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

by Malcolm C (Tr Lyons

  At that he told her the story of his dealings with his father, explaining what had happened. When she heard this and saw what a handsome and cultured young man he was, love for him took possession of her heart. She told him: ‘Relax and be joyful, for I have fallen in love with you and will conceal your secret from all my cousins and companions.’ She then ate with him before taking him to the drinking room, where she joined him in drinking pure wine. She then called him closer, and he jumped on her and deflowered her, discovering her to be a virgin. They went on like that until evening, when the girls were due to return, and it was then that the lady told him to go back to the hiding place that he had used the night before.

  When the girls got back they entered the castle and took off their armour, putting on their female clothes before taking their places at the table. The girl who had been leading them saw the changes that had been made to the food and said to the sorceress, who had hidden away to find out who had been responsible for this the day before: ‘Sister, who has done this?’ ‘I don’t know,’ replied the lady and although the other accused her of lying she concealed the affair and let no one in on her secret.

  They all ate their fill, washed their hands and went on to drink wine as usual until dawn. Another girl was ordered to take the place of the first in the castle to see and then to tell who it was who had tampered with the food. The others then mounted and rode off, leaving behind the one who hid nobody knew where.

  When the prince was certain that they had gone and that no one was left he came out from his hiding place and went to the dining room, where he approached the table and stretched out his hand to the food. At that point out came the girl, who was struck by his handsomeness and the perfection of his shape. When he saw her he was alarmed and terrified, not knowing what to do. ‘Darling,’ she said, ‘don’t be frightened but tell me about yourself, what you are and what has brought you here.’ This calmed him, and his fear diminished thanks to her beauty and the sweetness of her words. He told her what had happened to him with his father, and she sat down beside him, telling him that no harm would come to him.

  After she had eaten with him they went to the drinking room, where they drank wine, and when they were in a state of happiness she invited him to take her, and he discovered her to be a virgin, as God had created her. Love for him took hold of her heart and occupied her mind, and so they remained enjoying themselves until evening.

  When the other girls returned the prince went back to his hiding place. They disarmed and after putting on their female clothes they went to sit at the table, where their leader noticed that the food had been tampered with. She asked the girl who had been left behind how this had come about, to which she replied: ‘Lady, I saw nothing, and nobody ate anything apart from me.’

  The lady kept on selecting a new girl each day until the prince had come to the last of them. Each one of them had conceived, and as the days passed their pregnancies became visible, although no one of them had found out the secret of any of the others. None of this, however, was hidden from their mistress, and on the forty-first day, when she ordered them to ride out as usual, it was she herself who stayed behind, saying that none but she would uncover the affair, and she chose an undiscoverable hiding place.

  When the prince thought that the palace was empty he came out as usual and went to sit at the table. The lady saw how handsome he was and trembled with uncontrollable love and, coming out, she threw herself before him. At the sight of her the prince quaked, and the mouthful he was holding dropped from his hand, while what he saw of her beauty bewildered him. She realized this and sat down beside him, addressing him in friendly tones and telling him that no harm would come to him. ‘I am the leader of these girls,’ she told him, ‘and I am yours and at your service.’

  While she sat to eat with him she used her hand to put food in his mouth until he had had enough. They then washed their hands, after which they went to the drinking room, where she drank and poured him wine until he became dizzy. Then she said: ‘My darling, tell me your story. Let me know about you and how it was that you came here.’

  He told her the whole tale from beginning to end, telling her about his father’s dream, his anger and how he had ordered him to be left in the desert. He explained how, after having been on the point of death, he had reached the castle and what had happened to him with the girls and what he had done with them.

  When she had understood all this, she repeated: ‘No harm will come to you, my boy, for these are my maids and they are a gift from me to you. I saw that they were pregnant. You may get children from them, and God may bring you relief and happiness. I myself am lovelier than them, and from this day on you will be my friend and lover, so after this don’t approach any of them, for I am here at your disposal. If you do go to any of them, I shall imprison you, torture you and load you with iron chains.’

  He accepted this, and they went on drinking. The lady kissed him and recited:

  His visit took me by surprise and he delighted me;

  As a visitor who brings me comfort I would ransom him.

  In his appearance he is like the sun,

  Or like a moon mounted upon a branch.

  May God decree that we should never part,

  Until we lie enshrouded in the grave.

  She clasped him to her breast and invited him to take her. He deflowered her and found her to be a virgin whom no husband had known and no man had touched. He was delighted and filled with love for her, while her love for him was twice as great.

  They stayed enjoying their delights until the girls came back from hunting, disarmed, put on their female clothes and greeted their mistress before sitting down at table and eating.

  It was then that she went up to them and said: ‘Damn you! You didn’t tell me what happened to you.’ They looked at her in astonishment, realizing that she must have seen the prince and that denial would do no good. So they told her what had happened and said: ‘Lady, we did not dare tell you about this, and none of us knew that the others were pregnant. Here we are before you, so do with us what you want.’ ‘I myself have taken him as a lover,’ she told them, ‘and none of you is to approach him. Meanwhile look after yourselves until you give birth.’

  The narrator went on: The prince continued for a long time to enjoy the most luxurious of lives with the lady who conceived his child and who loved him devotedly. Then one day she told him: ‘Darling, I am going to leave you for a single day, and if you are distressed by my absence, open the store chambers and look at what is in them, all except for this one, which you are not to approach or open.’ ‘To hear is to obey,’ he replied, after which she gave him the keys and rode off with all her girls.

  The prince, left on his own, was heavy-hearted as he thought over his position. He went to the store chambers and began to open them, one after the other, looking at the wealth and precious treasures they contained, the jewels of various kinds, the arms and armour and the other valuables, such as no king on earth could match.

  He went on doing this until he came to the last of them, apart from the one that he had been told not to enter. He found himself tempted, thinking that unless it contained the most splendid of all the lady’s possessions she would not have forbidden him to look at it. He went up to the door and looked inside through a chink in it. What he saw was a most beautiful horse, which addressed him eloquently and said: ‘Open the door for me, young man, and remove the fetters from my hooves so that I may take you to a pleasant land and a great kingdom which will be more attractive to you than having to live here alone with this damned shameless and wily sorceress.’

  The prince, astonished by this, opened the door, removed the fetters and saddled and bridled the horse. He was about to mount when up came the lady, whose instinct had warned her of what was happening. He trembled at the sight of her, but the horse told him: ‘Don’t be afraid but mount me, for she will not be able to catch up with me.’ At that the prince mounted, and the horse flew up with him into the air.
‘Damn you, you have done it, you bastard!’ the lady shrieked and the horse replied: ‘Yes, he did it, and God released me at his hands.’

  It flew away with him across the land, passing over desert wastes, rough country and plains, pursued by the lady until she found that she could not catch up, and the prince drew away from her. He went on until he reached an enormous city, passing all description, and here the horse told him to dismount. Night had fallen, and when he dismounted the horse told him: ‘Have no fear but sit down so that I may tell you my story.’ The prince sat and asked it for this, at which it began: ‘You should know that I am the sister of the lady with whom you were, the mistress of those girls. We have another sister in this city, the most beautiful of all God’s creation. I and my sister with whom you stayed studied sorcery until we became adepts. She ran away from her father, taking the girls with her, and isolated herself in that castle. After I had mastered another branch of sorcery I went to join her and stayed with her. One day I angered her by finding some fault with her, and she put a spell on me, turning me into a horse and imprisoning me in that store room, as you saw. I had been there for thirteen months before God sent you to me and I was freed at your hands. I have vowed to put myself in your hands and to carry you over every desert waste. I should tell you that my younger sister has a huge castle on the far side of a great river, where she has girls to wait on her. My father produced the river to cut her off from people, and whoever crosses it can marry her. Many princes have sought for her but none of them has been able to cross the river thanks to the strength of the current and the violence of the waves. Mount me tomorrow morning and go into the city to the king’s palace in order to see him. If you are given permission, enter his presence and ask him for my sister’s hand. When he asks you whether you know the condition that you must cross the river, tell him that you do. Then, when you get to the bank and cross over, you will obtain one who is unique in her age, of unmatched beauty, and this city and its surroundings will be yours.’

  The prince was delighted and expressed his profuse thanks. He scarcely believed that dawn was coming before he mounted and rode off gladly and happily. When he entered the city the people there were amazed at how handsome he looked and as he rode on through the streets to the gate of the royal palace they were still admiring him.

  Permission was asked for him to enter, and when this had been granted he went in and saw a huge palace in wide grounds, a seat of sovereignty over which only God, the Omniscient Listener, had power. When he came before the king he greeted him eloquently and called down God’s mercy on him. The king, who was struck by his appearance, told him to be seated and started to talk to him, putting friendly questions to him before asking him what it was he wanted. ‘Your Majesty,’ the prince replied, ‘I am here as a suitor, so do not send me away disappointed.’

  ‘My son,’ said the king, ‘have you heard of the condition that you must cross the river?’ ‘Yes, Your Majesty,’ the prince said, ‘but I am anxious to have you as a father-in-law, and if I escape death this will be thanks to my good fortune and if I die I shall be like those who died before me.’ The king said: ‘My son, this is a serious matter on which you are embarking, fraught with perils that would whiten the hair of a child.’ ‘There is no might and no power except in the hands of God, the Almighty and Omnipotent,’ the prince said, after which the king told him to spend the night in the palace and then next morning to do what he wanted. The prince agreed and passed the night there in the greatest comfort.

  Next morning the king ordered his men to mount, which they quickly did, and he himself rode out, accompanied by the prince on his enchanted horse. The whole troop, prince and all, rode on until they reached a huge river, where the king and his men halted. They were saddened by the fact that so handsome a young man was facing death. For his part the sight of the size of the river and of the castle on its far side amazed and perplexed him, and he repeated to himself those words whose reciter is never forsaken: ‘There is no might and no power except in the hands of God, the Almighty and Omnipotent.’ He then took his leave of the king and shouted to his horse, which bounded beneath him like an arrow seeking its mark and plunged into the river. The king and his men watched as it took its rider through the waves and across the river, which was as broad as a sea, until he reached the far side and then came back to halt in front of the king.

  The king was delighted to see him and presented him with a robe of honour, calling to the leaders of his state that if they loved him they should do the same. They loaded him with robes, and the king then returned to his palace with the prince at his side. He summoned the qadi and the necessary witnesses and married the prince to his daughter before sending him off to her by ship and arranging a great wedding.

  At the end of this the bride was brought to the groom, and when he was alone with her he saw that she was more dazzling than the sun and lovelier than the moon. Love for her entered his heart, while she fell more deeply in love with him. She asked him about himself, and he explained all that had happened to him with his father, how he had got to the castle and of his dealings with her elder sister. He then told her about her middle sister and how she was the horse which had taken him to her. This astonished her, and she went off to discover her sister in the shape of a horse. ‘Are you my sister Shah Zanan?’ she said, going up to her. ‘Yes, Badr al-Zaman,’ replied the other, ‘and your sister has brought grief on the kings of Khurasan. She did this to me, bewitching me and turning me into the shape that you can see, but the Great and Glorious God granted me this young man.’ Badr al-Zaman kissed her between the eyes and asked her to resume her proper shape, but she said: ‘By God, I shall not do that, as I have given myself to him and am content to stay like this. I have picked him out for you as he deserves someone like you and you deserve someone like him.’ Badr al-Zaman thanked her and treated her with the greatest respect.

  The narrator continued: After the prince had stayed with Badr al-Zaman for five years his father Bahram fell gravely ill, and when he was on the point of death he sent for the prince and named him as his heir. A few days later he died and joined his Lord, while the prince sat on his throne, ruling over all his lands and his followers with beneficence and generosity. Badr al-Zaman gave birth to three boys, who were taught all that princes need to know, writing, archery, riding and polo.

  One day their father was riding with them to the polo ground. They were handsome boys like branches of a tree and, surrounded by their mamluks, they shone like stars, wearing differently coloured clothes. Just then a cloud of dust rose up, blocking the horizon, and when the prince asked his men what it was, they said that they did not know. He was riding on his horse at the time, and the horse said: ‘Master, you should know that this is my elder sister and her girls. She has come to you with all her followers as she knows that you have taken over this great kingdom. She has taken with her all the gold, silver and jewels that were in her castle and has brought it all to you. Every one of the girls whom you impregnated gave birth to a boy fairer than the moon, and they are all mounted on Arab horses. She herself gave birth to a son more beautiful than the sun, and it is he who commands the forty others.’

  When he heard this, the prince dismounted and gave thanks to Almighty God before remounting and riding out, surrounded by his three sons, with his mamluks at his rear and followed by the rest of his troops. When he got near to the newcomers he was overjoyed to see what his horse had described for him and gave thanks and praise to the Almighty. The girls dismounted in front of him and approached while the princess went up and kissed him. He welcomed her warmly and joyfully, and she told him to receive his sons, saying: ‘I have brought them up in all the branches of culture fit for kings. You may have broken your covenant with me, but I have kept it and I have come to you myself together with all that I own.’ At that the prince prostrated himself to God and prayed that she be granted a good return. ‘This is your father,’ she told her son and his brothers, ‘and these three are your brothers
. Go to him and present your services, for God has brought you together.’ At that he went back to the city, escorted by his forty sons and their mothers, leaving the citizens astonished by the remarkable nature of this strange tale.

  The king’s eldest daughter was installed in a fine palace beside that of the prince, and he provided her with an allowance sufficient for her needs and for her maids, as well as granting her so many estates and villages that it would tire the tongue to describe them. This was because he feared her powers of sorcery and the evil that she might do to her middle sister. She realized this and told him one day that she wanted to meet her sister, but he refused to allow this, saying that he was afraid of her sorcerous wiles. ‘I repent at your hands of the practice of magic for the rest of my life,’ she said, ‘and I only left my own castle after having turned in repentance to the Great and Glorious God.’

  The prince was relieved on hearing this and made her give him a sacred covenant that she would not revert to sorcery. He arranged for her to meet her sister, after having consulted his horse about that. The horse told him that he could set his mind at rest since even if she did use sorcery, as she might, it would be able to counter the spells. In fact she did not use any magic, and the horse kept its shape in spite of the fact that her sisters kept coming to her and asking her to resume her human form, which she refused to do.

  The narrator continued: One day the prince remembered what his father had done to him by exposing him in the desert and he prayed God to bring them together so that his father might see him and the kingdom, wealth and sons with which Almighty God had provided him. God answered his prayer, and one day, as he was riding his horse, which knew the wish that he had made to God, it asked whether he would like to be reunited with his father to show him what he had been given. ‘How can I meet him?’ he asked, and the horse said: ‘Don’t disturb yourself. It was only for this that I have stayed in this horse shape and I shall get you what you want.’ ‘I would like my father to see what God has given me,’ he acknowledged. ‘You are welcome,’ she said before speaking words that he could not understand. At that a huge, black ‘ifrit named Qudah appeared in front of them, and she said: ‘Qudah, you know what this young man has done with me. He wants to see his father to show him all that God has given him.’ ‘Tell me how he wants to appear, in a good light or a bad?’ Qudah said, and she told him: ‘On his regal throne in the place of his glory.’ ‘Then ask him whether he wants to go to his father or have his father come to him,’ Qudah went on, and she said: ‘He should go to his father with all his troops, his horsemen and his sons.’ ‘When do you want that to happen?’ he asked, and the prince said: ‘Tomorrow night.’ ‘To hear is to obey,’ answered Qudah.