eaten nor drunk for two days, and he was grown thinner than a spindle. Now the Vizier was standing near the window giving on the sea and raising his eyes, saw Merzewan at the last gasp for struggling with the waves; whereupon his heart was moved to pity for him and he drew near to the King and said to him, ‘O King, I crave thy leave to go down to the court of the pavilion and open the water-gate, that I may rescue a man who is at the point of drowning in the sea and bring him forth of peril into deliverance; peradventure, on this account, God may ease thy son of his affliction.’ ‘O Vizier,’ replied Shehriman, enough is that which has befallen my son through thee and on thine account. Belike, if thou rescue this drowning man, he will look on my son and come to know our affairs and exult over me; but I swear by Allah, that, if he come hither and see my son and after go out and speak of our secrets to any, I will assuredly strike off thy head before his; for thou art the cause of all that hath befallen us, first and last. Now do as thou wilt.’ The Vizier rose and opening the postern, descended to the causeway; then walked on twenty steps and came to the sea, where he saw Merzewan nigh unto death. So he put out his hand to him and catching him by the hair of his head, drew him ashore, in a state of unconsciousness, with belly full of water and eyes starting from his head. The Vizier waited till he came to himself, when he pulled off his wet clothes and clad him in a fresh suit, covering his head with one of his servants’ turbans; after which he said to him, ‘I have been the means of saving thee from drowning: do not thou requite me by causing my death and thine own.’ ‘How so?’ asked Merzewan; and the Vizier answered, ‘Thou art now about to go up and pass among Amirs and Viziers, all silent and speaking not, because of Kemerezzeman, the King’s son.’ When Merzewan heard the name of Kemerezzeman, he knew that this was he of whom he came in search, but he feigned ignorance and said to the Vizier, ‘And who is Kemerezzeman?’ Quoth the Vizier, ‘He is the King’s son and lies sick on his couch, restless, eating not nor drinking neither sleeping night nor day; indeed he is nigh upon death and we have lost hope of his recovery. Beware lest thou look too long on him or on any place other than that where thou settest thy feet: else thou art a lost man and I also.’ ‘O Vizier,’ said Merzewan, ‘I conjure thee by Allah, tell me of thy favour, the cause of this youth’s malady.’ ‘I know none,’ answered the Vizier, ‘save that, three years ago, his father pressed him to marry, but he refused; whereat the King was wroth and imprisoned him. On the morrow, he would have it that he had had, for a bedfellow, the night before, a young lady of surpassing beauty, beggaring description, with whom he had exchanged rings; but we know not the meaning of all this. So by Allah, O my son, when thou comest up into the palace, look not on the prince, but go thy way; for the King’s heart is full of anger against me.’ ‘By Allah,’ said Merzewan in himself, ‘this is he whom I sought!’ Then he followed the Vizier up to the palace, where the latter seated himself at the prince’s feet; but Merzewan must needs go up to Kemerezzeman and stand before him, gazing on him. At this, the Vizier was like to die of affright and signed to Merzewan to go his way; but he feigned not to see him and gave not over gazing upon Kemerezzeman, till he was assured that it was indeed he of whom he was in search. Then, ‘Glory be to God,’ cried he, ‘who hath made his shape even as her shape and his complexion as her complexion and his cheek as her cheek!’ At this Kemerezzeman opened his eyes and gave ear to his speech; and when Merzewan saw him listening, he repeated the following verses:

  I see thee full of song and plaint and ecstasy amain, And to the

  setting forth in words of charms I find thee fain.

  Can it be love hath wounded thee or art thou shot with shafts?

  For sure these fashions but belong unto a smitten swain.

  Ho, pour me out full cups of wine and sing me eke, in praise Of

  Tenam, Suleyma, Rebäb, a glad and lovesome strain!

  Yea, let the grape-vine’s sun go round, whose mansion is

  its jar, Whose East the cupbearer and West my thirsty mouth

  I feign.

  I’m jealous of the very clothes she dights upon her side, For

  that upon her body soft and delicate they’ve lain;

  And eke I’m envious of the cups that touch her dainty lips, When

  to the kissing-place she sets them ever and again.

  Think not that I in anywise with sword am done to death; ’Tis by

  the arrows of a glance, alack! that I am slain.

  Whenas we met again, I found her fingers dyed with red, As ‘twere

  the juice of tragacanth had steeped them in its stain.

  Said I to her, “Thou’st dyed thy palms, whilst I was far

  away. This then is how the slave of love is ‘quited for his

  pain.”

  Quoth she (and cast into my heart the flaming fires of love,

  Speaking as one who hath no care love’s secret to contain),

  “No, by thy life, this is no dye I’ve used! So haste thou not To

  heap accusings on my head and slander me in vain.

  For, when I saw thee get thee gone upon our parting day, My eyes,

  for very dreariment, with tears of blood did rain.

  I wiped them with my hand, and so my fingers with my blood Were

  all to-reddened and do yet their ruddy tint retain.”

  Had I for very passion wept, or e’er my mistress did, I should,

  before repentance came, have solaced heart and brain;

  But she before my weeping wept; her tears drew mine and so Quoth

  I, “Unto the precedent the merit doth pertain.”

  Chide not at me for loving her, for by Love’s self I swear, My

  heart with anguish for her sake is well-nigh cleft in twain.

  I weep for one whose face is decked by Beauty’s self; there’s

  none, Arab or foreigner, to match with her, in hill or

  plain.

  The lore of Locman hath my love and Mary’s chastity, with

  Joseph’s loveliness to boot and David’s songful vein;

  Whilst Jacob’s grief to me belongs and Jonah’s dreariment, Ay,

  and Job’s torment and despite and Adam’s plight of bane.

  Slay ye her not, although I die for love of her, but ask, How

  came it lawful unto her to shed my blood in vain.

  When
Kemerezzeman heard these verses, they brought refreshment and healing to his heart, and he sighed and turning his tongue in his mouth, said to the King, ‘O my father, let this young man come and sit by my side.’ The King, hearing these words from his son, rejoiced exceedingly, though at the first he had been wroth with Merzewan and thought in himself to have stricken off his head: but when he heard Kemerezzeman speak, his anger left him and he arose and drawing Merzewan to him, made him sit down by his son and said to him, ‘Praised be God for thy safety!’ ‘May God bless thee,’ answered Merzewan, ‘and preserve thy son to thee!’ Then said the King, ‘From what country comest thou?’ ‘From the Islands of the Inland Sea,’ replied he, ‘the kingdom of King Ghaïour, lord of the Islands and the seas and the Seven Palaces.’ Quoth the King, ‘Maybe thy coming shall be blessed to my son and God vouchsafe to heal him of his malady.’ ‘God willing,’ rejoined Merzewan, ‘all shall yet be well.’ Then turning to Kemerezzeman, he said to him in his ear, unheard of the King and his court, ‘Be of good cheer, O my lord, and take heart and courage. As for her for whose sake thou art thus, ask not of her condition on thine account. Thou keptest thy secret and fellest sick, but she discovered hers and they said she was mad; and she is now in prison, with an iron chain about her neck, in most piteous case; but, God willing, the healing of both of you shall be at my hand.’ When Kemerezzeman heard this, his life returned to him and he took heart and courage and signed to his father to help him sit up; at which the King was like to lose his reason for joy and lifting him up, set two pillows for him to lean upon. Then, of his fear for his son, he shook the handkerchief of dismissal and all the Amirs and Viziers withdrew; after which he bade perfume the palace with saffron and decorate the city, saying to Merzewan, ‘By Allah, O my son, thou hast a lucky and a blessed aspect!’ And he made much of him and called for food, which when they brought, Merzewan said to the prince, ‘Come, eat with me.’ So he obeyed him and ate with him, while the King called down blessings on Merzewan and said, ‘How auspicious is thy coming, O my son!’ When he saw Kemerezzeman eat, his joy redoubled and he went out and told the prince’s mother and the people of the palace. Then he let call abroad the good news of the prince’s recovery and proclaimed the decoration of the city: so the people rejoiced and decorated the city and it was a day of high festival. Merzewan passed the night with Kemerezzeman, and the King also slept with them, in the excess of his joy for his son’s recovery. Next morning, when the King had gone away and the two young men were left alone, Kemerezzeman told Merzewan his story from first to last and the latter said to him, ‘I know her with whom thou didst foregather; her name is the princess Budour and she is daughter to King Ghaïour.’ Then he told him all that had befallen the princess and acquainted him with the excessive love she bore him, saying, ‘All that befell thee with thy father hath befallen her with hers, and thou art without doubt her beloved, even as she is thine; so brace up thy resolution and take heart, for I will bring thee to her and unite you both anon and deal with you even as saith the poet:

  Though to the lover adverse be the fair And drive him with her

  rigours to despair,

  Yet will I soon unite them, even as I The pivot of a pair of

  scissors were.

  And he went on to comfort and hearten Kemerezzeman and urged him to eat and drink, cheering him and diverting him with talk and song and stories, till he ate food and drank wine and life and strength returned to him. In good time he became free of his disorder and stood up and sought to go to the bath. So Merzewan took him by the hand and carried him to the bath, where they washed their bodies and made them clean. When his father heard of this, in his joy he freed the prisoners and gave alms to the poor; moreover he bestowed splendid dresses of honour upon his grandees and let decorate the city seven days. Then said Merzewan to Kemerezzeman, ‘Know, O my lord, that the sole object of my journey hither was to deliver the princess Budour from her present strait; and it remains but for us to devise how we may get to her, since thy father cannot brook the thought of parting with thee. So it is my counsel that tomorrow thou ask his leave to go a-hunting, saying, “I have a mind to divert myself with hunting in the desert and to see the open country and pass the night there.” Then do thou take with thee a pair of saddle-bags full of gold and mount a swift hackney and I will do the like; and we will take each a spare horse. Suffer not any servant to follow us, for as soon as we reach the open country, we will go our ways.’ Kemerezzeman rejoiced mightily in this plan and said, ‘It is good.’ Then he took heart and going in to his father, sought his leave to go out to hunt, saying as Merzewan had taught him. The King consented and said, ‘O my son, a thousandfold blessed be the day that restores thee to health! I will not gainsay thee in this; but pass not more than one night in the desert and return to me on the morrow; for thou knowest that life is not good to me without thee, and indeed I can hardly as yet credit thy recovery, because thou art to me as he of whom quoth the poet:

  Though Solomon his carpet were mine both day and night, Though

  the Choeroës’ empire, yea, and the world were mine,

  All were to me in value less than a midge’s wing, Except mine

  eyes still rested upon that face of thine.’

  Then he equipped the prince and Merzewan for the excursion, bidding make them ready four horses, together with a dromedary to carry the money and a camel for the water and victuals; and Kemerezzeman forbade any of his attendants to follow him. His father bade him farewell and pressed him to his breast and kissed him, saying, ‘I conjure thee by Allah, be not absent from me more than one night, wherein sleep will be denied me, for I am even as saith the poet:

  Thy presence with me is my heaven of delight And my hell of

  affliction the loss of thy sight.

  My soul be thy ransom! If love be my crime For thee, my offence,

  of a truth, is not light.

  Doth passion blaze up in thy heart like to mine? I suffer the

  torments of hell day and night.’

  ‘O my father,’ answered Kemerezzeman, ‘God willing, I will lie but one night abroad.’ Then he took leave of him, and he and Merzewan mounted and taking with them the dromedary and camel, rode out into the open country. They drew not bridle from the first of the day till nightfall, when they halted and ate and drank and fed their beasts and rested awhile; after which they again took horse and fared on three days, till they came to a spacious wooded tract. Here they alighted and Merzewan, taking the camel and one of the horses, slaughtered them and cut the flesh off their bones. Then he took from Kemerezzeman his shirt and trousers and cassock and tearing them in shreds, smeared them with the horse’s blood and cast them down in the fork of the road. Then they ate and drank and taking horse set forward again. ‘O my brother,’ said Kemerezzeman, ‘what is this thou hast done and how will it profit us?’ ‘Know,’ answered Merzewan, ‘that thy father, when he finds that we have outstayed the night for which we had his leave, will mount and follow in our track till he comes hither; and when he sees the blood and thy clothes torn and bloodied, he will deem thee to have been slain of highway robbers or wild beasts; so he will give up hope of thee and return to his city, and by this devise we shall gain our end.’ ‘By Allah,’ said Kemerezzeman, ‘this is indeed a rare device! Thou hast done well.’ Then they fared on days and nights and Kemerezzeman did nought but weep and complain, till they drew near their journey’s end, when he rejoiced and repeated the following verses:

  Wilt thou be harsh to a lover, who’s never unmindful of thee, And

  wilt thou now cast him away to whom thou wast fain

  heretofore?

  May I forfeit the favour of God, if I ever was false to thy love!

  Abandonment punish my crime, if I’ve broken the vows that I

  swore!

  But no, I’ve committed no crime, that calleth for rigour from

  thee; Or, if in good sooth I’m at fault, I bring thee

  repentance therefor.

  Of the
marvels of Fortune it is that thou shouldst abandon me

  thus; But Fortune to bring to the light fresh marvels will

  never give o’er.

  When he had made an end of these verses, Merzewan said to him, ‘See, yonder are King Ghaïour’s Islands.’ Whereat Kemerezzeman rejoiced with an exceeding joy and thanked him for what he had done and strained him to his bosom and kissed him between the eyes. They entered the city and took up their lodging at a khan, where they rested three days from the fatigues of the journey; after which Merzewan carried Kemerezzeman to the bath and clothing him in a merchant’s habit, provided him with a geomantic tablet of gold, a set of astrological instruments and an astrolabe of silver, plated with gold. Then he said to him, ‘Go, O my lord, stand before the King’s palace and cry out, “I am the mathematician, I am the scribe, I am he that knows the Sought and the Seeker, I am the skilled physician, I am the accomplished astrologer. Where then is he that seeketh?” When the King hears this, he will send after thee and carry thee in to his daughter the princess Budour, thy mistress: but do thou say to him, “Grant me three days’ delay, and if she recover, give her to me to wife, and if not, deal with me as with those who came before me.” If he agree to this, as soon as thou art alone with her, discover thyself to her; and when she knows thee, her madness will cease from her and she will be made whole in one night. Then do thou give her to eat and drink, and her father, rejoicing in her recovery, will marry thee to her and share his kingdom with thee, according to the condition he hath imposed on himself: and so peace be on thee.’ ‘May I never lack thine excellence!’ replied Kemerezzeman, and taking the instruments aforesaid, sallied forth of the khan and took up his station before King Ghaïour’s palace, where he began to cry out, saying, ‘I am the scribe, I am the mathematician, he that knows the Sought and the Seeker, I am he who makes calculations for marriage contracts, who draws horoscopes, interprets dreams and traces the magical characters by which hidden treasures are discovered! Where then is the seeker?’ When the people of the city heard this, they flocked to him, for it was long since they had seen a scribe or an astrologer, and stood round him, wondering at his beauty and grace and perfect symmetry. Presently one of them accosted him and said, ‘God on thee, O fair youth with the eloquent tongue, cast not thyself into perdition, in thy desire to marry the princess Budour! Do but look on yonder heads hung up; they are all those of men who have lost their lives in this same venture.’ He paid no heed to them, but cried out at the top of his voice, saying, ‘I am the doctor, the scribe! I am the astrologer, the mathematician!’ And all the townsfolk forbade him from this, but he heeded them not, saying in himself, ‘None knoweth desire save he who suffereth it.’ Then he began again to cry his loudest, saying, ‘I am the scribe, I am the mathematician, I am the astrologer!’ till all the townsfolk were wroth with him and said to him, ‘Thou art but a silly self-willed boy! Have pity on thine own youth and tender years and beauty and grace.’ But he cried all the more, ‘I am the astrologer, I am the mathematician! Is there any one that seeketh?’ As he was thus crying and the people remonstrating with him, King Ghaïour heard his voice and the clamour of the folk and said to his Vizier, ‘Go down and bring me yon astrologer.’ So the Vizier went down and taking Kemerezzeman from the midst of the crowd, carried him up to the King, before whom he kissed the earth, repeating the following verses: