Part 16

Here Scheherazade broke off the discourse, and said to the sultan of the Indies, Sir, my sister called upon me this morning sooner than ordinary; I fear I have wearied your majesty’s patience. But now day appears in very good time, and commands my silence. Schahriar’s curiosity still prevailed upon him to dispense with his cruel oath.

FIFTY-EIGHTH NIGHT.

Dinarzade did not call so early this night as she did the last, yet she called upon the sultaness before day: If you be not asleep, sister, pray continue the story of the third calender. Scheherazade resumed it thus, personating the calender in his discourse to Zobeide.

Madam, when the gentleman had ended this discourse, I wrapt myself in the sheep’s skin, held fast the knife which was given me; and after those young gentlemen had been at the trouble to sew the skin about me, they retired into the hall, and left me on the spot. The roc they spoke of was not long coming; he fell upon me, took me in his talons like a sheep, and carried me up to the top of the mountain.

When I found myself upon the ground, I made use of the knife, cut the skin, and throwing it off, the roc at the sight of me flew away. This roc is a white bird, of a monstrous size; his strength is such, that he can lift up elephants from the plains, and carry them to the tops of mountains, where he feeds upon them.

Being impatient till I reached the castle, I lost no time; but made so much haste that I got thither in half a day’s journey, and I must say that I found it surpassed the description they had given me of it.

The gate being open, I entered into a court that was square, and so large that there were round it ninety-nine gates of wood of sanders and aloes, with one of gold, without reckoning those of several magnificent stair-cases, that led to apartments above, besides many more, which I could not see. The hundred doors which I spoke of opened into gardens or store-houses full of riches, or into places which contained things wonderful to be seen.

I saw a door standing open just before me, through which I entered into a large hall, where I found forty young ladies of such perfect beauty that imagination could not surpass it; they were all most sumptuously apparelled; and as soon as they saw me rose up, and without expecting my compliments, said to me, with demonstrations of joy, noble sir, you are very welcome. And one spoke to me in the name of the rest, thus: We have been in expectation a long while of such a gentleman as you: your mien assures us, that you are master of all the good qualities we can wish for; and we hope you will not find our company disagreeable or unworthy of your’s.

They forced me, notwithstanding all the opposition I could make, to sit down on a seat that was higher than their own, and though I signified that I was uneasy; That is your place, said they; you are at present our lord, master, and judge, and we are your slaves, ready to obey your commands.

Nothing in the world, madam, did so much astonish me as the passion and eagerness of those fair ladies to do me all possible service. One brought hot water to wash my feet; a second poured sweet scented water on my hands; others brought me all sorts of necessaries, and change of apparel; others brought in a magnificent collation; and the rest came with glasses in their hands to fill me delicious wines, all in good order, and in the most charming manner possible. I ate and drank; after which the ladies placed themselves about me, and desired an account of my travels. I gave them a full relation of my adventures, which lasted till night came on.

Scheherazade making a stop here, her sister asked her the reason. Do you not see it is day? said the sultaness; wherefore did you not call me sooner?

The sultan, expecting some pleasant adventures from the arrival of the third calender at the palace of the forty ladies, would not deprive himself of the pleasure of hearing them; and therefore again put off the death of the sultaness.

FIFTY-NINTH NIGHT.

Dinarzade slept as long this night as she did the last; and when it was almost day, she called to the sultaness, Dear sister, if you be not asleep, pray tell us what passed in the fine castle where you left us yesterday. I will, said Scheherazade; and, addressing her speech to the sultan, said, Sir, the calender resumed his narrative after this manner:--

When I had made an end of my story, which I related to the forty ladies, some of them that sat nearest to me staid to keep me company, whilst the rest, seeing it was dark, rose up to fetch tapers. They brought a prodigious quantity, which made such a wonderful light, as if it had been day, and they were so properly disposed, that nothing could be more beautiful.

Other ladies covered a table with dry fruits, sweetmeats, and every thing proper to relish the liquor; a sideboard was set out with several sorts of wine and other liquors. Some of the ladies came in with musical instruments; and when every thing was ready, they invited me to sit down to supper. The ladies sat down with me, and we continued a long while at supper. They that were to play upon the instruments and sing rose up, and formed a most charming concert. The others began a sort of ball, and danced two and two, one after another, with a wonderful good grace.

It was past midnight ere those divertisements ended. At length one of the ladies said to me, You are doubtless wearied by the journey you have taken to-day; it is time for you to go to rest --your lodging is prepared; but before you depart, make choice of any of us you like best to be your bed-fellow. I answered, that I knew better than to offer to make my own choice, since they were all equally beautiful, witty, and worthy of my respects and service, and that I would not be guilty of so much incivility as to prefer one before another.

The same lady that spoke to me before, answered, We are very well satisfied of your civility, and find you are afraid to create a jealousy among us, which occasions your modesty: but let not this hinder you; we assure you that the good fortune of her whom you choose shall cause no jealousy; for we are agreed among ourselves, that every one of us shall have the same honour till it go round; and when forty days are past, to begin again; --therefore make your free choice, and lose no time to go and take the repose you stand in need of. I was obliged to yield to their intreaties, and offered my hand to the lady that spoke; she, in return, gave me her’s, and we were conducted to a sumptuous apartment, where they left us; and then every one retired to their own apartment. But day appears, sir, said Scheherazade to the sultan; and your majesty, I hope, will permit me to leave the calender prince with his lady. Schahriar returned no answer, but said to himself, as he got up, I must allow that the story is extraordinary, and I should be very much to blame not to hear it out.

SIXTIETH NIGHT.

Dinarzade did not fail about the latter end of the next night to address the sultaness thus: If you be not asleep, sister, pray relate to us the remaining part of the wonderful story of the third calender. --Most willingly, said Scheherazade. The prince continued it thus: I was scarce dressed next morning, when the other thirty-nine ladies came into my chamber, all in different dresses from those they had on the day before: they bade me good-morrow, and inquired after my health; after which they carried me to a bath, where they washed me themselves, and whether I would or no, served me with every thing I stood in need of; and when I came out of the bath, they made me put on another suit much richer than the former.

We passed the whole day almost constantly at table; and when it was bed-time, they prayed me again to make choice of one of them to keep me company. In short, madam, not to weary you with repetitions, I must tell you that I continued a whole year among those forty ladies, and received them into my bed one after another: and during all the time of this voluptuous life, we met not with the least kind of trouble. When the year was expired, I was strangely surprised that these forty ladies, instead of appearing with their usual cheerfulness to ask how I did, entered one morning into my chamber all in tears. They embraced me with great tenderness one after another, saying, Adieu, dear prince, adieu! for we must leave you. Their tears affected me; I prayed them to tell me the reason of their grief, and of the separation they spoke of. For God’s sake, fair ladies, let me know, said I, if it be in my power to comfort you, or if my assistance can be any way useful to you. Instead of returning a direct answer, Would to God, said they, we had never seen or known you! Several gentlemen have honoured us with their company before you; but never one of them had that comeliness, that sweetness, that pleasantness of humour, and that merit which you possess; we know not how to live without you. After they spoke these words, they began to weep bitterly. My dear ladies, said I, be so kind as not to keep me in suspense any longer: tell me the cause of your sorrow. --Alas, said they, what but the necessity of parting from you could be capable of grieving us? It may so happen that we shall never see you again; but if you be so minded, and possess sufficient self-command, it is not impossible for us to meet again. --Ladies, said I, I understand not your meaning; pray explain yourselves more clearly.

Oh then, said one of them, to satisfy you, we must acquaint you that we are all princesses, daughters of kings: we live here together in such a manner as you have seen; but at the end of every year we are obliged to be absent forty days upon indispensable duties, which we are not permitted to reveal; and afterwards we return again to this castle. Yesterday was the last of the year, and we must leave you this day, which is the cause of our grief. Before we depart we will leave you the keys of every thing, especially those belonging to the hundred doors, where you will find enough to satisfy your curiosity, and to sweeten your solitude during our absence: but for your own welfare, and our particular concern in you, we recommend unto you to forbear opening the golden door: for if you do we shall never see you again: and the fear of this augments our grief. We hope, nevertheless, that you will follow the advice we give you, as you tender your own quiet, and the happiness of your life; therefore take heed that you do not give way to indiscreet curiosity, for you will do yourself a considerable prejudice. We conjure you not to commit this fault, but to let us have the satisfaction of finding you here again after forty days. We would willingly carry the key of the golden door along with us; but that it would be an affront to a prince like you to question your discretion and modesty. --Scheherazade wished to go on; but she saw day appear, and stopped. The sultan being curious to know what the third calender would do when the forty ladies were gone, and had left him alone in the castle, deferred the hearing of it till next day.

SIXTY-FIRST NIGHT.

The officious Dinarzade being awake long before day, called to the sultaness; If you be not asleep, sister, consider that it is time to tell the remaining part of the story to our lord the sultan. Scheherazade, addressing herself to the sultan, said, Sir, your majesty may be pleased to know that the calender pursued his story thus:

Madam, said he, this discourse of the fair princesses grieved me extremely. I omitted not to make them sensible how much their absence would afflict me. I thanked them for their good advice, and assured them that I would follow it, and willingly do what was much more difficult in order to secure the happiness of passing the rest of my days with ladies of such rare qualifications. We took leave of one another with much tenderness, and having embraced them all, they departed, and I was left alone in the castle.

Their agreeable company, the good cheer, the concert of music, and other pleasures, had so much diverted me during the whole year, that I neither had time nor the least desire to see the wonderful things contained in this enchanted palace. I did not so much as take notice of a thousand rare objects that were every day in my sight; for I was so occupied with the charming beauty of those ladies, and took so much pleasure in seeing them wholly employed to oblige me, that their departure afflicted me very sensibly; and though their absence was to be only forty days, it seemed to me an age to live without them.

I promised myself not to forget the important advice they had given me, not to open the golden door; but as I was permitted to satisfy my curiosity in every thing else, I took the first of the keys of the other doors, which were hung in good order.

I opened the first door, and came into an orchard, which I believe the universe could not equal. I could not imagine any thing that could surpass it, but that which our religion promises us after death: the symmetry, the neatness, the admirable order of the trees, the abundance and diversity of a thousand sorts of unknown fruits, their freshness and beauty, ravished my sight.

I ought not to forget, madam, to acquaint you, that this delicious orchard, was watered after a very particular manner; there were channels so artificially and proportionably dug, that they carried water in abundance to the roots of such trees as wanted it for making them produce their leaves and flowers. Others carried it to those that had their fruit budded; some carried it in lesser quantities to those whose fruits were swelling, and others carried only so much as was just requisite to water those which had their fruit come to perfection, and only wanted to be ripened. They far exceeded the ordinary fruits of our gardens in bigness. Lastly, those channels that watered the trees, whose fruit was ripe, had no more moisture than just what would preserve them from withering.

I could never be weary of looking at and admiring so sweet a place; and I should never have left it, had I not conceived a great idea of the other things which I had not seen. I went out at last with my mind filled with those wonders; I shut that door, and opened the next.

Instead of an orchard, I found a flower-garden, which was no less extraordinary in its kind. It contained a spacious plot, not watered so profusely as the former, but with greater niceness, furnishing no more water than just what each flower required. The roses, jessamines, violets, daffodills, hyacinths, anemonies, tulips, crows-foots, pinks, lilies, and an infinite number of flowers, which do not grow in other places but at certain times, were there flourishing all at once, and nothing could be more delicious than the fragrant smell of this garden.

I opened the third door, where I found a large aviary, paved with marble of several fine uncommon colours. The cage was made of sandal wood and wood of aloes. It contained a vast number of nightingales, goldfinches, canary-birds, larks, and other rare singing-birds, which I never heard of; and the vessels that held their seed and water were of the most precious jasper or agate.

Besides, this aviary was so exceedingly neat, that considering its extent, one would think there could not be less than a hundred persons to keep it so clean; but all this while not one soul appeared, either here or in the gardens where I had been; and yet I could not perceive a weed, or any superfluous thing there. The sun went down, and I retired, charmed with the chirping notes of the multitude of birds, who then began to perch upon such places as suited them to repose on during the night. I went to my chamber, resolving to open all the rest of the doors the days following, excepting that of gold.

I failed not to open the fourth door next day, and if what I had seen before was capable of surprising me, that which I saw then put me in a perfect ecstasy. I went into a large court surrounded with buildings of an admirable structure, the description of which I will pass by, to avoid prolixity.

This building had forty doors, all open, and through each of them was an entrance into a treasury, several of which would purchase the largest kingdoms. The first contained heaps of pearls; and, what is almost incredible, the number of those stones which are most precious, and as large as pigeons’ eggs, exceeding the number of those of the ordinary size. In the second treasury there were diamonds, carbuncles, and rubies; in the third, emeralds; in the fourth, ingots of gold; in the fifth, money; in the sixth, ingots of silver; in the two following there was also money. The rest contained amethysts, chrysolites, topazes, opals, turquoises, and hyacinths, with all the other stones unknown to us, without mentioning agate, jasper, cornelian, and coral, of which there was a storehouse filled, not only with branches, but whole trees.

Transported with amazement and admiration, I cried out to myself, after having seen all these riches, If all the treasures of the kings of the universe were gathered together in one place, they could not come near this: what good fortune have I to possess all this wealth with so many admirable princesses.

I shall not stay, madam, to tell you the particulars of all the other rare and precious things I saw the following days. I shall only say that thirty-nine days afforded me but just as much time as was necessary to open ninety-nine doors, and to admire all that presented itself to my view; so that there was only the hundredth door left, the opening of which was forbidden to me.

Day began to appear in the apartments of the sultan of the Indies, which imposed silence upon Scheherazade. But Schahriar was too much taken with this pleasing story, not to hear the remainder of it next day, and accordingly he got up with that resolution.

SIXTY-SECOND NIGHT.

Dinarzade, who had as ardent a desire as Schahriar to hear what wonderful things were locked up by the key belonging to the golden door, called the sultaness very early. If you be not asleep, sister, pray make an end of that amazing story of the third calender. He went on thus, said Scheherazade; I was come to the fortieth day after the departure of those charming princesses, and had I but retained so much power over myself as I ought to have had, I should have been this day the happiest of all mankind, whereas now I am the most unfortunate. They were to return next day, and the pleasure of seeing them again ought to have restrained my curiosity: but through my weakness, which I shall ever repent, I yielded to the temptation of the evil spirit, who gave me no rest till I had involved myself in those misfortunes that I have since suffered.

I opened that fatal door, which I promised not to meddle with, and had not moved my foot to go in, when a smell that was pleasant enough, but contrary to my constitution, made me faint away. Nevertheless, I came to myself again, and instead of taking notice of this warning to shut the door, and forbear satisfying my curiosity, I went in, after I had stood some time in the air, to carry off the scent, which did not incommode me any more. I found a large place, very well vaulted; the pavement was strewed over with saffron; several candlesticks of massy gold, with lighted tapers that smelled of aloes and ambergris, lighted the place; and this light was augmented by lamps of gold and silver, that burnt with oil made of several sorts of sweet-scented materials.

Among a great many objects that engaged my attention, I perceived a black horse, of the handsomest and best shape that ever was seen. I went nearer, the better to observe him, and found he had a saddle and bridle of massy gold, curiously wrought. One side of his trough was filled with clean barley and sesame, and the other with rose-water: I took him by the bridle, and led him forth to view him by the light; I got on his back, and would have had him move; but he not stirring, I whipped him with a switch I had taken up in his magnificent stable; and he had no sooner felt the stroke, than he began to neigh with a horrible noise, and extending his wings which I had not seen before, he flew up with me into the air, quite out of sight. I thought on nothing then but to sit fast; and considering the fear that had seized upon me, I sat very well. He afterwards flew down again towards the earth, and lighting upon the terrace of a castle, without giving me any time to dismount, he shook me out of the saddle with such force, that he threw me behind him, and with the end of his tail struck out mine eye.

Thus I became blind of one eye; and then I began to remember the predictions of the ten young gentlemen. The horse flew again out of sight. I got up very much troubled at the misfortune I had brought upon myself; I walked upon the terrace, covering my eye with one of my hands, for it pained me exceedingly, and then came down, and entered into a hall, which I knew presently by the ten sofas in a circle, and the eleventh in the middle, lower than the rest, to be the same castle from whence I was taken away by the roc.

The ten half-blind gentlemen were not in the hall when I came in, but came soon after, with the old man. They were not at all surprised to see me again, nor at the loss of my eye; but said, We are sorry that we cannot congratulate you upon your return, as we could have desired; but we are not the cause of your misfortune. --I should be in the wrong to accuse you, said I; for I have drawn it upon myself, and I can charge the fault upon no other person. --If it be a consolation to the unfortunate, said they, to have companions, this example may afford us a subject of rejoicing. All that has happened to you, we have also undergone; we tasted all sorts of pleasure, during a year successively; and we had continued to enjoy the same happiness still, had we not opened the golden door, when the princesses were absent. You have been no wiser than us, and have had likewise the same punishment. We would gladly receive you among us, to perform such penance as we do, though we know not how long it may continue; but we have already declared the reasons that hinder us; therefore depart from hence, and go to the court of Bagdad, where you shall meet with him that can decide your destiny. They told me the way I was to travel, and I left them.

On the road I caused my beard and eyebrows to be shaven, and assumed a calender’s habit. I have had a long journey, but at last I arrived this evening in this city, where I met these my brother calenders at the gate, being strangers as well as myself. We wondered much at one another to see we were all three blind of the same eye; but we had not leisure to discourse long of our common calamities. We had only so much time as to come hither, to implore those favours which you have been generously pleased to grant us.

The third calender having finished this relation of his adventures, Zobeide addressed her speech to him and his fellow calenders thus: Go wherever you think fit; you are all three at liberty. But one of them answered, Madam, we beg you to pardon our curiosity, and permit us to hear those gentlemen’s stories, who have not yet spoke. Then the lady turned to that side where the caliph, the vizier Giafar, and Mesrour stood, whom she knew not; but said to them, It is now your turn to tell me your adventures, therefore speak.