One Thousand and One Nights

by Richard Burton

  Then they abode three days in the palace, till the scouts returned with the news that Bercan had fled to the Mountain Caf and thrown himself on the protection of the Blue King; whereupon quoth Muraash to Gherib, ‘What sayst thou, O my brother?’ And Gherib answered, saying, ‘Except we attack them, they will attack us.’ So they made ready for departure and after three days, they were about to set out with their troops, when the Marids, who had carried Sehim back to Oman, returned and kissed the earth before Gherib. He questioned them of his people and they answered, saying, ‘After the last battle, thy brother Agib fled to the King of Hind and sought his protection. The King granted his prayer and writing letters to all his governors, levied an army as it were the swollen sea, having neither beginning nor end, with which he purposes to invade Irak and lay it waste.’ When Gherib heard this, he said, ‘Perish the unbelievers! Verily, God the Most High shall give the victory to Islam and I will show them cutting and thrusting.’ ‘O King of men,’ said Muraash, ‘by the virtue of the Mighty Name, I must needs go with thee to thy kingdom and destroy thine enemies and bring thee to thy desire.’ Ghenib thanked him and they rested till the morrow, when they set out, intending for the City of Alabaster and the Patti-coloured Palace.

  Now this city was builded of alabaster and [precious] stones by Baric ben Fakia, father of the Jinn, and he built also the Patti-coloured Palace, which was so named for that the ordinance of its building was one brick of gold and one of silver, nor was there its like in all the world. When they came within half a day’s journey of the city, they halted to rest, and Muraash sent out a scout to reconnoitre, who returned and said, ‘O King, in the City of Alabaster are tribesmen of the Jinn in number as the leaves of the trees or as the drops of rain.’ So Muraash said to Gherib, ‘How shall we do, O King of men?’ ‘O King,’ answered he, ‘divide your men into four bodies and encompass the camp of the infidels with them ; then, in the middle of the night, let them cry out, saying, “God is Most Great!” and hold aloof and watch what happens among the tribes of the Jinn.’ So Muraash did as Gherib counselled and the troops waited till midnight, when they cried out, saying, ‘God is Most Great! Ho for the Faith of Abraham the Friend, on whom be peace!’ The unbelievers awoke in affright and snatching up their arms, fell upon each other till the morning, when the most part of them were dead men and but few remained. Then Gherib cried out to the true believers, saying, ‘Up and at the remnant of the infidels! Behold, I am with you, and God is your helper!’ So the Muslims drove at the enemy and Gherib drew his sword El Mahic and fell upon the foe, cutting off noses and sending heads flying. Presently be came up with Bercan and smote him and bereft him of life and he fell down, drenched in his blood. On like wise he did with the Blue King, and by the forenoon not one of the infidels was left alive to tell the tale.

  Then Gherib and Muraash entered the Patti-coloured Palace and found its walls builded of alternate courses of gold and silver, with sills of crystal and keystones of emerald. In its midst was a fountain adorned with bells and pendants and figures of birds and beasts vomiting forth water, and thereby an estrade furnished with gold-brocaded silks, with borders of gold embroidered with jewels and they found the treasures of the palace past count or description. Then they entered the inner court, where they found a magnificent seraglio and Gherib saw, among the Blue King’s women, a girl clad in a dress worth a thousand dinars, never had he beheld a goodlier. About her were a hundred slave-girls, holding up her skirts with hooks of gold, and she was in their midst as the moon among stars. When he saw her, his reason was confounded and he said to one of the waiting-women, ‘Who is yonder damsel?’ Quoth they, ‘This is the Blue King’s daughter, Morning Star.’ Then Gherib turned to Muraash and said to him, ‘O King of the Jinn, I have a mind to take yonder damsel to wife.’ Quoth Muraash, ‘The palace and all that therein is are the prize of thy right hand; for, hadst thou not devised a stratagem to destroy the Blue King and Bercan, they had cut us off to the last man wherefore the treasure is thy treasure and the people thy slaves.’ Gherb thanked him for his fair speech and going up to the girl, gazed steadfastly upon her and loved her with an exceeding love, forgetting Fekhr Taj and Mehdiyeh.

  Now her mother was the King’s daughter of China, whom the Blue King had carried off from her palace and deflowered, and she conceived by him and bore this girl, whom he named Morning Star, by reason of her beauty and grace for she was the princess of the fair. Her mother died when she was a babe of forty days, and the nurses and eunuchs reared her, till she reached the age of seventeen; but she hated her father and rejoiced in his death. So Gherib put his hand in hers and went in to her that night and found her a virgin. Then he pulled down the Parti-coloured Palace and divided the spoil with the true-believing Jinn, and there fell to his share one and-twenty thousand bricks of gold and silver and money and treasure beyond count. Then Muraash took Gherib and showed him the Mountain Caf and all its marvels; after which they returned to Bercan’s fortress and dismantled it and shared the spoil thereof.

  Then they returned to Muraash’s capital, where they abode five days, at the end of which time Gherib sought to go to his own country and Muraash said, ‘O King of men, I will ride at thy stirrup and bring thee to thine own land ‘Nay, by the virtue of Abraham the Friend,’ answered Gherib; ‘I will not suffer thee to weary thyself thus nor will I take any of the Jinn save Kailjan and Courjan.’ Quoth the King, ‘Take with thee ten thousand horsemen of the Jinn, to serve thee;’ but Gherib said, ‘I will take only as I said to thee.’ So Muraash bade a thousand Marids take him up and carry him to his native land, with his share of the spoil; and he commanded Kailjan and Courjan to follow him and obey him; and they answered, ‘We hear and obey.’ Then said Gherib to the Marids, ‘Do ye carry the treasure and Morning Star;’ for he himself thought to ride his flying charger. But Muraash said to him, ‘O my brother, this horse will live only in our clime, and if it come upon the earth, it will die but I have in my stables a sea horse, whose like is not found in Irak, no, nor in all the world’ So he caused bring forth the horse, and when Gherib saw it, it interposed between him and his reason. Then they bound it and Kailjan took it on his shoulders and Courjan took what he could carry. And Muraash embraced Gherib and wept for parting from him, saying, ‘O my brother, if aught befall thee, to which thou art unable, send for me and I will come to thine aid with an army that may avail to lay waste the whole earth and all that is thereon.’ Gherib thanked him for his courtesy and kindness and his zeal for the True Faith and took leave of him; whereupon the Marids set out with Gherib and his goods and after traversing fifty years’ journey in two days and a night, alighted near the city of Oman and halted to rest.

  Then Gherib sent out Kailjan, to learn news of his people, and he returned and said, ‘O King, thy city is beleaguered by a host of infidels, as they were the swollen sea, and thy people are fighting them. The drums beat to battle and Jemrcan goeth forth to them in the field.’ When Gherib heard this, he cried out, saying, ‘God is Most Great!’ and said to Kailjan, ‘Saddle me the horse and bring me my arms; for to-day the valiant shall be known from the coward in the stead of war and battle. So Kailjan brought him all he sought and Gherib armed and girding on El Mahic, mounted the sea-horse and made toward the armies. Quoth Kailjan and Courjan to him, ‘Set thy heart at ease and let us go to the infidels and scatter them abroad in the wastes and deserts till, by the help of God the Most High, the All-powerful, we leave not a soul of them on life, no, not a blower of the fire.’ But Gherib said, ‘By the virtue of Abraham the Friend, I will not let you fight them without me!’

  Now the manner of the coming of that great host was on this wise. When Agib fled from the field, after Yaarub’s army had been put to the rout by Kailjan and Courjan, be said to his people, ‘If we return to Yaarub ben Kehtan, he will say to us, “But for you, my son and my people had not been slain;” and he will put us to death, even to the last man. Wherefore, methinks we were better go to Terkenan, King of Hind, and beseech him to ave
nge us.’ ‘Come, let us go thither,’ answered they; ‘and the blessing of the Fire attend thee!’ So they fared on days and nights till they reached King Terkenan’s capital city and Agib went in to him and kissed the earth before him. Then he wished him what men use to wish to kings and said to him, ‘O King, do thou protect me, so may the sparkling fire and the night with its thick darkness protect and defend thee!’ Terkenan looked at Agib and said, ‘Who art thou and what dost thou want?’ ‘I am Agib, King of Irak,’ replied he; ‘my brother hath usurped my throne and gotten the mastery of the land and the people have submitted themselves to him. Moreover, he has embraced the faith of Islam and ceases not to chase me from country to country; and behold, I am come to seek protection of thee and thy power.’ When Terkenan heard Agib’s words, he rose and sat down and said, ‘By the virtue of the Fire, I will assuredly avenge thee and will let none serve other than my mistress the Fire!’ And he cried out to his son, saying, ‘O my son, make ready to go to Irak and lay it waste and bind all who serve aught but the Fire and punish them and make an example of them; yet slay them not, but bring them to me, that I may ply them with various tortures and make them taste the bitterness of humiliation and leave them a warning to all who will take warning in this time.’ Then he chose out to accompany him fourscore thousand fighting-men on horse-back and the like number on giraffes, beside ten thousand elephants, bearing on their backs turrets of sandal-wood, trellised with network of gold and railed and plated with gold and silver and guarded with shields of gold and emerald, and store of war-chariots, in each eight men fighting with all kinds of weapons.

  Now the prince’s name was Raadshah and he was the champion of his time, having no peer for prowess. So he and his army equipped them in ten days’ time, then set out, as they were a bank of clouds, and fared on two months’ journey, till they came to Oman and encompased it, to the joy of Agib, who thought himself assured of victory. So Jemrcan and Saadan and all their fighting-men sallied forth into the field, whilst the drums beat to battle and the horses neighed. At this moment up came King Gherib, who spurred his charger and entered among the infidels, waiting to see who should come forth and open the chapter of war. Then came out Saadan the Ghoul and offered battle, whereupon there issued forth to him one of the champions of Hind; but Saadan scarce let him take his stand in front of him ere he smote him to the earth with his mace and crushed his bones; and so did he with a second and a third, till he had slain thirty fighting-men. Then there pricked out to him an Indian cavalier, by name Bettash el Acran, uncle to King Terkenan and the doughtiest champion of his time, reckoned worth five thousand horse in battle, and cried out to Saadan, saying, ‘O thief of the Arabs, what art thou that thou shouldst slay the Kings of Hind and their champions and capture their horsemen? But to-day is the last of thy worldly days.’ When Saadan heard this, his eyes waxed bloodshot and he drove at Bettash and aimed a stroke at him with his club; but he evaded it and the force of the blow bore Saadan to the earth; and before he could recover himself, the Indians bound him and haled him off to their tents.

  When Jemrcan saw his comrade a prisoner, he cried out, saying, Ho for the faith of Abraham the Friend!’ and clapping spurs to his horse, ran at Bettash. They wheeled and feinted awhile, till Bettash drove at Jemrcan and catching him by his coat of arms, tore him from his saddle and threw him to the ground; whereupon the Indians bound him and dragged him away to their tents. And Bettash ceased not to overcome all who came out to him, till he had made prisoners of four-and-twenty captains of the Muslims, whereat the latter were sore dismayed. When Gherib saw what had befallen his men, he drew from beneath his knee a mace of gold, six-score nounds in weight, which had belonged to King Bercan, and set spurs to his sea-horse, which bore him like the wind into the middle of the field. Then he drove at Bettash, crying out, ‘God is Most Great! he giveth aid and victory and forsaketh those who reject the faith of Abraham the Friend!’ and smote him with the mace, whereupon he fell to the ground and Gherib, turning to the Muslims, saw his brother Sehim and said to him, ‘Bind this dog.’ When Sehim heard his brother’s words, he ran to Bettash and bound him fast and bore him off, whilst the Muslims wondered who this cavalier could be and the Indians said to one another, ‘Who is this horseman that came out from amongst us and hath taken our chief prisoner?’

  Meanwhile Gherib continued to offer battle and there came out to him a captain of the Indians, whom he felled to the earth with his mace, and Kailjan and Courjan bound him and delivered him to Sehim; nor did Gherib leave to do thus, till he had taken prisoner two-and-fifty of the doughtiest captains of the army of Hind. Then the day came to an end and the drums beat the retreat; whereupon Gherib left the field and rode towards the Muslim camp. The first to meet him was his brother Sehimn, who kissed his feet in the stirrups and said, ‘May thy hand never wither, O champion of the age! Tell us who thou art among the braves.’ So Gherib raised his vizor and Sehim knew him and cried out, saying, ‘This is your king and your lord Gherib, who is come back from the land of the Jinn!’ When the Muslims heard Gherib’s name, they threw themselves off their horses’ backs and crowding about him, kissed his feet in the stirrups and saluted him, rejoicing in his safe return. Then they carried him into the city of Oman, where he entered his palace and sat down on the throne of his kingship, whilst his officers stood around him, in the utmost joy. Food was set on and they ate, after which Gherib related to them all that had befallen him with the Jinn in the Mountain Caf, and they marvelled thereat exceedingly and praised God for his safety. Then be dismissed them to their sleeping-places; so they withdrew to their several lodgings, and when none abode with him but Kailjan and Courjan, who never left him, he said to them, ‘Can ye carry me to Cufa, that I may take my pleasure in my harem, and bring me back before the end of the night?’ ‘O our lord,’ answered they, ‘this thou askest is easy.’

  Now the distance between Cufa and Oman is threescore days’ journey for a diligent horseman, and Kailjan said to Courjan, ‘I will carry him going and thou coming back.’ So he took up Gherib and flew off with him, in company with Courjan; nor was an hour past before they set him down at the gate of his palace in Cufa. He went in to his uncle Damigh, who rose to him and saluted him; after which quoth Gherib, ‘How is it with my wives Morning Star and Mehdiyeh?’ And Damigh answered, saying, ‘They are both well and in good case.’ Then the eunuch went in and acquainted the women of the harem with Gherib’s coming, whereat they rejoiced and raised cries of joy and gave him the reward for good news. Presently in came Gherib, and they rose and saluting him, conversed with him, till Damigh entered, when Gherib related to them all that had befallen him in the land of the Jinn, whereat they all marvelled. Then he lay with Morning Star till near daybreak, when he took leave of his uncle and wives and mounted Courjan’s back, nor was the darkness dispelled before the two Marids set him down in the city of Oman. Then he and his men armed and he bade open the gates, when, behold, up came a horseman from the host of the Indians, with Jemrcan and Saadan and the rest of the captives, whom he had delivered, and committed them to Gherib. The Muslims rejoiced in their safety and the drums beat a point of war, whilst the two hosts drew out in battle array.

  The first to open the chapter of war was Gherib, who drove his charger between the two ranks and drawing his sword El Mahic, cried out, saying, ‘Whoso knoweth me hath enough of my prowess and whoso knoweth me not, I will make myself known to him. I am Gherib, King of Irak and Yemen, brother of Agib.’ When Raadshah beard this, he cried out to his guards, saying, ‘Bring me Agib.’ So they brought him and Raadshah said to him, ‘Thou knowest that this quarrel is thy quarrel and thou art the cause of all this slaughter. Now yonder stands thy brother Gherib amiddleward the field; go thou out to him and bring him to me prisoner, that I may set him on a camel, face to tail, and make a show of him and carry him to the land of Hind.’ ‘O King,’ answered Agib, ‘send out to him other than I, for I am in ill case this morning.’ But Raadshah puffed and snorted and said, ‘By the virtu
e of the sparkling fire and the light and shade and heat, except thou go out to thy brother and bring him to me in haste, I will cut off thy head and make an end of thee.’ So Agib took courage and spurring his horse up to his brother in mid-field, said to him, ‘O dog of the Arabs and vilest of all who smite upon tent-pegs, wilt thou contend with kings? Take what cometh to thee and receive the tidings of thy death.’ When Gherib heard this, he said to him, ‘Who art thou among the kings?’ And Agib answered, saying, ‘I am thy brother, and to-day is the last of thy worldly days.’

  When Gherib was assured that he was indeed his brother Agib, be cried out and said, ‘Ho, to avenge my father and mother!’ Then giving his sword to Kailjan, he drove at Agib and smote him with his mace a swashing blow, that all but beat in his ribs, and seizing him by the neckrings, tore him from the saddle and cast him to the ground; whereupcn the Marids fell on him and binding him fast, dragged him off, abject and humiliated; whilst Gherib rejoiced in the capture of his enemy and repeated the following verses of the poet:

  I have won to my wish and the end of affrays: Unto Thee, O my Lord, be the thanks and the praise!

  I grew up, uncared for and abject and poor; But God hath vouchsafed me the aim of my ways.

  I have conquered the lands, I have mastered the folk: But for Thee, I were nothing, O Ancient of Days!

  When Raadshah saw how Agib fared with his brother, he called for his charger and donning his harness and coat of arms, mounted and pricked out into the field. As soon us he drew near Gherib, he cried out to him, saying, ‘O vilest of Bedouin faggot-bearers, who art thou, that thou shouldst capture kings and warriors? Dismount and put thy hands behind thy back and kiss my feet and set my warriors free and go with me in chains to my kingdom, that I may pardon thee and make thee an elder in our country, so mayst thou eat a morsel of bread there.’ When Gherib heard this, he laughed till he fell backward and answered, saving, ‘O raging dog and scurvy wolf, thou shalt soon see against whom the shifts of Fate will turn!’ Then he cried out to Sehim to bring him the prisoners; so he brought them, and Gherib smote off their heads; whereupon Raadshah drove at him, with the onslaught of a lordly champion and a fierce warrior, and they wheeled and feinted and hewed at each other till nightfall, when the drums beat the retreat and the two Kings returned, each to his own place, where his people gave him joy of his safety. And the Muslims said to Gherib, ‘O King, it is not of thy wont to prolong a fight.’ ‘O folk,’ answered he, ‘I have done battle with many kings and champions; but never saw I a sturdier swordsman than this one. Had I chosen to draw El Mahic upon him, I had crushed his bones and made an end of his days: but I went about with him, thinking to take him prisoner and give him part in Islam.’