Part 66

Good woman, replied king Beder, I am heartily sorry I cannot comply with your request; my mare is not to be sold. Alas! sir, continued the old woman, do not refuse me this favour for the love of God. My son and I shall certainly die with grief if you do not grant it. Good woman, replied the king, I would grant it with all my heart, ill was disposed to part with so good a beast; but if I were so disposed, I believe you would hardly give a thousand pieces of gold for her, and I could not sell her for less. Why should I not give so much? replied the old woman; if that be the lowest price, you need only say you will take it, and I will fetch you the money.

King Beder, seeing the old woman so poorly dressed, could not imagine she could find the money; therefore to try her, he said, Go fetch the money, and the mare is yours. The old woman immediately unloosed a purse she had fastened to her girdle, and desiring him to alight, bid him tell over the money; and in case he found it came short of the sum demanded, she said her house was not far off, and she could quickly fetch the rest.

The surprise king Beder was in at the sight of this purse was not small. Good woman, said he, do you not perceive I have bantered you all this while? I will assure you the mare is not to be sold.

The old man who had been witness to all that was said, now began to speak. Son, quoth he to king Beder, it is necessary you should know one thing, which I find you are ignorant of, and that is, that in this city it is not permitted to any one to tell a lie, on any account whatsoever, on pain of death. You cannot refuse taking this good woman’s money, and delivering your mare, when she gives you the sum according to the agreement; and this you had better do without any noise, than expose yourself to what may ensue.

King Beder, sorely afflicted to find himself thus trapped by his rash proffer, alighted with great regret. The old woman stood ready to seize the bridle, and immediately unbridled the mare; and taking some water in her hand from the stream that ran in the middle of the street, she threw it in the mare’s face, uttering these words: ‘Daughter, quit that strange shape, and re-assume thy own.’ The transformation was effected in a moment; and king Beder, who swooned as soon as he saw queen Labe appear, would have fallen to the ground, if the old man had not hindered him.

The old woman, who was mother to queen Labe, and had instructed her in all her magic secrets, had no sooner embraced her daughter, but to show her fury, in an instant she, by whistling, caused to rise a genie of a gigantic form and stature. This genie immediately took king Beder on one shoulder, and the old woman with the magic queen on the other, and transported them in a few minutes to the palace of queen Labe in the city of Enchantments.

The magic queen immediately fell upon king Beder, reproaching him grievously in the following manner: is it thus, ungrateful wretch, that thy unworthy uncle and thou repay me for all the kindnesses I have done for you? I shall soon make you both feel what you deserve. She said no more, but taking water in her hand, threw it in his face with these words: ‘Come out of that shape, and take that of a vile owl.’ These words were soon followed by the effect; and immediately she commanded one of her women to shut up the owl in a cage, and give him neither meat nor drink.

The woman took the cage, and, without regarding what the queen ordered, gave him both meat and drink; and being old Abdallah’s friend, she sent him word privately how the queen had treated his nephew, and her design to destroy both him and king Beder, that he might give orders to prevent it, and secure himself.

Abdallah knew no common measures would do with queen Labe: he therefore did but whistle after a certain manner, and there immediately arose a vast giant, with four wings, who, presenting himself before him, asked what he would have with him? Lightning, said Abdallah to him, (for so was the genie called,) I command you to preserve the life of king Beder, son of queen Gulnare. Go to the palace of the magic queen, and transport immediately to the capital of Persia the compassionate woman who has the cage in custody, to the end she may inform queen Gulnare of the danger the king her son is in, and the occasion he has for her assistance. Take care not to frighten her when you come before her, and acquaint her from me what she ought to do.

Lightning immediately disappeared, and got in an instant to the palace of the magic queen. He instructed the woman, lifted her up into the air, and transported her to the capital of Persia, where he placed her on the terrace that was near the apartment where queen Gulnare was. She went down stairs to the apartment, and she there found queen Gulnare and queen Farasche, her mother, lamenting their mutual misfortunes. She made them a profound reverence; and by the relation she gave them, they soon understood the great need king Beder was in of their assistance.

Queen Gulnare was so overjoyed at the news, that, rising from her seat, she went and embraced the good woman, telling her how much she was obliged to her for the service she had done her.

Then going immediately out, she commanded the trumpets to sound and the drums to beat, to acquaint the city that the king of Persia would suddenly return safe to his kingdom. She then went again, and found king Saleh her brother, whom Farasche had caused to come speedily thither by a certain fumigation. Brother, said she to him, the king your nephew, my dear son, is in the city of Enchantments, under the power of queen Labe. Both you and I must go to deliver him, for there is no time to be lost.

King Saleh forthwith assembled a puissant body of his marine troops, who soon rose out of the sea. He also called to his assistance the genies his allies, who appeared with a much more numerous army than his own. As soon as the two armies were joined, he put himself at the head of them with queen Farasche, queen Gulnare, and the princesses, who would all have their share in this action. They then lifted themselves up into the air, and soon poured down on the palace and city of Enchantments, where the magic queen, her mother, and all the adorers of fire, were destroyed in an instant.

Queen Gulnare had ordered the woman who brought her the news of queen Labe’s transforming and imprisoning her son to follow her close, and bid her, in the confusion, only go and seize the cage, and bring it to her. This order was executed as she wished; and queen Gulnare was no sooner in possession of the cage, but she opened it, and took out the owl, saying, as she sprinkled a little water upon him, ‘My dear son, quit that strange form, and resume thy natural one of a man.’

In a moment, queen Gulnare no more saw the hideous owl, but king Beder her son. She immediately embraced him with an excess of joy, her tears supplying more forcibly the place of words. She could not find in her heart to let him go; and queen Farasche was obliged to force him from her in her turn. After her, he was likewise embraced by the king his uncle and his relations.

Queen Gulnare’s first care was to look out for old Abdallah, to whom she had been obliged for the recovery of the king of Persia, and who being brought to her, she said to him, My obligations to you, sir, have been so great, that there is nothing within my power but I would freely do for you as a token of my acknowledgment. Do but satisfy me in what I can serve you. Great queen, replied Abdallah, if the lady whom I sent to your majesty will but consent to the marriage I offer her, and the king of Persia will give me leave to reside at his court, I will spend the remainder of my days in his service. Then the queen turned to the lady, who was present, and finding by her modest shame that she was not averse to the match proposed, she caused them to join hands, and the king of Persia and she took care of their fortune.

This marriage occasioned the king of Persia to speak thus to the queen: Madam, said he, I am heartily glad of this match which his majesty has just made. There remains one more which I desire you to think of. Queen Gulnare did not at first comprehend what marriage he meant; but after a little considering, she said, Of yours, you mean, son? I consent to it with all my heart. Then turning, and looking on her brother’s sea attendants, and the genies who were still present, Go, said she, and traverse both sea and land, to find out the most lovely and amiable princess, worthy of the king my son, and come and tell us.

Madam, replied king Beder, it is to no purpose for them to take all that pains. You have no doubt heard that I have already given my heart to the princess of Samandal, upon the bare relation of her beauty. I have seen her, and do not repent of the present I then made her. In a word, neither earth nor sea, in my opinion, can furnish a princess like her. It is true, upon my declaring my love to her, she treated me in a way that would have extinguished any flame less strong than mine. But I hold her excused; she could not treat me with less rigour, after imprisoning the king her father, of which I was the innocent cause. But, it may be, the king of Samandal may have changed his resolution; and his daughter the princess may consent to love me, when she sees her father has agreed to it.

Son, replied queen Gulnare, if only the princess Giauhara can make you happy, it is not my design to oppose you. The king your uncle, need only have the king of Samandal brought, and we shall soon see whether he be still of the same untractable temper.

Strictly as the king of Samandal had been kept during his captivity by king Saleh’s orders, yet he always had great respect shown him, and was become very familiar with the officers who guarded him. King Saleh caused a chafing-dish of coals to be brought, into which he threw a certain composition, uttering at the same time some mysterious words. As soon as the smoke began to arise, the palace shook, and immediately the king of Samandal, with king Saleh’s officers, appeared. The king of Persia cast himself at the king of Samandal’s feet, and kneeling said, It is no longer king Saleh that demands of your majesty the honour of your alliance for the king of Persia; it is the king of Persia himself that humbly begs that boon; and I persuade myself your majesty will not persist in being the cause of the death of a king, who can no longer live if he does not share life with the amiable princess Giauhara.

The king of Samandal did not long suffer the king of Persia to remain at his feet. He embraced him, and obliging him to rise, said, I should be very sorry to have contributed in the least to the death of a monarch who is so worthy to live. If it be true that so precious a life cannot be preserved without the possession of my daughter, live, sir, said he; she is yours. She has always been obedient to my will, and I cannot think she will now oppose it. Speaking these words, he ordered one of his officers, whom king Saleh had permitted to be about him, to go and look for the princess Giauhara, and bring her to him immediately.

The princess continued where the king of Persia had left her. The officer perceived her, and brought her soon with her women. The king of Samandal embraced her, and said, Daughter, I have provided a husband for you; it is the king of Persia you see there, the most accomplished monarch at present in the universe. The preference he has given you to all other princesses, obliges us both to express our gratitude.

Sir, replied the princess Giauhara, your majesty well knows I never have presumed to disobey your will in any thing: I shall always be ready to obey you; and I hope the king of Persia will forget my ill-treatment of him, and consider it was duty, not inclination, that forced me to it.

The nuptials were celebrated in the palace of the City of Enchantments, with the greater solemnity, that all the lovers of the magic queen, who resumed their pristine forms, as soon as ever that queen ceased to live, assisted at them, and came to return their thanks to the king of Persia, queen Gulnare, and king Saleh. They were all sons of kings or princes, or persons of high rank.

King Saleh at length conducted the king of Samandal to his dominions, and put him in possession of them. The king of Persia, at the height of his wishes, returned to his capital with queen Gulnare, queen Farasche, and the princesses; and queen Farasche and the princesses continued there till king Saleh came to re-conduct them to his kingdom under the waves of the sea.

The History of Ganem, Son to Abou Ayoub, and known by the surname of Love’s Slave.

Sir, said Scheherazade to the sultan of the Indies, there was formerly at Damascus a merchant, who had by care and industry acquired great wealth, on which he lived in a very honourable manner. His name was Abou Ayoub, and he had one son and a daughter. The son was at first called Ganem, but afterwards surnamed _Love’s Slave_. His person was graceful, and the excellent natural qualities of his mind had been improved by able masters, whom his father had taken care to provide him. The daughter’s name was Alcolomb, signifying _Ravisher of Hearts_, because her beauty was so perfect, that whoever saw her could not but love her.

Abou Ayoub died, and left immense riches: a hundred loads of brocades and other silks that lay in his warehouse were the least part of it. The loads were ready made up, and on every bale was written in large characters, ‘For Bagdad.’

Mahommed, the son of Soliman, surnamed Zinebi, reigned at that time at Damascus, the capital of Syria. His kinsman Haroun Alraschid, whose residence was at Bagdad, had bestowed that kingdom on him as his tributary.

Soon after the death of Abou Ayoub, Ganem discoursing with his mother about their domestic affairs, and amongst the rest concerning the loads of merchandize in the warehouse, asked her the meaning of what was written upon each bale. My son, answered his mother, your father used to travel sometimes into one province, and sometimes into another; and it was customary with him, before he set out, to write the name of the city he designed to repair to on every bale. He had provided all things to take a journey to Bagdad, and was upon the point of setting out, when death --She had not power to finish; the lively remembrance of the loss of her husband would not permit her to say more, and drew from her a shower of tears.

Ganem could not see his mother so sensibly affected, without being himself equally so. They continued some time silent: but at length he recovered himself, and as soon as he found his mother calm enough to listen to him, he directed his discourse to her; and said, Since my father designed these goods for Bagdad, and is no longer in being, to put his design into execution, I will prepare myself to perform that journey; and I am of opinion it will be proper for me to hasten my departure, for fear those commodities should perish, or that we lose the opportunity of selling them to the best advantage.

Abou Ayoub’s widow, who tenderly loved her son, was much surprised at this resolution, and replied, My dear child, I cannot but commend you for designing to follow your father’s example; but consider that you are too young, inexperienced, and unaccustomed to the fatigue of travelling. Besides, can you think of leaving me, and adding to that sorrow with which I am already oppressed? Is it not better to sell those goods to the merchants of Damascus, and take up with a moderate profit, than to expose yourself to the danger of perishing?

It was in vain for her to oppose Ganem’s resolution by the strongest arguments; they had no weight with him. An inclination to travel, and to accomplish himself by a thorough knowledge of the world, urged him to set out, and prevailed over all his mother’s remonstrances, her entreaties, and even her tears. He went to the market where the slaves are sold, and bought such as were able-bodied, hired a hundred camels, and having provided all other necessaries, he entered upon his journey with five or six merchants of Damascus, who were going to trade at Bagdad.

Those merchants, attended by all their slaves, and accompanied by several other travellers, made up such a considerable caravan, that they had nothing to fear from the Bedouin Arabs, who make it their only profession to range the country, and to attack and plunder the caravans when they are not strong enough to repulse them. They had no other difficulty to encounter, but the usual fatigues of a long journey, which were easily forgotten when they came in sight of the city of Bagdad, where they arrived in safety.

They alighted at the most magnificent and most frequented khan in the city; but Ganem, who chose to be lodged conveniently, and by himself took no apartment there. He only left his goods there in a warehouse for their greater security, and hired a very fine house in the neighbourhood, richly furnished, having a garden which was very delightful, on account of the many water-works and shady groves that were in it.

Some days after this young merchant had been settled in his house, and perfectly recovered of the fatigue of his journey, he dressed himself genteelly, and repaired to the public place, where the merchants met to buy and sell. A slave followed him, carrying a parcel of fine stuffs and silks.

The merchants received Ganem very courteously, and their syndic, or chief, to whom he first made application, took and bought all his parcel, at the price set down in the ticket annexed to every piece of stuff. Ganem continued his trade so successfully, that he sold all the goods he exposed daily.

He had but one bale left, which he had caused to be carried from the warehouse to his own house, and then went to the public rendezvous, where he found all the shops shut. This seemed somewhat extraordinary to him, and having asked the cause of it, was told that one of the first merchants whom he knew, was dead, and that all his brother traders were gone to his funeral.

Ganem inquired for the mosque where the prayer was to be made, and whence the body was to be conducted to the grave; and having been told, sent back his slave with the goods, and walked towards the mosque. He got thither before the prayers were ended, which were said in a hall hung with black satin. The corpse was taken up, and followed by the kindred, the merchants, and Ganem, to the place of burial, which was at a great distance without the city. It was a stone structure, in form of a dome, purposely built to receive the bodies of all the family of the deceased; and being very small, they had pitched tents all about it, that all the company might be sheltered during the ceremony. The monument was opened, and the corpse laid into it, after which it was shut up again. Then the iman, and other ministers of the mosque, sat down in a ring on carpets, in the largest tent, and said the rest of the prayers. They also read the chapter of the Koran appointed for the burial of the dead. The kindred and merchants sat round, in the same manner, behind the ministers.

It was near night before all was ended: Ganem, who had not expected such a long ceremony, began to be uneasy, and the more so, when he saw meat served up in memory of the deceased, according to the custom of Bagdad. He was also told that the tents had not been set up only against the heat of the sun, but also against the evening dew, because they should not return to the city before the next morning. Those words perplexed Ganem; I am a stranger, said he to himself, and have the reputation of being a rich merchant; thieves may take the opportunity of my absence, and go rob my house. My slaves may be tempted by so favourable an opportunity; they may run away with all the gold I have received for my goods, and whither shall I go to look for them? Full of these thoughts, he eat a few mouthfuls hastily, and dexterously slipped away from the company.

He made all possible haste; but, as it often happens that the more a man puts on, the less he advances, he mistook his way, and went astray in the dark, so that it was near midnight when he came to the city gate; which, to add to his misfortune, was shut. That disappointment was a fresh affliction to him, and he was obliged to look for some convenient place to pass the rest of the night in, and wait till the gate was opened. He went into a burial-place, so spacious, that it reached from the city to the very place he was come from. He advanced to some high walls, which enclosed a small field, being the peculiar burial-place of a family, and in which there was a palm-tree. There was an infinite number of other particular burial-places, the doors whereof they did not take care to fasten. Ganem, finding that the burial-place where the palm-tree grew was open, went into it, and shut the door after him. He lay down on the grass, and did all he could to sleep; but the uneasiness at being absent from home would not permit him. He got up, and after having passed before the door several times, he opened it, without knowing why, and immediately perceived at a distance a light, which seemed to come towards him. He was startled at that sight, put to the door, which had nothing to secure it but a latch, and got up as fast as he could to the top of the palm-tree; looking upon that as the safest retreat under his present apprehensions.

No sooner was he got up, than by the help of the light, which had frightened him, he plainly perceived three men, whom, by their habit, he knew to be slaves, come into the burial-place. One of them went foremost with a lanthorn, and the two others followed him, being loaded with a chest, between five and six feet long, which they carried on their shoulders. They set it down, and then one of the three slaves said to his comrades, Brothers, if you will be advised by me, we will leave the chest here, and return to the city. --No, no, replied another, that is not executing our mistress’s orders; we may have cause to repent not doing as we were commanded. Let us bury the chest, since we are so enjoined to do. The two other slaves complied. They began to break ground with the tools they had brought for that purpose. When they had made a deep trench, they put the chest into it, and covered it with the earth they had taken out; then departed, and returned home.