Tales of the Marvellous and News of the Strange (Hardcover Classics)

by Malcolm C (Tr Lyons

  ‘I collected all my money and set off with her, scarcely believing in my happiness. She walked ahead, and I followed her until she brought me to the door of a large house. When she knocked, a Rumi maid-servant came and opened it, and my guide entered and told me to come in, which I did, finding the place both spacious and handsome. The old woman took me to a big room, furnished with carpets and hanging curtains. I sat down with the dinars in front of me and then, taking off my turban, I put it down beside me.

  ‘Before I knew what was happening out came a girl more splendid and more beautifully dressed than had ever been seen, with the most attractive scent. At the sight of such beauty I rose to my feet, and when she saw me she laughed. I was delighted, and she ordered the door to be closed before coming up to me and taking me by the hand to a separate room strewn with soft cushions, which we entered. We sat together, and for a time she laughed and joked with me before getting up and leaving after saying: “Don’t go before I come back.”

  ‘As I sat there a huge, savage-looking black slave came in with a drawn sword. “Damn you,” he said, “what are you doing here?” and the sight of him robbed me of speech. “Get up!” he said, seizing me by the arm, and when I did he took all the money I had with me, stripped me of my clothes and struck me with his sword, these being the scars that you can see, Your Majesty. He kept on doing this until I collapsed, being sure that he had finished me. I heard him call out at the top of his voice: “Where is the girl with the salt?” and a servant girl wearing an apron came up to him carrying a silver plate on which were grains of salt. He kept on stuffing these into my wounds, and I stayed motionless, as I was afraid that if they realized that I was still alive they would kill me.

  ‘When the girl left, the black man called for the cellar keeper, and it was the old woman who had brought me who came. She dragged me by the feet and opened an underground cellar into which she threw me so that I landed on a number of others who had suffered the same fate. I stayed there for three days but thanks to God’s grace it was the salt that kept me alive by stopping me from losing too much blood. When I found myself capable of movement I got up and sat on the pile of corpses, after which I got to the trap door and lifted it up. I went through into the house itself and by God’s grace I found strength enough to walk a little to the entrance hall, where I hid myself until dawn.

  ‘Next morning the damned old woman came out to hunt down another victim like me, and I followed her without her knowledge. I went on doing my best to treat myself for a month until my wounds healed and my strength returned. I had not lost track of the old woman and kept watching her as she picked man after man and took them to the house, without my saying anything. Then, when I had recovered, I got a strip of cloth and sewed it up as a waistband purse. I filled this with glass and fastened it on my waist, disguising myself and wearing a face veil so that I could not be recognized, and dressing as a Persian. Beneath my clothes I concealed a sharp sword.

  ‘When I saw the old woman I asked her in Persian whether she had scales that could weigh five hundred dinars, in which case I would give her something to spend on herself. I explained that I wanted to buy a slave girl if she could produce one for me. She told me that she knew a banker who had scales of all kinds and I should go with her before he went off to his shop, so that he could weigh the coins for me.

  ‘I followed her to the door, and when she knocked the very same girl came to open it. The old woman greeted her with a smile and said: “I’ve brought you a fat titbit today.” The girl took me by the hand and brought me into the same room, where she sat chatting with me for a while before jumping up and telling me not to go until she came back. As soon as she had gone the black man came in, holding a drawn sword. “Get up, you damned fellow,” he said, but as he walked in front of me, without his knowledge I removed my own sword that I had under my clothes and with it I cut through his legs so that he fell on his face. Then I jumped up to his head and cut it from his body, after which I dragged him to the cellar into which I and the others had been thrown. “Where is the salt girl?” I called, and it was the old woman who came. “Do you recognize me, damn you?” I said. “No, by God, master,” she answered. “It was my house in which you prayed before throwing me in here,” I told her, at which she called on God and begged me for mercy. I paid no attention to what she said but cut off her hands, first one and then the other, and I went on tormenting her until she died.

  ‘I then went to look for the girl, who was startled to see me and asked me to spare her. I agreed to this but asked her how it was that she came to be here with the black man. She said: “I was a slave belonging to a merchant who had bought me for a thousand dinars. That old woman – may God have no mercy on her – often used to visit me and we became friends. One day she told me that there was going to be a wedding of exceptional splendour in her neighbourhood with musical instruments, songs of all kinds, feasting and various sorts of remarkable things. She said that she would like me to see it, and I got up quickly and put on my best clothes and ornaments, taking with me a purse of a hundred dinars. She then led me to this house, where, thanks to the trick the damned woman played on me, I have been for three years. Every day she has been bringing a man, taking his money and killing him in the cellar.” “Has she got money?” I asked, and the girl said: “Yes, if you can carry it, so ask God for help.”

  ‘I walked off with her, and she opened rooms into which purses had been thrown, but I remained in a state of perplexity, unsure what I should do. Shortly afterwards, however, I went out and hired ten mules but when I came back to knock on the door I found it open and when I went in I discovered that the girl had gone, as had most of the purses. I realized that she had cheated me and so I took what money I could find and I opened the cupboards to remove clothes, materials and furniture. I left nothing there but removed everything to my own house, where I spent the night.

  ‘Next morning I was suddenly confronted by ten men, who took hold of me and said that I was wanted by the chief of police, to whom they took me. When he saw me he asked me where I had got the materials that were in my house. I asked for a guarantee of immunity, and when he had promised me this, I told him the story of my dealings with the old woman from beginning to end, including how the girl had run off. “Sir,” I said, “take what you want of the stuff that is in my house but leave me enough to live on.” He sent a number of his assistants with me, and they took the best of what there was, leaving me only what was valueless. The chief then became afraid that word of this might reach the sultan and so he summoned me again and told me that he wanted me to leave the city and stay somewhere else until the affair had been forgotten. I agreed and set off to where I could remain for a time before returning, but when I halted robbers attacked me and took everything that I had with me, leaving me naked and with no idea of where I should go. It was then that I met these people and joined them, as we were united by the ties of misfortune. This is my story.’

  The king was astonished by all these tales and by the lack of intelligence shown by the last of them, the glass-seller, in what he did to his glass. He ordered all of them to be rewarded and given fine clothes. This is the story of their dealings with the king.

  Tale Four

  The Story of the Four Hidden

  Treasures and the Strange Things That

  Occurred. The First Quest.

  The Story of the Second Quest and the

  Marvellous Things Encountered.

  The Story of the Quest for the Crown

  and It Is the Third.

  The Story of the Quest for the Golden

  Tube and It Is the Fourth.

  In the Name of God the Compassionate, the Merciful

  Al-Fadl son of Muhammad told us that, when he was with the emir ‘Abd al-Wahhab on a very hot day, with ambergris diffusing scent, the emir said to him that he wanted him to tell him a story of marvels.

  Al-Fadl said: ‘I told him: “Emir, in your prison is this foreigner who has written me notes asking
me to bring him before you. I hear that he is a cultured and witty man, and if you order it, I shall fetch him here.” The emir did so, and when the man was brought, he questioned him and, finding him eloquent, he ordered him to be looked after and his clothes changed. The servants took him to the baths, gave him clean clothes and provided him with food and water, after which they brought him to the emir.

  ‘When he stood before him, the emir said: “I hear that you are witty and cultured and I should like to have a friendly conversation with you, so tell me what you have to say.” The man said: “I shall tell you a story, part of which you know.” “Go on,” said the emir, and the man said: “You must know, emir, may God exalt you, that I have seen marvels and wonders in the world and have experienced hardships and terrors. As a young man I enjoyed myself, squandering my goods and my wealth and consorting with kings, while for me the eye of Time slept. But Time then woke to betray me, destroying what I had, and after I had spent three days at home without food, I left to escape the gloating pleasure of my enemies, without any notion of where to go.

  ‘ “During my wanderings I reached Kharshana and entered the church, where I sat with the poor, eating the bread that was distributed as alms. I stayed there for three days until on the fourth a very handsome man came in wearing a robe of yellow brocade and followed by a servant. He studied our faces and then greeted me and said: ‘I hope that my reading of your face will not prove wrong. If you come with me, God willing you will prosper.’

  ‘ “I got up and accompanied him, happy at what he had said, and when we got to his house he went in and told me to follow him, which I did. The rags I was wearing were removed, and after I had bathed, he supplied me with the finest clothes and for some days I stayed eating and drinking with him.

  ‘ “He then told his servant to summon his companions, and in came ten men who took their seats after greeting us, and the wine cups were passed around amongst us. That went on for ten days, after which he told them to leave, taking with them whatever they wanted, and adding: ‘We shall start, God willing, on such and such a day.’ They went off and he turned and said to me: ‘My reading of your face was right. I shall let you into my secret, and if you help me this will be thanks to your own kindness, while you will not be blamed if you refuse.’ I said: ‘Say what you want for I am at your service and will do whatever you tell me, thanks to the great kindness with which you have overwhelmed me.’

  ‘ “He said: ‘My father left me books in which I discovered the way to the king’s monastery with a description of its wonders.’ ‘I too would like to see it,’ I told him and he said: ‘Praise be to God that we are agreed.’

  ‘ “He started to get ready the mules and whatever else we would need. The ten men came to the rendezvous and each was provided with two mules, one to ride and one to lead. We armed ourselves, but after seven days of travel we had run out of water and there was only a little food left. We were losing our wits, and the mules were weakening, while one of us had lost his way in the darkness.

  ‘ “In the morning we found ourselves at the foot of a mountain. ‘Stay here until I come back to you,’ our leader said, and after looking he climbed up the mountain, followed by me. ‘Where are you going?’ he asked me and I told him: ‘I shall stay with you to help you in difficulties as you helped me when times were easy.’ He thanked me, saying that this was how he had thought I would act.

  ‘ “When we reached the summit we looked down at a broad meadow, and he told me to look right and left to see whether I could see anything. I looked and then told him that in the distance I could see the figure of a man. ‘That’s what we want,’ he said, and we went off in that direction, to discover when we got there that this was a statue carved from black rock with a white cloak. On its feet were sandals of emerald green and on its head a cap of yellow stone like gold. Its eyes revolved in its head, and it was standing on a rock in the middle of the meadow.

  ‘ “ ‘Go and fetch the others,’ my companion told me and when I had done this he got them to dig. They set to work with picks and axes and we unearthed a channel full of cold water, from which we drank our fill. He told them to go on digging and we passed the night there.

  ‘ “At dawn he told us to leave with him, and we filled our water-skins and after three more days of travel we came in sight of a mountain green as an emerald. In delight he exclaimed: ‘God is greater!’ and explained: ‘This is the mountain we are making for.’ We slept there and next morning we found running streams, intertwined trees, fruits and flowers, and we could see the monastery gleaming like a bright star. We climbed up towards it and there, close to it, was a cave where we put our baggage and rested for three days.

  ‘ “When we then approached the monastery we found that its walls were forty cubits high with no gate, but at each of its four corners was a hermitage with four doors in each of which was a statue with a weapon in its hand, while between each two battlements was a statue of a monk holding a huge stone.

  ‘ “We were struck with amazement and told our leader: ‘This wasn’t what we had hoped to find, and how is it that you have endangered both us and yourself?’ ‘Tomorrow, God willing,’ he replied, ‘you shall see what I am going to do.’ Next morning he collected all the ropes that we had and told us to dig in a certain place. We spent all night doing this and in the morning we came on a door which, when we had uncovered it, turned out to be of iron plated with gold to protect it from corrosion, with a great golden lock.

  ‘ “One of us went up to break it but our leader told him not to do that, and, lifting up a stone that he had put beside him, he hurled it at the lock and ran back. When it struck the lock a huge statue appeared from behind the coverings with a great rock in its hand. It moved over the ground, crying out in a loud voice. It shattered the stone and then returned to its place. ‘This is what I was afraid of,’ the man said.

  ‘ “ ‘What is behind the door?’ we asked, and he said: ‘This is the gate of the fortress.’ When we asked if there was any way to open it, he told us that we could do this by removing the stones. When a second stone was thrown at the lock, out came the statue and did what it had done before, but we kept on throwing stones until it did not appear. Then we went up and broke the lock and fastened one end of our ropes to the door ring and the other round the necks of the mules, whipping them to make them move. The door opened, and a cloud of vapour emerged.

  ‘ “We had to wait for three days until this had totally cleared and when we did go in we discovered a huge well. We tied ropes around the waist of one of our men and were alarmed to find that we could lower him for three hundred cubits. When he got to the bottom we left him there for some time before pulling him up and asking him what he had seen. ‘A wonder,’ he said, ‘so go down yourselves.’

  ‘ “We went down in fear and dread and when we had got halfway we came on a huge stone bench on which were bronze statues with weapons in their hands. We stopped to look at them, and our leader told us to remove the flagstone. When we did we could see below it [lac.] of five cubits, in which there was the statue of a seated man holding a chain of brass. ‘Pull it,’ our leader said, and when we did he went on: ‘A bronze ship will now come out to you, so throw these ropes on its prow and take care that it doesn’t get past you.’

  ‘ “We tugged hard at the chain the statue was holding and then we heard a thunderous noise, and a ship came sailing up. We threw the ropes on to its prow and pulled it towards us before jumping on board. ‘Bring the food and the baggage,’ he told us, and when we had secured all this and re-embarked, he told us to cast off.

  ‘ “After this the ship took us at great speed in pitch darkness five hundred cubits under the mountain, where nothing could be heard except for the sound of the water. It then came to a halt at an iron net, on either side of which the water flowed, and our leader told us to strike a light. With this we lit the candles and when we looked around we saw an iron ladder at the top of which was a bronze statue with a sword in its hand. ‘Who is g
oing to come up?’ it asked. [the question appears to be put by the statue and answered by the leader, but this is not specified in the text] He said: ‘I am.’ ‘Don’t you see what is at the top?’ it asked, and he said: ‘Glory brings an inheritance of riches. If you look for a beautiful bride, pay out a large dowry. Glory is a possession that lasts for ever and brings long-lasting wealth. He who dares wins, and this is a place of glory. I shall be the first to take the chance and risk my life, for what the writer of this book said is true.’

  ‘ “ ‘We shall follow you, whatever you do,’ we said, but suddenly there then appeared a serpent with an open mouth and teeth of steel. Our leader said: ‘Whoever throws himself into the jaws of this serpent and escapes will be safe.’ ‘No one can do that,’ we said, but he laughed and took a bow, strung it, notched an arrow and tied a thin rope to its end. He then looked up to the roof, where there was a huge ring. He shot his arrow through the middle of it and then pulled on the end that he had before tying a thick rope to the other end and fixing it to the ring. ‘Tie it to my waist,’ he told us, ‘and when I get up to the ring, lower me very gently to the back of the serpent, for the writer of the book says that there are steps there.’

  ‘ “We agreed to do this and pulled him up before lowering him on to the serpent’s back. He went to the steps and told us to follow his example. When we did we found a flight of about a hundred steps up which we climbed to a roof that lay behind the serpent, praising Almighty God.

  ‘ “ ‘There are no terrors left,’ the leader said, ‘but take care in case there is something that the writer of the book failed to notice.’ We walked along the roof to a large door, and when we opened it and went in we found ourselves in a hall that led to the courtyard of a huge palace built of various types of coloured marble with bands of gold. In the middle was a pool [lac.] long with a circumference of thirty cubits covered with a golden net. There was a gallery with open doors in each of which stood a statue. Our leader said: ‘Each one of these rooms contains God knows how much wealth. The statues may be able to do us some harm – I am not sure – but I shall go to what I know to be there.’