Part 8

The blow I had given her gallant was mortal; but she preserved his life by the force of her enchantments; in such a manner, however, that he could not be said to be either dead or alive. As I crossed the garden, to return to the palace, I heard the queen cry out lamentably; and judging by that now much she was grieved, I was pleased that I had spared her life.

When I returned to her apartment, I went to bed, and being satisfied with having punished the villain that did me the injury, I went to sleep; and when I awaked next morning, found the queen lying by me. Scheherazade was obliged to stop here because she saw day.

O, heaven! sister, says Dinarzade, how it troubles me that you can say no more. Sister, replies the sultaness, you ought to have awaked me more early, it is your fault. I will make amends next night, replies Dinarzade, for I doubt not out the sultan will be as willing to hear out the story as I am; and I hope he will be so good as to let you live one day more.

TWENTY-FOURTH NIGHT.

Dinarzade was actually as good as her word. She called the sultaness very early, saying, Dear sister, if you be not asleep, pray finish the agreeable history of the king of the Black Isles; I am ready to die with impatience to know how he came to be changed into marble. You shall hear it, replies Scheherazade, if the sultan will give me leave.

I found the queen lying by me, says the king of the Black Islands: I cannot tell you whether she slept or not; but I got up without making any noise, and went to my closet, where I made an end of dressing myself. I afterwards went and held my council, and at my return, the queen, clad in mourning, her hair hanging about her eyes, and part of it torn off, presented herself before me, and said: Sir, I come to beg your majesty not to be surprised to see me in this condition; three afflicting pieces of news, I have just now received all at once, are the cause of my heavy grief, of which the tokens you see are but very faint expressions. Alas! what is that news, madam, said I. The death of the queen, my dear mother, answered she; that of the king, my father, killed in battle; and that of one of my brothers, who is also fallen down a precipice.

I was not ill pleased that she made use of this pretext to hide the true cause of her grief, and I thought she had not suspected me of having killed her gallant. Madam, says I, I am so far from blaming your grief, that I assure you, I take my share in it. I should very much wonder if you were insensible of so great a loss: mourn on; your tears are so many proofs of your good nature; I hope, however, that time and reason will moderate your grief.

She retired into her apartment, where giving herself wholly up to sorrow, she spent a whole year in mourning, and afflicting herself. At the end of that time, she begged leave of me to build a burying place for herself, within the bounds of the palace, where she would continue, she told me, to the end of her days; I agreed to it, and she built a stately palace, with a cupola, that may be seen from hence, and she called it the Palace of Tears. When it was finished, she caused her gallant to be brought thither, from the place whither she had caused him to be carried the same night that I wounded him; she had hindered his dying, by a drink she gave him, and carried to him herself every day after he came to the Palace of Tears.

Yet, with all her enchantments, she could not cure the wretch; he was not only unable to walk and to help himself, but had also lost the use of his speech, and gave no sign of life, but by his looks. Though the queen had no other consolation but to see him, and to say to him all that her foolish passion could inspire, yet every day she made him two long visits. I was very well informed of all this, but pretended to know nothing of it.

One day I went out of curiosity to the Palace of Tears, to see how the princess employed herself; and going to a place where she could not see me, I heard her speak thus to her gallant: I am afflicted to the highest degree to see you in this condition; I am as sensible as yourself of the tormenting pain you endure; but, dear soul, I always speak to you, and you do not answer me; How long will you be silent. Speak only one word: Alas! the sweetest moments of my life are these I spend here in partaking of your grief. I cannot live at a distance from you, and would prefer the pleasure of always seeing you, to the empire of the universe.

At these words, which were several times interrupted by her sighs and sobs, I lost all patience; and discovering myself, came up to her and said, Madam, you have mourned enough, it is time to give over this sorrow, which dishonours us both; you have too much forgotten what you owe to me and to yourself. Sir, said she, if you have any kindness or complaisance left for me, I beseech you to put no restraint upon me; allow me to give myself up to mortal grief, which it is impossible for time to lessen.

When I saw that my discourse, instead of bringing her to her duty, served only to increase her rage, I gave over and retired. She continued every day to visit her gallant, and for two whole years gave herself up to excessive grief.

I went a second time to the Palace of Tears, while she was there. I hid myself again, and heard her speak thus to her gallant: It is now three years since you spoke one word to me; you return no answer to the expressions of love I give you by my discourse and groans. Is it from insensibility, or contempt? O, tomb! hast thou abated that excessive love he had for me? Hast thou shut those eyes that showed me so much love, and were all my joy? No, no, I believe nothing of it. Tell me rather, by what miracle thou becamest the depository of the rarest treasure that ever was in the world.

I must confess, my lord, I was enraged at these words; for, in short, this gallant so much doted upon, this adored mortal, was not such a one as you would imagine him to have been. He was a black Indian, a native of that country. I say, I was so enraged at that discourse, that I discovered myself all of a sudden, and addressing the tomb in my turn: O, tomb! cried I, why dost not thou swallow up that monster in nature, or rather, why dost not thou swallow up the gallant and his mistress?

I had scarce finished these words, when the queen, who sat by the black, rose up like a fury. Cruel man! said she, thou art the cause of my grief; do not you think that I know it? I have dissembled it but too long; it is thy barbarous hand which hath brought the object of my love into this lamentable condition; and you are so hard-hearted as to come and insult a despairing lover. Yes, said I, in a rage, it was I who chastised that monster, according to his desert; I ought to have treated thee in the same manner; I repent now that I did not do it; thou hast abused my goodness too long. As I spoke these words, I drew out my scimitar, and lifted up my hand to punish her; but she, steadfastly beholding me, said, with a jeering smile, Moderate thy anger. At the same time, she pronounced words I did not understand; and afterwards added, By virtue of my enchantments, I command thee immediately to become half marble and half man. Immediately, my lord, I became such as you see me already, a dead man among the living, and a living man among the dead. Here Scheherazade, perceiving day, broke off her story.

Upon which Dinarzade says, Dear sister, I am extremely obliged to the sultan: it is to his goodness I owe the extraordinary pleasure I have in your stories. My sister, replies the sultaness, if the sultan will be so good as to suffer me to live till to-morrow, I shall tell you a thing that will afford as much satisfaction as any thing you have yet heard. Though Schahriar had not resolved to defer the death of Scheherazade a month longer, he could not have ordered her to be put to death that day.

TWENTY-FIFTH NIGHT.

Towards the end of the night, Dinarzade cried, Sister, if I do not trespass too much upon your complaisance, I would pray you to finish the history of the king of the Black Islands. Scheherazade having awaked upon her sister’s call, prepared to give her the satisfaction she required, and began thus:

The king, half marble and half man, continued his history to the sultan thus: After this cruel magician, unworthy of the name of a queen, had metamorphosed me thus, and brought me into this hall, by another enchantment she destroyed my capital, which was very flourishing, and full of people; she abolished the houses, the public places and markets, and reduced it to the pond and desert field, which you may have seen: the fishes of four colours in the pond are the four sorts of people, of different religions, who inhabited the place. The white are the Mussulmen; the red, the Persians, who worshipped the fire; the blue, the Christians; and the yellow, the Jews. The four little hills were the four islands that gave name to this kingdom. I learned all this from the magician, who, to add to my affliction, told me with her own mouth those effects of her rage. But this is not all: her revenge was not satisfied with the destruction of my dominions, and the metamorphosis of my person; she comes every day, and gives me over my naked shoulders a hundred blows with an ox-pizzle, which makes me all over blood: and when she has done, covers me with a coarse stuff of goat’s hair, and throws over it this robe of brocade that you see, not to do me honour, but to mock me.

After this part of the discourse, the young king could not withhold his tears; and the sultan’s heart was so pierced with the relation, that he could not speak one word to comfort him. A little time after, the young king, lifting up his eyes to heaven, cried out, “Mighty Creator of all things, I submit myself to thy judgments, and to the decrees of thy providence: I endure my calamities with patience, since it is thy will it should be so; but I hope thy infinite goodness will reward me for it.”

The sultan being much moved by the recital of so strange a story, and animated to avenge this unfortunate prince, says to him, Tell me whither this perfidious magician retires, and where may be her unworthy gallant, who is buried before his death. My lord, replies the prince, her gallant, as I have already told you, is in the Palace of Tears, in a handsome tomb in form of a dome, and that palace joins to this castle on the side of the gate. As to the magician, I cannot precisely tell whither she retires, but every day at sun-rising she goes to see her gallant, after having executed her bloody vengeance upon me, as I have told you; and you see I am not in a condition to defend myself against so great a cruelty. She carries him the drink with which she has hitherto prevented his dying, and always complains of his never speaking to her since he was wounded.

Unfortunate prince, says the sultan, you can never enough be lamented! Nobody can be more sensibly touched with your condition than I am; never did such an extraordinary misfortune befal any man, and those who write your history will have the advantage to relate something that surpasses all that has ever yet been written. There wants but the vengeance which is due to you, and I will omit nothing that can be done to procure it.

While the sultan discoursed upon the subject with the young prince, he told him who he was, and for what end he entered the castle, and thought on a way to avenge him, which he communicated to him. They agreed upon the measures they were to take for effecting their design, but deferred the execution of it till the next day. In the mean time, the night being far spent, the sultan took some rest; but the poor young prince passed the night without sleep, as usual, having never slept since he was enchanted; but conceived some hopes of being speedily delivered from his misery.

Next morning the sultan got up before day, and, in order to execute his design, he hid in a corner his upper garment, which would have encumbered him, and went to the Palace of Tears. He found it enlightened with an infinite number of flambeaux of white wax, and a delicious scent issued from several boxes of fine gold of admirable workmanship, all ranged in excellent order. As soon as he saw the bed where the black lay, he drew his scimitar, killed the wretch without resistance, dragged his corpse into the court of the castle, and threw it into a well. After this he went and lay down in the black’s bed, took his scimitar with him under the counterpane, and waited there to execute his design.

The magician arrived in a little time. She first went into the chamber where her husband, the king of the Black Islands, was, stripped him, and beat him with the ox-pizzle in the most barbarous manner. The poor prince filled the palace with his lamentations to no purpose, and conjured her in the most affecting manner to take pity on him; but the cruel woman would not give over till she had given him a hundred blows. You had no compassion on my lover, said she, and you are to expect none from me. Scheherazade, perceiving day, stopped, and could go no further.

O, heavens! says Dinarzade, sister, this was a barbarous enchantress indeed! but must we stop here? Will you not tell us whether she received the chastisement she deserved? My dear sister, says the sultaness, I desire nothing more than to acquaint you with it to-morrow; but you know that depends on the sultan’s pleasure. After what Schahriar had heard, he was far from any design to put Scheherazade to death; on the contrary, he said to himself, I will not take away her life until she has finished the surprising story, though it should last for two months. It will always be in my power to keep the oath I have made.

TWENTY-SIXTH NIGHT.

As soon as Dinarzade thought it time to call the sultaness, she said to her, How much should I be obliged to you, dear sister, if you would tell us what passed in the Palace of Tears. Schahriar having signified that he was as curious to know it as Dinarzade, the sultaness resumed the story of the young enchanted prince as follows:

Sir, after the enchantress had given the king, her husband, a hundred blows with the ox-pizzle, she put on again his covering of goat’s hair, and his brocade gown over all. She went afterwards to the Palace of Tears, and as she entered the same, she renewed her tears and lamentations; then approaching the bed where she thought her gallant was, What cruelty, cries she, was it to disturb the satisfaction of so tender and passionate a lover as I am? O, thou who reproachest me that I am too inhuman, when I make thee feel the effects of my resentment! Cruel prince! Does not thy barbarity surpass my vengeance? Ah, traitor! in attempting the life of the object which I adore, hast thou not robbed me of mine? Alas! says she, addressing herself to the sultan, while she thought she spoke to the black, my sun, my life! will you always be silent? Are you resolved to let me die, without giving me the comfort of telling me that you love me? My soul, speak one word to me, at least, I conjure you.

The sultan, making as if he had awaked out of a deep sleep, and counterfeiting the language or the blacks, answered the queen with a grave tone, “There is no strength or power but in God alone, who is almighty.” At these words the enchantress, who did not expect them, gave a great shout, to signify her excessive joy. My dear lord, cried she, do not I deceive myself? Is it certain that I hear you, and that you speak to me? Unhappy wretch! said the sultan, art thou worthy that I should answer thy discourse? Alas! replies the queen, why do you reproach me thus? The cries, replied he, the groans and tears of thy husband, whom thou treatest every day with so much indignity and barbarity, hinder me from sleeping night and day. I should have been cured long ago, and have recovered the use of my speech, hadst thou disenchanted him. That is the cause of my silence, which you complain of. Very well, says the enchantress; to pacify you, I am ready to do what you will command me: would you have me restore him as he was? Yes, replies the sultan; make haste to set him at liberty, that I be no more disturbed with his cries.

The enchantress went immediately out of the Palace of Tears: she took a cup of water, and pronounced words over it, which caused it to boil, as if it had been on the fire. She went afterwards to the hall to the young king, her husband, and threw the water upon him, saying, “If the Creator of all things did form thee so as thou art at present, or if he be angry with thee, do not change: but if thou art in that condition merely by virtue of my enchantments, resume thy natural shape, and become what thou wast before.” She had scarce spoken these words, when the prince, finding himself restored to his former condition, rose up freely, with all imaginable joy, and returned thanks to God. The enchantress then said to him, Get thee gone from this castle, and never return here on pain of death! The young king, yielding to necessity, went away from the enchantress, without replying a word, and retired to a remote place, where he patiently awaited the success of the design which the sultan had so happily begun. Meanwhile the enchantress returned to the Palace of Tears; and, supposing that she still spoke to the black, says, Dear lover, I have done what you ordered; let nothing now hinder you from giving me that satisfaction of which I have been deprived so long.

The sultan continued to counterfeit the language of the blacks: That which you have just now done, said he, is not sufficient to my cure. You have only eased me of part of my disease; you must cut it up by the roots. My lovely black, replies she, what do you mean by the roots? Unfortunate woman, replies the sultan, do not you understand that I mean the town, and its inhabitants, and the four islands, which thou hast destroyed by thy enchantments? The fishes every night at midnight raise their heads out of the pond, and cry for vengeance against thee and me. This is the true cause of the delay of my cure. Go speedily, restore things as they were, and at thy return I will give thee my hand, and thou shalt help me to rise.

The enchantress, filled with hopes from these words, cried out in a transport of joy, My heart! my soul! you shall soon be restored to your health, for I will immediately do what you command me. Accordingly she went that moment; and when she came to the brink of the pond, she took a little water in her hand, and sprinkling it --Here Scheherazade saw day, and stopped.

Dinarzade says to the sultaness, Sister, I am much rejoiced to hear that the young king of the four Black Islands was disenchanted, and I already consider the town and the inhabitants as restored to their former state; but I long to know what will become of the enchantress. Have a little patience, replies the sultaness; you shall have the satisfaction you desire tomorrow, if the sultan, my lord, will consent to it. Schahriar, having resolved on this already, as was said before, rose up, and went about his business.

TWENTY-SEVENTH NIGHT.

At the usual hour, Dinarzade called upon the sultaness thus: Dear sister, pray tell us what was the fate of the magician queen, as you promised us. Upon which Scheherazade went on thus: The enchantress had no sooner sprinkled the water, and pronounced some words over the fishes and the pond, but the city was immediately restored. The fishes became men, women, and children: Mahometans, Christians, Persians, or Jews; freemen or slaves, as they were before; every one having recovered their natural form. The houses and shops were immediately filled with their inhabitants, who found all things as they were before the enchantment. The sultan’s numerous retinue, who found themselves encamped in the largest square, were astonished to see themselves in an instant in the middle of a large, handsome, well-peopled city.

To return to the enchantress: as soon as she had effected this wonderful change, she returned with all diligence to the Palace of Tears, that she might reap the fruits of it. My dear lord, cried she, as she entered, I come to rejoice with you for the return of your health. I have done all that you required of me; then pray rise, and give me your hand. Come near, said the sultan, still counterfeiting the language of the blacks. She did so. You are not near enough, replied he; come nearer. She obeyed. Then he rose up, and seized her by the arm so suddenly, that she had not time to discover who it was, and with a blow of his scimitar cut her in two, so that one half fell one way and the other another. This done, he left the carcass upon the place; and going out of the Palace of Tears, he went to seek the young king of the Black Isles, who waited for him with great impatience; and when he found him, Prince, said he, embracing him, rejoice; you have nothing to fear now, your cruel enemy is dead.

The young prince returned thanks to the sultan in such a manner as shewed that he was thoroughly sensible of the kindness that he had done him, and in return, wished him a long life and all happiness. You may henceforward, said the sultan, dwell peaceably in your capital, except you will go to mine, which is so near, where you shall be very welcome, and have as much honour and respect shewn you as if you were at home. Potent monarch, to whom I am so much indebted, replied the king, you think, then, that you are very near your capital? Yes, said the sultan, I know it; it is not above four or five hours’ journey. It will take you a whole year’s journey, said the prince. I do believe, indeed, that you came hither from your capital in the time you spoke of, because mine was enchanted; but since the enchantment is taken off, things are changed: however, this shall not prevent my following you, were it to the utmost corners of the earth. You are my deliverer; and that I may give you proofs of my acknowledging this during my whole life, I am willing to accompany you, and to leave my kingdom without regret.

The sultan was extremely surprised to understand that he was so far from his dominions, and could not imagine how it could be. But the young king of the Black Isles convinced him beyond the possibility of doubt. Then the sultan replied, It is no matter, the trouble of returning to my own country is sufficiently recompensed by the satisfaction of having obliged you, and by acquiring you for a son: for since you will do me the honour to accompany me, as I have no child, I look upon you as such; and from this moment I appoint you my heir and successor.

This discourse between the sultan and the king of the Black Islands concluded with the most affectionate embraces; after which the young prince was totally taken up in making preparations for his journey, which were finished in three weeks’ time, to the great regret of his court and subjects, who agreed to receive at his hands one of his nearest kindred for their king.

At last the sultan and the young prince began their journey, with a hundred camels laden with inestimable riches from the treasury of the young king, followed by fifty handsome gentlemen on horseback, perfectly well mounted and dressed. They had a very happy journey; and when the sultan, who had sent couriers to give advice of his delay, and of the adventure which had occasioned it, came near his capital, the principal officers he had left there came to receive him, and to assure him that his long absence had occasioned no alteration in his empire. The inhabitants came out also in great crowds, receiving him with acclamations, and made public rejoicings for several days.