One Thousand and One Nights

by Richard Burton

  Richard Francis Burton’s translation: detailed table of contents

  The Story of King Ibrahim and his Son.222

  There was once a king of the kings, Sultan Ibrahim hight, to whom the sovrans abased themselves and did obedience; but he had no son and was straitened of breast because of that, fearing lest the kingship go forth of his hand. He ceased not to long for a son and to buy slave-girls and lie with them, till one of them conceived, whereat he rejoiced with passing joy and gave great gifts and the largest largesse. When the girl’s months were complete and the time of her lying-in drew near, the king summoned the astrologers and they watched for the hour of child-bearing and raised their astrolabes and carefully noted the time. The hand-maid gave birth to a man-child, whereat the king rejoiced exceedingly, and the people congratulated one another with this glad news. Then the astrophils made their calculations and looked into his nativity and his ascendant, whereupon their colour changed and they were confounded. Quoth the king to them, “Acquaint me with his horoscope and ye shall have assurance of pardon and have naught to fear.”223 They replied, “O king, this princely child’s nativity denoteth that, in the seventh year of his age, there is fearful danger for him from a lion, which shall attempt to rend him: and if he be saved from the lion, there will betide a matter yet sorer and more grievous even than that.” Asked the king, “What is it?” and they answered, “We will not speak, except the king command us and give us assurance from fear.” Quoth the king, “Allah assure you!” and quoth they, “An he be saved from the lion, the king’s destruction shall be at his hand.” When the king heard this, his complexion changed and his breast was straitened; but he said to himself, “I will be watchful and do my endeavour and suffer not the lion to eat him. It cannot be that he will kill me, and indeed ‘The astrologers lied.’”224 Then he caused rear him among the wet-nurses and the noble matrons;225 but withal he ceased not to ponder the prediction of the astrophils and verily his life was troubled. So he betook himself to the top of a high mountain and hollowed there a deep excavation226 and made in it many dwelling-places and rooms and filled it with all that was needful of rations and raiment and what not else and laid in it pipe-conduits of water from the mountain and lodged the boy therein, with a nurse who should rear him. Moreover, at the first of each month he used to go to the mountain and stand at the mouth of the hollow and let down a rope he had with him and draw up the boy to him and strain him to his bosom and kiss him and play with him awhile, after which he would let him down again to his place and return; and he was wont to count the days till the seven years should pass by. Now when arrived the time of the Fate foreordered and the Fortune graven on the forehead and there remained for the boy but ten days till the seven years should be complete, there came to that mountain hunters chasing wild beasts and, seeing a lion, they attacked him. He fled from them and seeking refuge in the mountain, fell into the hollow in its midst. The nurse saw him forthwith and escaped from him into one of the chambers; upon which the lion made for the lad and seizing upon him, tare his shoulder, after which he sought the room wherein was the nurse and falling upon her, devoured her, whilst the boy lay in a swoon. Meanwhile, when the huntsmen saw that the lion had fallen into the pit, they came to the mouth and heard the shrieking of the boy and the woman; and after awhile the cries died away, whereby they knew that the lion had slain them. Presently, as they stood by the mouth of the excavation behold, the lion came scrambling up the sides and would have issued forth: but, as often as he showed his head, they pelted him with stones, till they beat him down and he fell; whereupon one of the hunters descended into the pit and despatched him and saw the boy wounded; after which he went to the chamber, where he found the woman dead, and indeed the lion had eaten his fill of her. Then he noted that which was therein of clothes and what not else, and notifying his mates, fell to passing the stuff up to them: lastly, he took up the boy and bringing him forth of the pit, carried him to their dwelling-place where they dressed his wounds. He grew up with them, but acquainted them not with his affair; and indeed, when they questioned him, he knew not what he should say, because they let him down into the pit when he was a little one. The hunters marvelled at his speech and loved him with exceeding love and one of them took him to son and abode rearing him by his side and training him in hunting and horse-riding, till he reached the age of twelve and became a brave, going forth with the folk to the chase and to the cutting of the way. Now it chanced one day that they sallied forth to stop the road and fell in with a caravan during the night: but its stout fellows were on their guard; so they joined battle with the robbers and overcame them and slew them and the boy fell wounded and tarried cast down in that place till the morrow, when he opened his eyes and finding his comrades slain, lifted himself up and arose to walk the road. Presently, there met him a man, a treasure-seeker, and asked him, “Whither away, O lad?” So he told him what had betided him and the other said, “Be of good heart, for that the tide of thy good fortune is come and Allah bringeth thee joy and gladness. I am one who am in quest of a hidden treasure, wherein is a mighty mickle of wealth. So come with me that thou mayst help me, and I will give thee monies with which thou shalt provide thyself all thy life long.” Then he carried the youth to his dwelling and dressed his wounds, and he tarried with him some days till he was rested; when the treasure-seeker took him and two beasts and all that he needed, and they fared on till they came to a towering highland. Here the man brought out a book and reading therein, dug in the crest of the mountain five cubits deep, whereupon there appeared to him a stone. He pulled it up and behold it was a trap-door covering the mouth of a pit. So he waited till the foul air227 was come forth from the midst of the pit, when he bound a rope about the lad’s middle and let him down bucket-wise to the bottom, and with him a lighted waxen taper. The boy looked and beheld, at the upper end of the pit, wealth abundant; so the treasure-seeker let down a rope and a basket and the boy fell to filling and the man to drawing up, till the fellow had got his sufficiency, when he loaded his beasts and ceased working, whilst the boy looked for him to let down the rope and draw him up; but he rolled a great stone to the mouth of the pit and went his ways. When the boy saw what the treasure-seeker had done with him, he relied upon Allah (extolled and exalted be He!) and abode perplexed concerning his case and said, “How bitter be this death!” for indeed the world was darkened on him and the pit was blinded to him. So he fell a-weeping and saying, “I escaped the lion and the robbers and now is my death to be in this pit, where I shall die by slow degrees.” And he abode perplexed and looked for nothing but death. But as he stood pondering, behold, he heard a sound of water rushing with a thunderous noise; so he arose and walked in the pit, following the sound, till he came to a corner and heard the mighty coursing of water. Then he laid his ear to the sound of the current and hearing it rushing in great strength, said to himself, “This is the flowing of a mighty watercourse and needs must I depart life in this place, be it to-day or to-morrow; so I will throw myself into the stream and not die a slow death in this pit.” Thereupon he called up his courage and gathering up his skirts, cast himself into the water, and it bore him along with force exceeding and carrying him under the earth, stayed not till it brought him out into a deep Wady, adown which ran a great river, that welled up from under the ground. When he found himself on the face of earth, he abode dazed and a-swoon all that day; after which he came to himself and rising, fared on along that valley; and he ceased not his wayfare, praising Almighty Allah the while, till he came to an inhabited land and a great village in the reign of the king his sire. So he entered and foregathered with the villagers, who questioned him of his case; whereupon he told them his tale, and they admired how Allah had delivered him from all those dangers. Then he took up his abode with them and they loved him much. On this wise happened it to him; but as regards the king, his father, when he went to the pit, as was his wont, and called the nurse, she returned him no answer, whereat his breast was straitened and he let down
a man who found the woman dead and the boy gone and acquainted therewith the king, who when he heard this, buffeted his head and wept with sore weeping and descended into the midst of the pit that he might see how the case stood. There he espied the nurse slain and the lion dead, but beheld not the boy; so he returned and acquainted the astrologers with the soothfastness of their saying, and they replied, “O king, the lion hath eaten him; destiny hath been wroughten upon him and thou art delivered from his hand; for, had he been saved from the lion, we indeed, by Allah, had feared for thee from him, because the king’s destruction would have been at his hand.” So the king ceased to sorrow for this and the days passed by and the affair was forgotten. Meanwhile the boy grew up and abode with the people of the village, and when Allah willed the accomplishing of His commandment, which no endeavour availeth to avert, he went forth with a party of the villagers to cut the way. The folk complained to King Ibrahim his father, who sallied out with a company of his men and surrounded the highwaymen. Now that boy was with them, and he drew forth an arrow and launched it at them, and it smote the king and wounded him in a mortal place. So they carried him to his palace, after they had laid hands upon the youth and his comrades and brought them before the sovran, saying, “What biddest us to do with them?” Quoth he, “I am presently in trouble for myself, so bring me the astrologers.” Accordingly, they brought them before him and he said to them, “Ye said to me Thy death shall be by slaying at the hand of thy son: how, then, befalleth it that I have got my death-hurt by yonder thieves?” The astrologers marvelled and said to him, “O king, ’tis not beyond the lore of the stars, together with the doom of Allah, that he who hath smitten thee should be thy son.” When King Ibrahim heard this, he bade fetch the thieves and said to them, “Tell me truly, which of you shot the shaft that wounded me.” Said they, “’Twas this youth that is with us.” Whereupon the king fell to considering him and said, “O youth, acquaint me with thy case and tell me who was thy father and thou shalt have assurance of safety from Allah.” The youth replied, “O my lord, I know no father; as for me, my father lodged me in a pit, with a nurse to rear me, and one day, there fell in upon us a lion, which tare my shoulder, then left me and occupied himself with the nurse and rent her in pieces; and Allah vouchsafed me one who brought me forth the pit.” Then he related to him all that had befallen him, first and last; which when King Ibrahim heard, he cried out and said, “By Allah, this is my son!” presently adding, “Bare thy shoulder.” So he uncovered it, and behold, it was scarred. Then the king assembled his lords and lieges and the astrologers and said to them, “Know that what Allah hath writ upon the forehead, be it fair fortune or misfortune, none may efface, and all that is decreed to a man must perforce befal him. Indeed, this my care-taking and my endeavour profited me naught, for what weird Allah decreed for my son, he hath dreed and whatso He decreed to me I have endured. Nevertheless, I praise Allah and thank Him because this was at my son’s hand, and not at the hand of another, and AlhamdolillahЧlaud to the LordЧfor that the kingship is come to my son!” And he strained the youth to his bosom and embraced him and kissed him, saying “O my son, this matter was after such fashion, and of my watchfulness over thee from Fate, I lodged thee in that pit; but caretaking availed not.” Then he took the crown of the kingship and set it on his son’s head and caused the lieges and the people do homage to him and commended the subjects to his care and enjoined to him justice and equity. And he farewelled him that night and died and his son reigned in his stead.228 “On like wise, O king” (continued the young treasurer), “’tis with thee. If Allah have written aught on my forehead, needs must it befal me and my speech to the king shall not avail me; no, nor my illustrating it to him with instances, against the doom of Allah. And so it is with these Wazirs, for all their eagerness and endeavour for my destruction, this shall not profit them; because, if Allah determine to save me, He will give me the victory over them.” When the king heard these words he became perplexed and said, “Return him to the prison till the morrow, so we may look into his affair, for the day draweth to an end and I mean to do him dead in foulest sort, and to-morrow we will visit him with that which he meriteth.”

  Richard Francis Burton’s translation: detailed table of contents

  The Tenth Day.

  Of the Appointed Term,229 Which, if it be Advanced, may not be Deferred, and if it be Deferred, may not be Advanced.

  When it was the tenth day (now this day was called Al-Mihrjбn230 and it was the day of the coming in of the folk, gentle and simple, to the king, so they might give him joy and salute him and go forth), the council of the Wazirs agreed that they should speak with a company of the city notables. So they said to them, “When ye go in today to the king and salute him, do ye say to him, ‘O king, (to the Lord be the laud!) thou art praiseworthy of policy and procedure and just to all thy subjects; but respecting this youth whom thou hast favoured and who nevertheless hath reverted to his base origin and done this foul deed, what is thy purpose in his continuance? Indeed, thou hast prisoned him in thy palace, and every day thou hearest his palaver and thou knowest not what the folk say.’” And they answered, “Hearing is obeying.” Accordingly, when they entered with the folk and had prostrated themselves before the king and congratulated his majesty, he raised their several degrees. Now it was the custom of the folk to salute and go forth; but they took seat, and the king knew that they had a word they would fain address to him: so he turned to them (the Wazirs being also present) and said, “Ask your need.” Therefore they repeated to him all that the Ministers had taught them and the Wazirs also spoke with them; and Azadbakht said to them, “O folk, I would have it known to you that there is no doubt with me concerning this your speech proceeding from love and loyal counsel to me, and ye ken that, were I inclined to kill half these folk, I could do them die and this would not be hard to me; so how shall I not slay this youth and he in my power and in the hending of my hand? Indeed, his crime is manifest and he hath incurred death penalty; and I have deferred it only by reason of the greatness of the offence; for, an I do this with him and my proof against him be strengthened, my heart is healed and the heart of my whole folk; and if I slay him not to-day, his slaying shall not escape me to-morrow.” Then he bade fetch the youth who, when present between his hands, prostrated to him and blessed him; whereupon quoth the king, “Woe to thee! How long shall the folk upbraid me on thine account and blame me for delaying thy death? Even the people of my city reproach me because of thee, so that I am grown a prating-stock amongst them, and indeed they come in to me and reproach me for not putting thee to death. How long shall I delay this? Verily, this very day I mean to shed thy blood and rid the folk of thy prattling.” The youth replied, “O king, an there have betided thee talk because of me, by Allah, and again by Allah the Great, those who have brought on thee this talk from the folk are none but these wicked Wazirs, who chatter with the crowd and tell them foul tales and ill things in the king’s house, but I hope in the Most High that He will cause their malice to recoil upon their own heads. As for the king’s menace of slaying me, I am in the grip of his hand; so let not the king occupy his mind with my slaughter, because I am like the sparrow in the grasp of the fowler; if he will, he cutteth his throat, and if he will, he letteth him go. As for the delaying of my death, ’tis not from the king, but from Him in whose hand is my life; for, by Allah, O king, an the Almighty willed my slaughter, thou couldst not postpone it; no, not for a single hour. And, indeed, man availeth not to fend off evil from himself, even as it was with the son of King Sulayman Shah, whose anxiety and carefulness for the winning of his wish in the matter of the new-born child availed him naught, for his last hour was deferred how many a time! and Allah saved him until he had accomplished his period and had fulfilled his life-term.” Cried the king, “Fie upon thee, how great is thy craft and thy talk! Tell me, what was their tale.” And the youth said, “Hear, O king,

  Richard Francis Burton’s translation: detailed table of contents

/>   The Story of King Sulayman Shah and his Niece.231

  There was once a king named Sulayman Shбh, who was goodly of policy and rede, and he had a brother who died and left a daughter; so Sulayman Shah reared her with the best of rearing and the girl became a model of reason and perfection, nor was there in her time a more beautiful than she. Now the king had two sons, one of whom he had appointed in his mind to wed her, while the other purposed to take her. The elder son’s name was Bahluwбn232 and that of the younger Malik Shбh233 , and the girl was called Shбh Khбtъn. Now one day, King Sulayman Shah went in to his brother’s daughter and kissing her head, said to her, “Thou art my daughter and dearer to me than a child, for the love of thy late father who hath found mercy; wherefore I purpose espousing thee to one of my sons and appointing him my heir apparent, so he may be king after me. Look, then, which thou wilt have of my sons,234 for that thou hast been reared with them and knowest them.” The maiden arose and kissing his hand, said to him, “O my lord, I am thine hand-maid and thou art the ruler over me; so whatever liketh thee do that same, inasmuch as thy wish is higher and honourabler and holier than mine and if thou wouldst have me serve thee as a hand-maid for the rest of my life, ‘twere fairer to me than any mate.” The king commended her speech and conferred on her a robe of honour and gave her magnificent gifts; after which, his choice having fallen upon his younger son, Malik Shah, he wedded her with him and made him his heir apparent and bade the folk swear fealty to him. When this reached his brother Bahluwan and he was ware that his younger brother had by favour been preferred over him, his breast was straitened and the affair was sore to him and envy entered into him and hate; but he hid this in his heart, whilst fire raged therein because of the damsel and the dominion. Meanwhile Shah Khatun went in bridal splendour to the king’s son and conceived by him and bare a son, as he were the illuming moon. When Bahluwan saw this betide his brother, envy and jealousy overcame him; so he went in one night to his father’s palace and coming to his brother’s chamber, saw the nurse sleeping at the door, with the cradle before her and therein his brother’s child asleep. Bahluwan stood by him and fell to looking upon his face, whose radiance was as that of the moon, and Satan insinuated himself into his heart, so that he bethought himself and said, “Why be not this babe mine? Verily, I am worthier of him than my brother; yea, and of the damsel and the dominion.” Then the idea got the mastery of him and anger drave him, so that he took out a knife, and setting it to the child’s gullet, cut his throat and would have severed his windpipe. So he left him for dead and entering his brother’s chamber, saw him asleep, with the Princess by his side, and thought to slay her, but said to himself, “I will leave the girl-wife for myself.” Then he went up to his brother and cutting his throat, parted head from body, after which he left him and went away. But now the world was straitened upon him and his life was a light matter to him and he sought the lodging of his sire Sulayman Shah, that he might slay him also, but could not get admission to him. So he went forth from the palace and hid himself in the city till the morrow, when he repaired to one of his father’s fortalices and therein fortified himself. On this wise it was with him; but as regards the nurse, she presently awoke that she might give the child suck, and seeing the cradle running with blood, cried out; whereupon the sleepers started up and the king was aroused and making for the place, found the child with his throat cut and the bed running over with blood and his father dead with a slit weasand in his sleeping chamber. They examined the child and found life in him and his windpipe whole and they sewed up the place of the wound: then the king sought his son Bahluwan, but found him not and saw that he had fled; so he knew that it was he who had done this deed, and this was grievous to the king and to the people of his realm and to the lady Shah Khatun. Thereupon the king laid out his son Malik Shah and buried him and made him a mighty funeral and they mourned with passing sore mourning; after which he applied himself to rearing the infant. As for Bahluwan, when he fled and fortified himself, his power waxed amain and there remained for him but to make war upon his father, who had cast his fondness upon the child and used to rear him on his knees and supplicate Almighty Allah that he might live, so he might commit the command to him. When he came to five years of age, the king mounted him on horseback and the people of the city rejoiced in him and prayed for him length of life, that he might take vengeance for his father235 and heal his grandsire’s heart. Meanwhile, Bahluwan the rebel236 addressed himself to pay court to Cжsar, king of the Roum237 and crave aid of him in debelling his father, and he inclined unto him and gave him a numerous army. His sire the king hearing of this sent to Cжsar, saying, “O glorious king of might illustrious, succour not an evil doer. This is my son and he hath done so and so and cut his brother’s throat and that of his brother’s son in the cradle.” But he told not the king of the Roum that the child had recovered and was alive. When Cжsar heard the truth of the matter, it was grievous to him as grievous could be, and he sent back to Sulayman Shah, saying, “An it be thy wish, O king, I will cut off his head and send it to thee.” But he made answer, saying, “I care naught for him: soon and surely the reward of his deed and his crimes shall overtake him, if not to-day, then tomorrow.” And from that date he continued to exchange letters and presents with Cжsar. Now the king of the Roum heard tell of the widowed Princess238 and of the beauty and loveliness wherewith she was endowed, wherefore his heart clave to her and he sent to seek her in wedlock of Sulayman Shah, who could not refuse him. So he arose and going in to Shah Khatun, said to her, “O my daughter, the king of the Roum hath sent to me to seek thee in marriage. What sayst thou?” She wept and replied, “O king, how canst thou find it in thy heart to address me thus? As for me, abideth there husband for me, after the son of my uncle?” Rejoined the king, “O my daughter, ’tis indeed as thou sayest; but here let us look to the issues of affairs. I must now take compt of death, for that I am a man shot in years and fear not save for thee and for thy little son; and indeed I have written to the king of the Roum and others of the kings and said, His uncle slew him, and said not that he had recovered and is living, but concealed his affair. Now the king of the Roum hath sent to demand thee in marriage, and this is no thing to be refused and fain would we have our back strengthened with him.”239 And she was silent and spake not. So King Sulayman Shah made answer to Cжsar with “Hearing and obeying.” Then he arose and despatched her to him, and Cжsar went in to her and found her passing the description wherewith they had described her; wherefore he loved her every day more and more and preferred her over all his women and his affection for Sulayman Shah was increased; but Shah Khatun’s heart still clave to her child and she could say naught. As for Sulayman Shah’s son, the rebel Bahluwan, when he saw that Shah Khatun had married the king of the Roum, this was grievous to him and he despaired of her. Meanwhile, his father Sulayman Shah watched over the child and cherished him and named him Malik Shah, after the name of his sire. When he reached the age of ten, he made the folk do homage to him and appointed him his heir apparent, and after some days, the old king’s time for paying the debt of nature drew near and he died. Now a party of the troops had banded themselves together for Bahluwan; so they sent to him, and bringing him privily, went in to the little Malik Shah and seized him and seated his uncle Bahluwan on the throne of kingship. Then they proclaimed him king and did homage to him all, saying, “Verily, we desire thee and deliver to thee the throne of kingship; but we wish of thee that thou slay not thy brother’s son, because we are still bounden by the oaths we sware to his sire and his grandsire and the covenants we made with them.” So Bahluwan granted this to them and imprisoned the boy in an underground dungeon and straitened him. Presently, the grievous news reached his mother and this was to her a fresh grief; but she could not speak and committed her affair to Allah Almighty, for that she durst not name this to King Cжsar her spouse, lest she should make her uncle King Sulayman Shah a liar. But as regards Bahluwan the Rebel, he abode king in his father’s place an
d his affairs prospered, while young Malik Shah lay in the souterrain four full-told years, till his favour faded and his charms changed. When He (extolled and exalted be He!) willed to relieve him and to bring him forth of the prison, Bahluwan sat one day with his chief Officers and the Lords of his land and discoursed with them of the story of his sire, King Sulayman Shah and what was in his heart. Now there were present certain Wazirs, men of worth, and they said to him, “O king, verily Allah hath been bountiful to thee and hath brought thee to thy wish, so that thou art become king in thy father’s place and hast won whatso thou wishedst. But, as for this youth, there is no guilt in him, because he, from the day of his coming into the world, hath seen neither ease nor pleasure, and indeed his favour is faded and his charms changed. What is his crime that he should merit such pains and penalties? Indeed, others than he were to blame, and hereto Allah hath given thee the victory over them, and there is no fault in this poor lad.” Quoth Bahluwan, “Verily, ’tis as ye say; but I fear his machinations and am not safe from his mischief; haply the most part of the folk will incline unto him.” They replied, “O king, what is this boy and what power hath he? An thou fear him, send him to one of the frontiers.” And Bahluwan said, “Ye speak sooth; so we will send him as captain of war to reduce one of the outlying stations.” Now over against the place in question was a host of enemies, hard of heart, and in this he designed the slaughter of the youth; so he bade bring him forth of the underground dungeon and caused him draw near to him and saw his case. Then he robed him, whereat the folk rejoiced, and bound for him the banners240 and, giving him a mighty many, despatched him to the quarter aforesaid, whither all who went or were slain or were taken. Accordingly Malik Shah fared thither with his force and when it was one of the days, behold, the enemy attacked them in the night; whereupon some of his men fled and the rest the enemy captured; and they seized Malik Shah also and cast him into a pit with a company of his men. His fellows mourned over his beauty and loveliness and there he abode a whole twelvemonth in evillest plight. Now at the beginning of every year it was the enemy’s wont to bring forth their prisoners and cast them down from the top of the citadel to the bottom; so at the customed time they brought them forth and cast them down, and Malik Shah with them. However, he fell upon the other men and the ground touched him not, for his term was God-guarded. But those who were cast down there were slain upon the spot and their bodies ceased not to lie there till the wild beasts ate them and the winds scattered their bones. Malik Shah abode strown in his place and aswoon, all that day and that night, and when he revived and found himself safe and sound, he thanked Allah the Most High for his safety and rising, left the place. He gave not over walking, unknowing whither he went and dieting upon the leaves of the trees; and by day he hid himself where he might and fared on at hazard all his night; and thus he did for some days, till he came to a populous part and seeing folk there, accosted them. He acquainted them with his case, giving them to know that he had been prisoned in the fortress and that they had thrown him down, but Almighty Allah had saved him and brought him off alive. The people had ruth on him and gave him to eat and drink and he abode with them several days; then he questioned them of the way that led to the kingdom of his uncle Bahluwan, but told them not that he was his father’s brother. So they showed him the road and he ceased not to go barefoot, till he drew near his uncle’s capital, naked, anhungered, and indeed his limbs were lean and his colour changed. He sat down at the city gate, when behold, up came a company of King Bahluwan’s chief officers, who were out a-hunting and wished to water their horses. They lighted down to rest and the youth accosted them, saying, “I would ask you of somewhat that ye may acquaint me therewith.” Quoth they, “Ask what thou wilt;” and quoth he, “Is King Bahluwan well?” They derided him and replied, “What a fool art thou, O youth! Thou art a stranger and a beggar, and whence art thou that thou should’st question concerning the king?”241 Cried he, “In very sooth, he is my uncle;” whereat they marvelled and said, “’Twas one catch-question242 and now ’tis become two.” Then said they to him, “O youth, it is as if thou wert Jinn-mad. Whence comest thou to claim kinship with the king? Indeed, we know not that he hath any kith and kin save a nephew, a brother’s son, who was prisoned with him, and he despatched him to wage war upon the infidels, so that they slew him.” Said Malik Shah, “I am he and they slew me not, but there befel me this and that.” They knew him forthwith and rising to him, kissed his hands and rejoiced in him and said to him, “O our lord, thou art indeed a king and the son of a king, and we desire thee naught but good and we pray for thy continuance. Look how Allah hath rescued thee from this wicked uncle, who sent thee to a place whence none ever came off safe and sound, purposing not in this but thy destruction; and indeed thou fellest upon death from which Allah delivered thee. How, then, wilt thou return and cast thyself again into thine foeman’s hand? By Allah, save thyself and return not to him this second time. Haply thou shalt abide upon the face of the earth till it please Almighty Allah to receive thee; but, an thou fall again into his hand, he will not suffer thee to live a single hour.” The Prince thanked them and said to them, “Allah reward you with all weal, for indeed ye give me loyal counsel; but whither would ye have me wend?” Quoth they, “To the land of the Roum, the abiding place of thy mother.” “But,” quoth he, “My grandfather Sulayman Shah, when the king of the Roum wrote to him demanding my mother in marriage, hid my affair and secreted my secret; and she hath done the same, and I cannot make her a liar.” Rejoined they, “Thou sayst sooth, but we desire thine advantage, and even wert thou to take service with the folk, ‘twere a means of thy continuance.” Then each and every of them brought out to him money and gave him a modicum and clad him and fed him and fared on with him the length of a parasang, till they brought him far from the city, and letting him know that he was safe, departed from him, whilst he journeyed till he came forth of his uncle’s reign and entered the dominion of the Roum. Then he made a village and taking up his abode therein, applied himself to serving one there in earing and seeding and the like. As for his mother, Shah Khatun, great was her longing for her child and she thought of him ever and news of him was cut off from her, so her life was troubled and she foresware sleep and could not make mention of him before King Cжsar her spouse. Now she had a Castrato who had come with her from the court of her uncle King Sulayman Shah, and he was intelligent, quick-witted, right-reded. So she took him apart one day and said to him, shedding tears the while, “Thou hast been my Eunuch from my childhood to this day; canst thou not therefore get me tidings of my son, seeing that I cannot speak of his matter?” He replied, “O my lady, this is an affair which thou hast concealed from the commencement, and were thy son here, ’twould not be possible for thee to entertain him, lest243 thine honour be smirched with the king; for they would never credit thee, since the news hath been bruited abroad that thy son was slain by his uncle.” Quoth she, “The case is even as thou sayst and thou speaketh sooth; but, provided I know that my son is alive, let him be in these parts pasturing sheep and let me not sight him nor he sight me.” He asked, “How shall we manage in this matter?” and she answered, “Here be my treasures and my wealth: take all thou wilt and bring me my son or else tidings of him.” Then they devised a device between them, which was that they should feign some business in their own country, to wit that she had wealth there buried from the time of her husband, Malik Shah, and that none knew of it but this Eunuch who was with her, so it behoved him to go fetch it. Accordingly she acquainted the king her husband with that and sought his permit for the Eunuch to fare: and the king granted him leave of absence for the journey and charged him devise a device, lest he come to grief. The Castrato, therefore, disguised himself in merchant’s habit and repairing to Bahluwan’s city, began to make espial concerning the youth’s case; whereupon they told him that he had been prisoned in a souterrain and that his uncle had released him and despatched him to such a place, where they had slain him. When the Eunuch heard t
his, the mishap was grievous to him and his breast was straitened and he knew not what to do. It chanced one day of the days that a certain of the horsemen, who had fallen in with the young Malik Shah by the water and clad him and given him spending-money, saw the Eunuch in the city, habited as a merchant, and recognising him, questioned him of his case and of the cause of his coming. Quoth he, “I came to sell merchandise;” and quoth the horseman, “I will tell thee somewhat, an thou canst keep it secret.” Answered the Neutral, “That I can! What is it?” and the other said, “We met the king’s son Malik Shah, I and sundry of the Arabs who were with me, and saw him by such a water and gave him spending-money and sent him towards the land of the Roum, near his mother, for that we feared for him lest his uncle Bahluwan slay him.” Then he told him all that had passed between them, whereat the Eunuch’s countenance changed and he said to the cavalier “Thou art safe!” The knight replied, “Thou also art safe though thou come in quest of him.” And the Eunuch rejoined, saying, “Truly, that is my errand: there is no rest for his mother, lying down or rising up, and she hath sent me to seek news of him.” Quoth the cavalier, “Go in safety, for he is in a quarter of the land of the Roum, even as I said to thee.” The Castrato thanked him and blessed him and mounting, returned upon his road, following the trail, whilst the knight rode with him to a certain highway, when he said to him, “This is where we left him.” Then he took leave of him and returned to his own city, whilst the Eunuch fared on along the road, enquiring in every village he entered of the youth, by the description which the rider had given him, and he ceased not thus to do till he came to the village wherein was young Malik Shah. So he entered, and dismounting, made enquiry after the Prince, but none gave him news of him; whereat he abode perplexed concerning his affair and made ready to depart. Accordingly he mounted his horse; but, as he passed through the village, he saw a cow bound with a rope and a youth asleep by her side, hending the halter in hand; so he looked at him and passed on and heeded him not in his heart; but presently he halted and said to himself, “An the youth whom I am questing have become the like of this sleeping youth whom I passed but now, how shall I know him? Alas, the length of my travail and travel! How shall I go about in search of a somebody I know not, one whom, if I saw him face to face I should not know?” So saying he turned back, musing anent that sleeping youth, and coming to him, he still sleeping, dismounted from his mare and sat down by his side. He fixed his eyes upon his face and considered him awhile and said in himself, “For aught I wot, this youth may be Malik Shah;” then he began hemming and saying, “Harkye, O youth!” Whereupon the sleeper awoke and sat up; and the Eunuch asked him, “Who be thy father in this village and where be thy dwelling?” The youth sighed and replied, “I am a stranger;” and quoth the Castrato, “From what land art thou and who is thy sire?” Quoth the other, “I am from such a land,” and the Eunuch ceased not to question him and he to answer his queries, till he was certified of him and knew him. So he rose and embraced him and kissed him and wept over his case: he also told him that he was wandering about in search of him and informed him that he was come privily from the king, his mother’s husband, and that his mother would be satisfied to weet that he was alive and well, though she saw him not. Then he re-entered the village and buying the Prince a horse, mounted him and they ceased not going till they came to the frontier of their own country, where there fell robbers upon them by the way and took all that was with them and pinioned them; after which they threw them in a pit hard by the road and went their ways and left them to die there; and indeed they had cast many folk into that pit and they had perished. The Eunuch fell a-weeping in the pit and the youth said to him, “What is this weeping and what shall it profit here?” Quoth the Castrato, “I weep not for fear of death, but of ruth for thee and the cursedness of thy case and because of thy mother’s heart and for that which thou hast suffered of horrors and that thy death should be this ignoble death, after the endurance of all manner dire distresses.” But the youth said, “That which hath betided me was writ to me and that which is written none hath power to efface; and if my life-term be advanced, none may defer it.”244 Then the twain passed that night and the following day and the next night and the next day in the hollow, till they were weak with hunger and came nigh upon death and could but groan feebly. Now it fortuned by the decree of Almighty Allah and His destiny, that Cжsar, king of the Greeks, the spouse of Malik Shah’s mother Shah Khatun, went forth a-hunting that morning. He flushed a head of game, he and his company, and chased it, till they came up with it by that pit, whereupon one of them lighted down from his horse, to slaughter it, hard by the mouth of the hollow. He heard a sound of low moaning from the sole of the pit; whereat he arose and mounting his horse, waited till the troops were assembled. Then he acquainted the king with this and he bade one of his servants descend into the hollow: so the man climbed down and brought out the youth and the Eunuch in fainting condition. They cut their pinion-bonds and poured wine down their throats, till they came to themselves, when the king looked at the Eunuch and recognising him, said, “Harkye, Suchan-one!” The Castrato replied, “Yes, O my lord the king,” and prostrated himself to him; whereat the king wondered with exceeding wonder and asked him, “How camest thou to this place and what hath befallen thee?” The Eunuch answered, “I went and took out the treasure and brought it thus far; but the evil eye was behind me and I unknowing. So the thieves took us alone here and seized the money and cast us into this pit that we might die the slow death of hunger, even as they had done with others; but Allah the Most High sent thee, in pity to us.” The king marvelled, he and his, and praised the Lord for that he had come thither; after which he turned to the Castrato and said to him, “What is this youth thou hast with thee?” He replied, “O king, this is the son of a nurse who belonged to us and we left him when he was a little one. I saw him to-day and his mother said to me, ‘Take him with thee;’ so this morning I brought him that he might be a servant to the king, for that he is an adroit youth and a clever.” Then the king fared on, he and his company, and with them the Eunuch and the youth, who questioned his companion of Bahluwan and his dealing with his subjects, and he replied, saying, “As thy head liveth, O my lord the king, the folk are in sore annoy with him and not one of them wisheth a sight of him, be they high or low.” When the king returned to his palace, he went in to his wife Shah Khatun and said to her, “I give thee the glad tidings of thine Eunuch’s return;” and he told her what had betided and of the youth whom he had brought with him. When she heard this, her wits fled and she would have screamed, but her reason restrained her, and the king said to her, “What is this? Art thou overcome with grief for the loss of the monies or for that which hath befallen the Eunuch?” Said she, “Nay, as thy head liveth, O king, but women are weaklings.” Then came the Castrato and going in to her, told her all that had happened to him and also acquainted her with her son’s case and with that which he had suffered of distresses and how his uncle had exposed him to slaughter, and he had been taken prisoner and they had cast him into the pit and hurled him from the highmost of the citadel and how Allah had delivered him from these perils, all of them; and whilst he recounted to her all this, she wept. Then she asked him, “When the king saw him and questioned thee of him, what was it thou saidst him?” and he answered, “I said to him, ‘This is the son of a nurse who belonged to us. We left him a little one and he grew up; so I brought him, that he might be servant to the king.’” Cried she, “Thou didst well;” and she charged him to serve the Prince with faithful service. As for the king, he redoubled in kindness to the Castrato and appointed the youth a liberal allowance and he abode going in to and coming out of the king’s house and standing in his service, and every day he waxed better with him. As for Shah Khatun, she used to station herself at watch for him at the windows and in the balconies and gaze upon him, and she frying on coals of fire on his account; yet could she not speak. In such condition she abode a long while and indeed yearning for him was k
illing her; so she stood and watched for him one day at the door of her chamber and straining him to her bosom, bussed him on the breast and kissed him on either cheek. At this moment, behold, out came the major-domo of the king’s household and seeing her embracing the youth, started in amazement. Then he asked to whom that chamber belonged and was answered, “To Shah Khatun, wife of the king,” whereupon he turned back, quaking as one smitten by a leven-bolt. The king saw him in a tremor and said to him, “Out on thee! what is the matter?” Said he, “O king, what matter can be more grievous than that which I see?” Asked the king, “What seest thou?” and the officer answered, “I see that the youth, who came with the Eunuch, was not brought with him save on account of Shah Khatun; for I passed but now by her chamber door, and she was standing, watching; and when the youth came up, she rose to him and clipped him and kissed him on his cheek.” When the king heard this, he bowed his head amazed, perplexed, and sinking into a seat, clutched at his beard and shook it until he came nigh upon plucking it out. Then he arose forthright and laid hands on the youth and clapped him in jail. He also took the Eunuch and cast them both into a souterrain under his palace. After this he went in to Shah Khatun and said to her, “Brava, by Allah, O daughter of nobles. O thou whom kings sought to wed, for the purity of thy repute and the fairness of the fame of thee! How seemly is thy semblance! Now may Allah curse her whose inward contrarieth her outward, after the likeness of thy base favour, whose exterior is handsome and its interior fulsome, face fair and deeds foul! Verily, I mean to make of thee and of yonder ne’er-do-well an example among the lieges, for that thou sentest not thine Eunuch but of intent on his account, so that he took him and brought him into my palace and thou hast trampled245 my head with him; and this is none other than exceeding boldness; but thou shalt see what I will do with you all.” So saying, he spat in her face and went out from her; whilst Shah Khatun said nothing, well knowing that, an she spoke at that time, he would not credit her speech. Then she humbled herself in supplication to Allah Almighty and said, “O God the Great, Thou knowest the things by secrecy ensealed and their outwards revealed and their inwards concealed! If an advanced life-term be appointed to me, let it not be deferred, and if a deferred one, let it not be advanced!” On this wise she passed some days, whilst the king fell into bewilderment and forsware meat and drink and sleep, and abode knowing not what he should do and saying to himself, “An I slay the Eunuch and the youth, my soul will not be solaced, for they are not to blame, seeing that she sent to fetch him, and my heart careth not to kill them all three. But I will not be hasty in doing them die, for that I fear repentance.” Then he left them, so he might look into the affair. Now he had a nurse, a foster-mother, on whose knees he had been reared, and she was a woman of understanding and suspected him, yet dared not question him. So she went in to Shah Khatun and finding her in yet sadder plight than he, asked her what was to do; but she refused to answer. However, the nurse gave not over coaxing and questioning her, till she swore her to concealment. Accordingly, the old woman made oath that she would keep secret all that she should say to her, whereupon the Queen to her related her history, first and last, and told her that the youth was her son. With this the old woman prostrated herself before her and said to her, “This is a right easy matter.” But the Queen replied, “By Allah, O my mother, I prefer my destruction and that of my son to defending myself by a plea which they will not believe; for they will say, ‘She pleadeth this only that she may fend off shame from herself.’ And naught will profit me save long-suffering.” The old woman was moved by her speech and her wisdom and said to her, “Indeed, O my daughter, ’tis as thou sayest, and I hope in Allah that He will show forth the truth. Have patience and I will presently go in to the king and hear his words and machinate somewhat in this matter, Inshallah!” Thereupon the ancient dame arose and going into the king, found him with his head between his knees in sore pain of sorrow. She sat down by him awhile and bespake him with soft words and said to him,246 “Indeed, O my son, thou consumest my vitals, for that these many days thou hast not mounted horse, and thou grievest and I know not what aileth thee.” He replied, “O my mother, all is due to yonder accursed, of whom I deemed so well and who hath done this and that.” Then he related to her the whole story from beginning to end, and she cried to him, “This thy chagrin is on account of a no-better-than-she-should-be!” Quoth he, “I was but considering by what death I should slay them, so the folk may take warning and repent.” And quoth she, “O my son, ‘ware precipitance, for it gendereth repentance and the slaying of them shall not escape thee. When thou art assured of this affair, do whatso thou willest.” He rejoined, “O my mother, there needeth no assurance anent him for whom she despatched her Eunuch and he fetched him.” But she retorted, “There is a thing wherewith we will make her confess,247 and all that is in her heart shall be discovered to thee.” Asked the king, “What is that?” and she answered, “I will bring thee the heart of a hoopoe,248 which, when she sleepeth, do thou lay upon her bosom and question her of everything thou wouldst know, and she will discover the same unto thee and show forth the truth to thee.” The king rejoiced in this and said to his nurse, “Hasten thou and let none know of thee.” So she arose and going in to the Queen, said to her, “I have done thy business and ’tis as follows. This night the king will come in to thee and do thou seem asleep; and if he ask thee of aught, do thou answer him, as if in thy sleep.” The Queen thanked her and the old dame went away and fetching the bird’s heart, gave it to the king. Hardly was the night come, when he went in to his wife and found her lying back, a-slumbering; so he sat down by her side and laying the hoopoe’s heart on her breast, waited awhile, so he might be assured that she slept. Then said he to her, “Shah Khatun,249 Shah Khatun, is this my reward from thee?” Quoth she, “What offence have I committed?” and quoth he, “What offence can be greater than this? Thou sentest after yonder youth and broughtest him hither, on account of the lust of thy heart, so thou mightest do with him that for which thou lustedst.” Said she, “I know not carnal desire. Verily, among thy pages are those who are comelier and seemlier than he; yet have I never desired one of them.” He asked “Why, then, didst thou lay hold of him and kiss him?” And she answered, “This youth is my son and a piece of my liver; and of my longing and affection for him, I could not contain myself, but sprang upon him and kissed him.” When the king heard this, he was dazed and amazed and said to her, “Hast thou a proof that this youth is thy son? Indeed, I have a letter from thine uncle King Sulayman Shah, informing me that his uncle Bahluwan cut his throat.” Said she “Yes, he did indeed cut his throat, but severed not the wind-pipe; so my uncle sewed up the wound and reared him, for that his life-term was not come.” When the king heard this, he said, “This proof sufficeth me,” and rising forthright in the night, bade bring the youth and the Eunuch. Then he examined his stepson’s throat with a candle and saw the scar where it had been cut from ear to ear, and indeed the place had healed up and it was like a thread stretched out. Thereupon the king fell down prostrate before Allah, who had delivered the Prince from all these perils and from the distresses he had suffered, and rejoiced with joy exceeding because he had delayed and had not made haste to slay him, in which case mighty sore repentance had betided him.250 “As for the youth,” continued the young treasurer, “he was not saved but because his life-term was deferred, and in like manner, O king, ’tis with me: I too have a deferred term, which I shall attain, and a period which I shall accomplish, and I trust in Almighty Allah that He will give me the victory over these villain Wazirs.” When the youth had made an end of his speech, the king said, “Restore him to the prison;” and when they had done this, he turned to the Ministers and said to them, “Yonder youth lengtheneth his tongue upon you, but I know your tenderness for the weal of mine empire and your loyal counsel to me; so be of good heart, for all that ye advise me I will do.” They rejoiced when they heard these words, and each of them said his say. Then quoth the king, “I have not de
ferred his slaughter but to the intent that the talk might be prolonged and that words might abound, yet shall he now be slain without let or stay, and I desire that forthright ye set up for him a gibbet without the town and that the crier cry among the folk bidding them assemble and take him and carry him in procession to the gibbet, with the crier crying before him and saying, ‘This is the reward of him whom the king delighted to favour and who hath betrayed him!’” The Wazirs rejoiced when they heard this, and for their joy slept not that night; and they made proclamation in the city and set up the gallows.