Part 2

Full of wonder, she drew up her feet to earth, and advancing, cautiously turned back the coverlet from the sleeper's face. Thereafter she stood for a whole hour lost in wonder and astonishment at the beauty which she found there: perfect in all its lines and colour and texture was the loveliness of the sleeping youth, and there arose from his body an odour like fragrant musk. Meymooneh snuffed at it, and her heart became enlarged, lifting her thoughts toward Heaven. 'Blessed be Allah!' she cried, 'surely He must be good to have created this thing.' And as she continued to gaze, her mind acquired a benevolence which had long since been strange to it. 'By Allah,' she said, 'in no way will I injure him; rather will I watch over and protect him from any that may seek to do him harm.' And so saying she stooped over the youth and kissed him between the eyes.

Then elated of heart she spread her wings and smiting the earth with her heel sprang upward and floated away into space, till the heavens about her were clear. As she rose up through clouds she heard above her head a flapping of wings, and there passed one she knew by his tail to be Dahnash, an Efreet greatly inferior in power to herself. After him she went like a hawk, pounced and caught him by the scruff.

Dahnash, perceiving into whose clutches he had fallen, quivered through all his members, and imploring pardon for his existence cried, 'I conjure thee by the Most High Name and the sign on the Seal of Solomon that this time and for the present thou shouldst release me. So will I go upon my errand and return presently.'

Then said Meymooneh, 'By the high oath which thou hast sworn, what errand art thou after?'

Dahnash answered, 'I have seen once with mine eyes that which should make the wicked virtuous, and the foul-minded clean; therefore I am in haste to make known the story of it to others less virtuous than thou art; so that they too may see it and find reward.'

'Though I am more virtuous than thou art,' replied Meymooneh, 'yet shalt thou tell me thy story, else I will pluck off every scale from thy body and every feather from thy wings and throw thee to the bottomless pit. And if what thou tellest be not true then also shalt thou fare as I have said.'

Then said Dahnash,' O Meymooneh, if my word be not true, invent for me what tortures thou wilt and I will accept them. I am come to-night from the farthest isles of China, which are the dominions of King Gaiour, who is lord also of the Seas and of the Seven Palaces. There have I seen the Princess, his daughter, for whom also these palaces were built; surely there is none like her in all the world! Her hair is as dark as the night of separation and exile, and her face is like the dawn when lovers meet to embrace; her nose hath both point and edge, and her cheeks are like petals of anemone filled with wine. When she speaks, wisdom flows from her tongue; and when she moves, her feet faint with delight under the burden of the loveliness laid on them. The King's love for her is so great that there is no limit to what he will bestow on her if only it may add to her happiness; therefore in her honour hath he built the seven palaces: the first is of crystal, the second of marble, the third of steel, the fourth of onyx, the fifth silver, the sixth is of inlaid gold, and the seventh of all manner of jewels. Also these palaces are most sumptuously furnished, and around them lie gardens embellished with everything that can soothe the senses and delight the eye. Yet all this is but as a shade when the beauty of the Princess shines in the midst of it. Because the fame of her incomparable loveliness has gone far and wide, many kings and powerful princes come to demand her hand in marriage. But so tender is the King's love for her, that in all these years without her free consent he has married her to none. Many a time has he sought to persuade her, but it is all in vain. 'For where,' says the Princess, 'shall I have honour and freedom such as I enjoy now? Here I sit at thy side in council and am a ruler over men; but if I marry then will my husband rule me.' And now there has come to the court of King Gaiour, another monarch, so dreaded and so powerful that his suit cannot be refused. Nevertheless the Princess, whose name is Badoura, will not consent; and having threatened to kill herself rather than submit, the King now treats her as insane in order to excuse himself, and hath shut her up in one of her palaces with ten old women to look after her. There she has been confined for a whole year, but the imprisonment has done nothing either to change her will or diminish the enchantment of her beauty. So to-night when I saw her lying asleep every evil thought and passion died within me, for so holy is her beauty that I respected her even as I respect myself. Come, Meymooneh, and you shall see what is indeed a miracle and a wonder!'

So far had Dahnash proceeded, when Meymooneh impatiently interrupted him. First, she cuffed him over the head, and then spitting in his face cried with laughter, 'O fool, what eyes have you to behold beauty, or what tongue to tell of it? This Princess that you speak of is, I doubt not, a poor insignificant creature not worth looking at. What would you say, then, if I shewed you my own beloved? Little talk would there be then of this fine Princess of yours; you would have but to look at him once and you would go crazy with jealousy.'

Dahnash replied humbly, 'O Mistress of language and of facts, far be it from me to deny beauty that you yourself have verified; but neither can I deny that which I, in turn, have beheld and think to be incomparable. All I can ask, therefore, is that you should accompany me to the bedchamber of this adorable Princess, where she now lies sleeping, and judge for yourself.'

'Not so,' answered Meymooneh, 'wherefore should I travel to the far ends of China merely to prove thy folly and thy falsehood? Here close at hand is the tower wherein my beloved lies prisoner; come, then, and see for yourself the face of him whose loveliness even in sleep puts all other beauty to scorn.'

So they descended, and passing through the roof and floors of the tower came to the dungeon below, where Camaralzaman lay sleeping. There by the bedside Meymooneh put forth her hand and drew back the sheet; and Dahnash gazed with awe and remained silent, for doubt swayed him. Nevertheless after a while he said, 'O Meymooneh, though my word may seem hard to believe, yet do I still say that she whom I saw is fairer than this youth; and needs must it be so, since the fairest woman is by her sex made fairer than the fairest man. But for that, these two whom we contend over might be twin flowers from the same stem, so like are they.'

When Meymooneh heard that she struck him a hard blow over the head with her wing, crying, 'Go, accursed one, fly back to China, lift up thy beloved and bring her quickly to this place; so when we see them side by side shall it be manifest which one is the more beautiful. Then if I am right thou shalt pay forfeit to me, and if thou art right I will pay.'

Then with inconceivable swiftness Dahnash departed; and within an hour returned bearing the Princess in his arms. She was clad in a gown of finest silk with two borders of gold, and when the Efreet laid her upon the bed beside Camaralzaman, the two proved to be so alike that they might have been twin brother and sister. Nevertheless Meymooneh and Dahnash continued to say each to each, 'My beloved is more beautiful than thine.' Nor was agreement possible between them.

Therefore after much strife, wherein Dahnash, though physically worsted, stuck to his opinion, they determined to refer the matter to an arbitrator, and by his sentence to abide.

Then Meymooneh struck the ground with her foot and cried 'Kashkash!' Instantly the earth opened and there arose from it an Efreet hideous to look upon; he was blind of an eye, and lame of a leg, and upon his back he carried a hump bigger than the rest of his body; and when he saw Meymooneh he prostrated himself before her, saying, 'O Mistress and daughter of Kings, what dost thou require of me?'

Meymooneh told him of the contention that had arisen between them, and showing him the Prince and Princess lying side by side called on him to say which was the more beautiful of the two.

But Kashkash, having considered them for a while with great attention, replied, 'When mortals are endowed with such beauty as these, then only themselves can decide. Let us, then, awake them each in turn, and the one that draws from the other the most violent protestations of love and admiration shall be esteemed the more beautiful.'

This proposal was approved both by Meymooneh and Dahnash.

Thereupon Meymooneh transformed herself into a flea, and leaping upon Camaralzaman's neck bit him in a soft place. The youth put up his hand and rubbed to allay the smarting; then moving sideways he touched something that stirred, and starting up saw by his side a maiden of most marvellous beauty.

No sooner had he beheld her than all his reasons against marriage were confounded and put to flight; and he said within his heart, 'What God desireth will come to pass, and what He desireth not will not happen.' Then taking the Princess by the hand, he endeavoured gently to rouse her, and ceasing not to invoke her with words and kisses of tenderness, he would infallibly have awakened her had not Dahnash bound her by a spell.

Then, seeing how fast she slept, 'What!' cried the Prince, 'must the love of Camaralzaman admit an impediment such as this? Awake, O beloved!' Carried away by his words he was tempted for a moment to assail her rudely, but then the nobility of his nature reasserted itself and respect for her beauty and innocence constrained him. Then he bethought himself, and said, 'Doubtless this is the honourable maiden to whom the King, my father, intended to marry me. Oh why, instead of argument, did he not show me her face? So would none of this trouble have come about!'

Then perceiving upon the Princess's finger a ring, he drew it off and exchanged it for his own, saying, 'Since I may not yet possess myself of the owner I will take this.' And having so done, he turned his back to her and slept.

Then Meymooneh, jealous of the testimony which Camaralzaman had given to the Princess's beauty, transformed herself again into a flea, and entering beneath the clothes of Badoura, the beloved of Dahnash, bit her sharply; whereupon she opened her eyes and sat up; and there at her side beheld a youth snoring in his sleep, with eyelashes shading roseate cheeks and a mouth like the seal of Solomon. No sooner had she seen him than her heart was filled with contending emotions. 'Oh me!' she cried, 'what disgrace is this that has come upon me to be lying in the same bed with a stranger? But, by Allah, he is so beautiful that I have much ado not to love him to distraction. Nay, if this be the Prince who came demanding my hand in marriage of my father, I would have been willing to marry him ten times over had I but known beforehand.'

So saying she seized Camaralzaman by the arm and shook him so violently that, saving for the enchantment, he must surely have awakened.

Thereat she lost patience. 'Self-satisfied youth,' she cried, 'is this the way to behave to a Princess upon the night of her bridal? What? has so much beauty made thee proud?' Then as love began to devour her heart, 'O my lord,' she cried, 'light of mine eyes, and moon of my existence, arise, awake out of sleep!' And forthwith seizing his hand she began kissing it. While she was doing so she saw her ring upon his little finger, and uttered a cry of astonishment; while even greater became her amaze when she found upon her own hand a strange ring. This, she thought, must surely mean that she had become wedded to him in her sleep, so putting away all false modesty and fear she lay down again by his side, and fell fast asleep.

Then Meymooneh and Dahnash, seeing how evenly between the pair the balance of love and admiration was divided, composed their difference; and Dahnash, taking the sleeping Princess upon his shoulder, carried her back to China.

When Camaralzaman awoke the next morning to find no maiden at his side, he supposed that the King, his father, had caused her to be carried away secretly, in order that thereby his desire for her might be increased. So he called to the slave who guarded him and said, 'Tell me of the lady who slept with me last night: how came she, and who brought her?'

The slave replied, 'O Prince, there was no lady; how could any lady get in while I slept all night across the doorway, and had the key?'

This answer so infuriated the Prince that he fetched the slave a buffet which knocked him over; then tying him to the well rope he let him down into the well, though it was the middle of winter; and this he continued to do, now up, now down, saying as he did so, 'When thou hast told me the truth I will let thee go.'

After a while the unfortunate slave, at the last gasp for wretchedness, cried, 'O Prince, restore to me my life and I will tell thee all.'

So Camaralzaman drew him up and laid him to drain upon the floor.

Then the eunuch, with shiverings and chattering of teeth, said, 'Alas, Master, in my present plight I have not tongue nor wits to tell thee the whole story. Suffer me to go hence and get dry, then will I return.' So Camaralzaman let him go.

Off ran the eunuch, and without stopping came even as he was into the presence of Shahzaman, the King. Shahzaman was complaining to the Grand Vizier of the misery he had endured and the restless night he had passed, when the slave entered all a-drench with wetness and forthwith uttered his tidings. 'O King,' he cried, 'insanity hath seized on thy son, and thus hath he done to me! He saith there hath been a lady in his bed, when there hath been no lady; and because I cannot tell him how she came or how she went, or where now he can find her, see from what a drowning I have escaped!'

When the King heard these words his sorrow for his son and his wrath against the Vizier knew no bounds. 'Go, accursed,' he cried, 'this is thy doing. Go to the Prince and discover the true cause of his malady; then come again and tell me.'

So the Vizier hastened, treading upon his skirts as he went forth in fear of the King's anger, and coming to the tower found the Prince not mad at all, but seated upon the couch reciting verses from the Koran with the utmost composure.

'O Prince,' cried the Vizier, 'the mere sight of thee relieves me of affliction; but so have I the more reason to complain of that vile slave who attends on thee, and hath said shameful things concerning thee to thy father, the King.'

'I also,' answered the Prince, 'have great reason to complain of him; but let that be for a while, and tell me now what has become of the lady who slept with me last night? For I know my father must have sent her to me for a just purpose, and to cure me of my folly: which indeed she hath done. So let that sweet remedy return to me and you shall find me sane.'

'Of a truth, Prince,' replied the Vizier, 'the King, thy father, sent no lady to thee, and all that thou sayest now is mystery. Bethink thee, shut in here a prisoner, how canst thou have seen any lady with thine eyes except in a dream?'

'O ill-omened old man,' cried the Prince, 'thou wilt be saying next that I saw her only with my ears!' And approaching the Vizier he seized him by the beard, which was long, and twisting it this way and that, cried, 'Tell me the truth, or I will treat thee as I did the slave!'

Then the Vizier, to save himself from further ill-treatment, replied even as the slave had done, and said, 'O Prince, I am not free to reveal the secrets of my master, but I will take to him any message wherewith you may be pleased to entrust me.'

'Go, then,' answered the Prince, 'and tell my father that I repent of my former words and will marry the lady he sent to me last night, but no other, though he should put me to a thousand deaths!'

So the Vizier, as soon as Camaralzaman had let go of his beard, returned in haste to the King and said to him, 'O my lord, what the slave says is true; the Prince hath been seized with insanity of the most violent kind; yea, he heareth with his eyes, and seeth with his ears, and declareth a lady hath slept with him, whom he will marry and no other.'

Then Shahzaman went himself to see the Prince and to learn the truth of this matter, for he doubted the Vizier's word. And when he came to the prison, his son received him with so much respect, and contrition and devotion, that he turned upon the Vizier with eyes of anger and reproach, crying, 'O wretch, why hast thou afflicted me with lies?' But the Vizier only shook his head sorrowfully, waiting for the truth to reveal itself.

Then said the King, 'O my son, what day of the week is it?' Camaralzaman answered, 'To-day is Saturday, to-morrow is Sunday, the next day is Monday, then comes Tuesday, then Wednesday, then Thursday and then Friday.'

'Praise be to Allah!' cried the King, 'my son is not mad, for he knows the days of the week.' Then he said to Camaralzaman, 'Tell me, my son, who is this lady who, you say, slept with you last night; for truly I know nothing about her.'

'O my lord,' replied the Prince, 'I pray that you cease to mock me, for though I have deserved it through my folly, yet now am I ready and eager to marry this lady whom you have chosen for me, since her beauty delights me, and her manners, even in her sleep, fascinate me.'

On hearing these words the King was as much astonished as the Vizier had been; but the countenance of his son was so full of ingenuousness and truth that he was not as incredulous as the others had been before him. 'I swear to you, my son,' said he, 'that I know nothing of this matter. What my Vizier has told you, he invented to appease your anger. But now tell me everything, just as it happened, for whether it be true or no, this event has given me cause for rejoicing.'

Then the Prince sat down by his father's side and told him everything, and when he had finished he showed him the ring for proof that his tale was true; and the King was so convinced by his son's manner and by all the incidents of the story, that he had not a word to say against it.

Therefore was his heart uplifted, and he said to Camaralzaman, 'Though all these things be mysteries in the hands of Allah, so deep that we may not fathom them, yet now hast thou convinced me that thou art not as was said of thee. Keep, therefore, that precious mind to which Heaven hath given light, and possess thyself in patience till the mystery hath resolved itself.'

But Camaralzaman replied, 'Alas, O my father, to what term of imprisonment dost thou now condemn me? for if thou canst not find for me this maiden who hath ravished my heart, surely I shall die of anguish. So great is my love and my distraction that I cannot wait for her even an hour.'

Upon this the King smote his palms together, and cried, 'Now are we in the hands of Allah, where no mortal power can avail!' Then he took his son gently by the hand and led him back to the palace: and there the Prince threw himself down upon a bed of sickness, too weak to rise or look up: and Shahzaman seated himself at his side, mourning and weeping for his grief, and leaving him neither by day or night.

But after a while his Vizier came to him and said, 'O King of the Age, how long shall thy people seek for thee, and not find thee? Thy troops murmur that they have none to lead them to the field, and in the city corruption grows rife because the seat of judgment stays empty. This sickness into which the Prince has fallen comes only from grief; and as his grief increases thine, so does thine give nourishment to his. Therefore I entreat your Majesty to provide some better relief for the complaint both of the Prince and of the people. Here in the city his spirits languish and his strength returns not; but take him to the palace which is upon the shore looking toward the islands; there shall his soul, on the days when thou art absent, find peace and refreshment. And do thou, O King, on two days in each week return to the affairs of state, which need thy presence, to give audiences and to hold councils, else out of these two evils which are upon us there may grow a greater.'

So Shahzaman did as his Vizier advised him, and caused the Prince to be carried, all wasted as he was with grief, to a pavilion which was upon the shore, and there on the days when affairs of state caused the King to be absent Camaralzaman lay and looked out over the sea.

While these things were happening in the land of Khaledan, Dahnash had conveyed the Princess of China safely back to her own bed. There the next morning she awoke, unstained by travel and with her raiment undisturbed; nor was she conscious that she had been anywhere but where she now was. No sooner, therefore, did she perceive on looking to left and right that the youth who had lain in her bosom was no longer near her than her heart became agitated and her reason confounded, and she uttered a loud cry.

All her women came running; and her nurse, who was the chief, inquired what misfortune had befallen her. The Princess, who continued to search among the bedclothes, said, 'Vexatious and contrary old woman, what have you done with the beautiful youth who slept last night in my bosom, or how comes it that I have mislaid him?'

At these words the nurse was shocked in her morals and confounded in her understanding, and she answered, 'O mistress, what mean these disgraceful words! Surely thy bosom is guiltless of any such deed, and no youth, whether beautiful or otherwise, has been near thee.'

Badoura answered, 'He had black eyes and a lovely face, and a mouth like the seal of Solomon, and his eyebrows were joined where I kissed them; and he was here sleeping at my side from nightfall to nigh upon daybreak.'

'Princess,' answered her nurse, 'thou hast had an unpermissible dream and art talking non-sense. No such young man hath been near thee, nor would I have permitted it.'

Then the Princess lifting her hand in anger saw upon it the ring which Camaralzaman had given her in exchange for her own, and cried to her nurse, 'Woe to thee, O deceitful! Have I also dreamed this ring which is not mine and lost that which belonged to me?' And so saying she started to belabour her nurse so unmercifully, that she would assuredly have killed her had not all the other women and the eunuchs lifted up their voices in lamentation; whereupon the Princess, who greatly disliked loud noises, desisted.

So the nurse, escaping from her vengeance, fled and acquainted the King with all that had happened and with the story which the Princess had told her.

The King came in haste and found that which till now he had only pretended concerning his daughter apparently come true. For excess of reason had fled to her brain, and rushing this way and that she was searching for her beloved in every cupboard, and under every article of furniture, crying, 'Where is the beautiful youth who slept in my bosom last night? He belongs to me; he is mine. If I do not find him I shall die.'

When her father saw and heard this he inquired no further, but ordered the slaves and eunuchs to seize her, and bind her with chains lest she should do herself or others an injury.