One Thousand and One Nights

by Richard Burton

  “He prayeth and he fasteth for an end he doth espy; * When once his end is safely won then fast and prayer good bye.”444

  So the devotee ceased not to walk among the horsemen and the footmen, like a wily fox meditating guile, and began to uplift her voice, chanting the Koran and praising the Compassionate One. And they continued pressing forward till they approached the camp of Al-Islam, where Sharrkan found the Moslem in conquered plight and the Chamberlain upon the brink of falling back in flight, whilst the sword of Greece havoc dight among the Faithful, the righteous and those who work upright, — And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.

  When it was the One Hundred and Second Night,

  She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when Sharrkan saw the Moslems in conquered plight and the Chamberlain upon the brink of retreat and flight and the sword havoc dight among the righteous and the workers of upright, the cause of this weakness among the Moslems was that the accursed old woman, Zat al- Dawahi, the foe of the Faith, after seeing that Bahram and Rustam had set forward with their troops to join Sharrkan and his brother Zau al-Makan, repaired to the camp of the Mahometans before Constantinople and caused the mission of the Emir Tarkash, as hath been before said. In this her purpose was to divide the Moslem forces the better to weaken them. Then she left them and entered Constantinople, and called with a loud voice on the knights of the Greeks, saying, “Let me down a cord that I may tie thereto this letter, and do ye bear it to your King Afridun, that he may read it and to my son King Hardub that they both do what is written therein of bidding and forbidding.” So they let down for her a string and she tied thereto a letter whose purport was the following: “From the terriblest of tribulations445 and the chiefest of all calamities, Zat al-Dawahi, to King Afridun greeting. But afterwards, of a truth I have contrived a device for destroying the Moslems; so bide ye quiet and content. I have cozened and captured their Sultan and the Wazir Dandan; and then I returned to their camp and acquainted them therewith, whereby their pride had a fall and their withers were wrung. And I have so wrought upon the host ‘leaguering Constantinople that they have sent ten thousand men under the Emir Tarkash to succour the capitves, of whom there be now left but few; it is therefore my object that ye sally forth against them with all your power while this day endureth; and that ye fall on them in their tents and that ye leave them not till ye shall have slain them to the last man; for, verily the Messiah looketh down upon you and the Blessed Virgin favoureth you; and I hope of the Messiah that he forget not what deed I have done.” When her letter came to King Afridun, he rejoiced with great joyance; and, sending at once for King Hardub of Greece, son of Zat al-Dawahi, read the letter to him as soon as he came,whereathe was exceeding glad and said, “See my mother’s craft; verily it dispenseth with swords, and her aspect standeth in stead of the terrors of the Day of Dread.” Rejoined Afridun, “May the Messiah not bereave us of thy venerable parent nor deprive her of her wile and guile!” Then he bade the Knights give orders for sallying outside the city, and the news was noised abroad in Constantinople. So the Nazarenes and the cohorts of the Cross burst forth and unsheathed their keen sabres in their numbers, shouting out their professions of impiety and heresies, and blaspheming the Lord of all Creatures. When the Chamberlain saw the sally, he said, “Behold, the Greek is upon us and they surely have learned that our Sultan is far away; and haply they have attacked us, for that the most part of our troops have marched to the succour of King Zau al-Makan!” Therewith he waxed wroth and cried out, “Ho, soldiers of Al-Islam and favourers of the True Faith, an you flee you are lost, but if ye stand fast, ye win! Know ye that valiancy lieth in endurance of outrance and that no case is so strait but that the Almighty is able to make it straight; Allah assain you and look upon you with eyes of compassion fain!” Thereupon the Moslems cried out, “Allaho Akbar!” and the believer in the One God shouted his slogan, and whirled the mill wheels of fight with cutting and thrusting in main and might; scymitars and spears played sore and the plains and valleys were swamped with gore. The priests and monks priested it, tight girding their girdles and uplifting the Crucifixes, while the Moslem shouted out the professions of the Requiting King and verses of the Koran began to sing. The hosts of the Compassion are One fought against the legions of Satan; and head flew from body of man, while the good Angels hovered above the people of the Chosen Prophet, nor did the sword cease to smite till the day darkened and night came on and starkened. Now the miscreants had encompassed the Moslems and made sure of escaping the pains that awaited them; and the Faithless greeded for victory over the Faithful until day dawned and dazzled. There upon the Chamberlain mounted, he and his men, trusting thee Allah would help them to victory; and host was mingled with host and battle rose a foot and took post. And heads flew from trunks whilst the brave stood fast in stead; the craven turned tail and fled; and the Judge of death judged and sentence sped, so that the champions fell from their saddles slain and corpses cumbered meadow and plain. Then the Moslem began to give ground and rearwards bent; and the Greek took possession of some of their tents; whereupon the Moslems were about to break and retreat and take flight, when meanwhile behold, up came Sharrkan with the rest of the host of Al-Islam and the standards of the Believers in Unity. And having come up with them, he charged the Infidels; and followed him Zau al-Makan and the Wazir Dandan and the Emirs Bahram and Rustam with his brother Tarkash. When the foe saw this, they lost head and their reason fled, and the dust clouds towered till they covered the country whilst the righteous Believers joined their pious comrades. Then Sharrkan accosted the Chamberlain and praised him for his steadfastness; and he in turn gave the Prince joy of his timely succour and his gaining the day. Thereat the Moslems were glad and their hearts were heartened; so they rushed upon their enemies and devoted themselves to Allah in their Fight for the Faith. But when the Idolaters beheld the standards Mohammedan and there on the profession of Faith Islamitan, proclaiming the Unity, they shrieked “Woe!” and “Ruin!” and besought succour of the Patriarchs of the Monasteries. Then fell they to calling upon John and Mary and the Cross abhorrent and stayed their hands from slaughter, whilst King Afridun went up to consult King Hardub of Greece, for the two Kings stood one at the head of each wing, right and left. Now there was with them also a famous cavalier, Lawiya highs, who commanded the centre; and they drew out in battle array, but indeed they were full of alarm and affray. Meanwhile, the Moslems aligned their forces and thereupon Sharrkan came to his brother, Zau al-Makan, and said, “O King of the Age, doubtless they mean to champion it, and that is also the object of our desire; but it is my wish to push forward the stoutest hearted of our fighters, for by forethought is one half of life wrought.” Replied the Sultan, “As thou wilt, O companion of good counsel!” “It is my wish,” added Sharrkan, “to stand in mid line opposite the Infidel, with the Wazir Dandan on my left and thee on my right, whilst the Emir Bahram leads the dexter wing and the Emir Rustam leads the wing sinistral; and thou, O mighty King, shalt be under the standards and the ensigns, for that thou art the pillar of our defence; upon thee, after Allah, is our dependence and we will all be thy ransom from aught that can harm thee.” Zau al-Makan thanked him therefor, and the slogan arose and the sabre was drawn; but, as things stood thus, behold, there came forth a cavalier from the ranks of Roum; and, as he drew near, they saw that he was mounted on a slow paced she mule, fleeing with her master from the shock of swords. Her housings were of white silk covered by a prayer-carpet of Cash mere stuff, and on her back sat a Shaykh, an old man of comely presence and reverend aspect, garbed in a gown of white wool. He stinted not pushing her and hurrying her on till he came near the Moslem and said, “I am an ambassador to you all, and an ambassador hath naught to do save to deliver; so give me safe conduct and permit of speech, that I communicate to you my message.” Replied Sharrkan, “Thou art in safety: fear neither sway of sword nor lunge of lance.” Thereupon the old man dismounted and, taking the Cross from his
neck, placed it before the Sultan and humbled himself with much humility. Then quoth to him the Moslems, “What is with thee of news?”; and quoth he, “I am an ambassador from King Afridun, for I counselled him to avert the destruction of all these frames of men and temples of the Compassionate One; and to him it seemed righteous to stay the shedding of blood and limit it to the encounter of two knights in shock of fight singular; so he agreed to that and he saith to you, ‘Verily, I will ransom my army with my life; so let the Moslem King do as I do and with his life ransom his host. And if he kill me, there will be no stay left in the army of Roum, and if I kill him, there will be no stability with the Moslems.” When Sharrkan heard this he said, “O monk, I agree to that, for it is just nor may it be gainsaid; and behold, I will meet him in duello and do with him derring do, for I am Champion of the Faithful even as he is Champion of the Faithless; and if he slay me, he will have won the day and naught will remain for the Moslems forces save flight. So return to him, O thou monk, and say that the single combat shall take place to morrow, for this day we have come off our journey and are aweary; but after rest neither reproach nor blame fear ye.” So the monk returned (and he rejoicing) to King Afridun and King Hardub, and told them both what Sharrkan had said, whereat King Afridun was glad with exceeding gladness and fell from him anxiety and sadness, and he said to himself, “No doubt but this Sharrkan is their doughtiest swayer of the sword and the dourest at lunge of lance; and when I shall have slain him, their hearts will be disheartened and their strength will be shattered.” Now Zat al-Dawahi had written to King Afridun of that and had told him how Sharrkan was a Knight of the Braves and the bravest of knights and had warned him against him; but Afridun was a stalwart cavalier who fought in many a fashion; he could hurl rocks and throw spears and smite with the iron mace and he feared not the prowess of the prow. So when he heard the report of the monk that Sharrkan agreed to the duello, he was like to fly for exceeding joy because he had self confidence and he knew that none could with stand him. The Infidels passed that night in joy and jubilee and wine bibbing; and, as soon as it was dawn, the two armies drew out with the swart of spear and the blanch of blade. And behold a cavalier rode single handed into the plain, mounted on a steed of purest strain, and for foray and fray full ready and fain. And that Knight had limbs of might and he was clad in an iron cuirass made for stress of fight. On his breast he wore a jewelled mirror and in his hand he bore a keen scymitar and his lance of Khalanj wood,446 the curious work of the Frank, weighing a quintal. Then the rider uncovered his face and cried out, saying, “Whoso knoweth me verily hath enough of me, and whoso knoweth me not right soon447 shall ken who I be. I am Afridun the overwhelmed by the well omened Shawáhi,448 Zat al-Dawahi.” But he had not ended speaking ere Sharrkan, the Champion of the Moslems, fared forth to meet him, mounted on a sorrel horse worth a thousand pieces of red gold with accoutrements purfled in pearls and precious stone; and he bore in baldrick a blade of watered Indian steel that through necks shore and made easy the hard and sore. He crave his charger between the two hosts in line whilst the horsemen all fixed on him their eyne, and he cried out to Afridun, “Woe to thee, O accursed! dost thou deem me one of the horsemen thou hast overta’en who cannot stand against thee on battle plain?” Then each rushed upon other and they bashed together like two mountains crashing or two billows dash ing and clashing: they advanced and retreated; and drew together and withdrew; and stinted not of fray and fight and weapon play, and strife and stay, with stroke of sword and lunge of lance. Of the two armies looking on, some said, “Sharrkan is victor!” and others, “Afridun will conquer!”; and the two riders stayed not their hands from the hustle until ceased the clamour and the bustle; and the dust columns rose and the day waned and the sun waxed yellow and wan. Then cried out King Afridun to Sharrkan, saying, “By the truth of the Messiah and the Faith which is no liar, thou art nought save a doughty rider and a stalwart fighter; but thou art fraudful and thy nature is not that of the noble. I ken thy work is other than praiseworthy nor is thy prowess that of a Prince; for thy people behave to thee as though thou wert a slave;449 and see! they bring thee out a charger which is not thine, that thou mayst mount and return to the fight. But by the truth of my Faith, thy fighting irketh and fatigueth me and I am weary of cutting and thrusting with thee; and if thou purpose to lay on load with me to night, thou wouldst not change aught of thy harness nor thy horse, till thou approve to the cavaliers, thy generous blood and skill in brunt.” When Sharrkan heard him say these words concerning his own folk behaving to him though he were a slave, he waxt wroth and turned towards his men, meaning to sign to them and bid them not prepare him change of harness or horse, when lo! Afridun shook his throw spear high in air and cast it at Sharrkan. Now when the Moslem turned his back, he found none of the men near him, and he knew this to be a trick of the accursed Infidel; so he wheeled round in haste and behold, the javelin came at him, so he swerved from it, till his head was bent low as his saddle bow. The weapon grazed his breast, and pierced the skin of his chest, for Sharrkan was high bosomed: whereupon he gave one cry and swooned away. Thereat the accursed Afridun was joyful, thinking he had slain him; and shouted to the Infidels bidding them rejoice, whereat the Faithless were encouraged and the Faithful wept. When Zau al-Makan saw his brother reeling in selle so that he well nigh fell, he despatched cavaliers towards him and the braves hurried to his aid and came up with him. Thereupon the Infidels drove at the Moslems; the two hosts joined battle and the two lines were mingled, whilst the keen scymitar of Al-Yaman did good work. Now the first to reach Sharrkan was the Wazir Dandan, — And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.

  When it was the One Hundred and Third Night,

  She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when King Zau al-Makan saw that the accursed Infidel had struck with javelin his brother Sharrkan, he deemed him dead, and despatched cavaliers towards him; and the first to reach him were the Wazir Dandan and the Emir of the Turks, Bahram, and the Emir of the Daylamites, Rustam. They found him falling from his horse; so they stayed him in his saddle and returned with him to his brother, Zau al-Makan; then they gave him in charge to his pages, and went again to do the work of cut and thrust. So the strife redoubled and the weapons together clashed and ceased not bate and debate and naught was to be seen but blood flowing and necks bowing; nor did the swords cease on the napes of men to make play nor the strife to rage with more and more affray, till the most part of the night was past away and the two hosts were aweary of the mellay. So they called a truce and each army returned to its tents, whilst all the Infidels repaired to King Afridun and kissed the ground before him, and the priests and monks wished him joy of his victory over Sharrkan. Then the King fared for Constantinople and sat upon the throne of his realm, when King Hardub came to him and said, “May the Messiah strengthen thy fore arm and never cease to be thy helper and hearken to what prayers my pious mother, Zat al-Dawahi, shall pray for thee! Know that the Moslems can make no stay without Sharrkan.” Replied Afridun, “To morrow shall end the affair when to fight I fare: I will seek Zau al-Makan and slay him, and their army shall turn tail and of flight shall avail.” Such was the case with the Kafirs; but as regards the host of Al-Islam, when Zau al-Makan returned to his tent, he thought of naught but his brother and, going into the pavilion, found him in evil case and sore condition; whereupon he summoned for counsel the Wazir Dandan and Rustam and Bahram. When they entered, they opined to assemble the physicians that they might medicine Sharrkan, and they wept and said, “The world will not readily afford his like!” and they watched by him all that night, and about the later hours came to them the Recluse in tears. When Zau al-Makan saw him, he rose in honour; and the Religious stroked Sharrkan’s wound with his hand, chanting somewhat of the Koran and repeating by way of talisman some of the verses of the Compassionate One. And the pretender ceased not to watch over him till dawn, when he came to himself and, opening his eyes, moved his tongue in his mouth
and spake. At this Zau al-Makan rejoiced, saying, “Of a truth the blessing of the Holy Man hath taken effect on him!” And Sharrkan said, “Praised be Allah for recovery; indeed, I am well at this hour. That accursed one played me false; and, but that I swerved aside lighter than lightening, the throw spear had pierced through my breast. So praised be Allah for saving me! And how is it with the Moslems?” Answered Zau al-Makan, “All are weeping for thee.” Quoth Sharrkan, “I am well and in good case; but where is the Holy Man?” Now he was sitting by him and said, “At thy head.” So the Prince turned to him and kissed his hand when he said, “O my son! Be of good patience and Allah shall increase thy reward; for the wage is measured by the work.” Sharrkan rejoined, “Pray for me,” and he prayed for him. As soon as morning dawned and day brake in shine and sheen, the Moslems sallied out to the plain and the Kafirs made ready to thrust and cut. Then the Islamite host advanced and offered fight with weapons ready dight, and King Zau al-Makan and Afridun made to charge one at other. But when Zau al-Makan fared forth into the field, there came with him the Wazir Dandan and the Chamberlain and Bahram, saying, “We will be thy sacrifice.” He replied, “By the Holy House and Zemzem and the Place!450 I will not be stayed from going forth against these wild asses.” And when he rode out into the field he played with sword and spear till riders marvelled and both armies wondered; then he rushed upon the foe’s right wing and of it slew two knights and in like manner he dealt with the left wing. Presently he stayed his steed in the midst of the field and cried out, “Where is Afridun, that I may make him taste the cup of disgrace?” But when King Hardub saw the case he conjured Afridun not to attack him, saying, “O King, yesterday it was thy turn to fight: it is mine to day. I care naught for his prowess.” So he rushed out towards Zau al-Makan brand in hand and under him a stallion like Abjar, which was Antar’s charger and its coat was jet black even as saith the poet,