Part 14

The Genius replied only by reproaches, and by blows, which I could plainly distinguish the sound of. It distressed me, beyond measure, to hear the cries and sobbing of the princess, who was thus cruelly used. I had already taken off the habit, which she had made me put on, and resumed my own, which I had carried to the stair-case the day before, after I had been in the bath. I proceeded therefore up the stairs, as I was the more penetrated with grief and compassion on account of having been the cause of such a misfortune: and as I should become the most criminal and ungrateful of men in thus sacrificing the most beautiful princess on earth to the barbarity of an implacable Genius. “It is true,” said I to myself, “that she has been a prisoner for five and twenty years; but, excepting liberty, she had nothing to wish for, in order to be happy. My conduct has put an end to her happiness, and raised the cruelty of a merciless demon to its very summit. I then shut down the trap-door, covered it over with the earth, and returned to the city with a load of wood, which I collected, without even knowing what I was about, so much was I absorbed and afflicted at what had happened.

My host, the tailor, expressed great joy at my return. “Your absence,” said he, “has caused me much uneasiness on account of the secret of your birth, with which you have entrusted me. I knew not what to think, and began to fear some one might have recognized you. God be praised that you are come back.” I thanked him much for his zeal and affection, but did not inform him of any thing that had happened; nor of the reason why I returned without my hatchet and cord. I retired to my chamber, where I reproached myself a thousand times for my great imprudence. “Nothing,” I cried, “could have equalled the mutual happiness of the princess and myself, if I had been satisfied, and had not broken the talisman.”

While I was abandoning myself to these afflicting thoughts, the tailor entered my apartment, and said, that an old man, whom he did not know, had brought my hatchet and cord, which he had found on his way. “He has been informed by your companions,” added the tailor, “who went to cut wood with you, that you live here. Come and speak to him, as he wishes to deliver them into your own hands.” At this speech, I changed colour, and trembled from head to foot. The tailor inquired the cause, when suddenly the floor of my chamber opened. The old man, who had not the patience to wait, appeared, and presented himself to us with the hatchet and cord. This was in fact the Genius, who had ravished the beautiful princess of the Isle of Ebony, and who had thus come in disguise, after having treated her with the greatest barbarity. “I am a Genius,” he said to us, “a son of the daughter of Eblis, prince of the Genii. Is not this thy hatchet?” added he, addressing me, “and is not this thy cord?”

The Genius gave me no time to answer these questions; nor indeed should I have been able to do so, as his dreadful presence made me entirely forget myself. He took me by the middle of my body, and dragging me out of the chamber, sprang into the air, and carried me up towards heaven with so much force and celerity, that I was sensible of the great height to which I had ascended, before I was aware of the distance I had travelled in so short a space of time. He then descended towards the earth; and having caused it to open, by striking his foot against it, he sunk into it, and I instantly found myself in the enchanted palace, and in the presence of the beautiful princess of the Isle of Ebony. But alas! what a sight! It pierced my very inmost heart. This princess was naked and covered with blood, and lying along the ground more dead than alive, with her face bathed in tears.

“Perfidious wretch,” said the Genius, showing me to her, “is not this thy lover?” She cast her languid eyes upon me, and in a sorrowful tone, answered, “I know him not, nor have I ever seen him till this instant.”--“What,” cried the Genius, “dare you affirm you do not know him, although he is the cause of your being treated, and justly, in the manner you have been?”--“If I am ignorant of him,” replied she, “do you wish I should utter a falsehood, which would prove his destruction?”--“Well then,” exclaimed the Genius, drawing his scimitar, and presenting it to the princess, “if you have never seen him, take this scimitar and cut off his head.” “How, alas!” she answered, “can I execute what you require of me? My strength is so exhausted, that I cannot lift up my arm; and even were I able, do you think I could put to death an innocent person, whom I do not know?”--“This refusal, then,” added the Genius, “completely proves to me your crime.” And then turning to me, he said, “Are you too unacquainted with her?”

I should have been the most ungrateful and most perfidious of men, if I had not preserved the same fidelity towards her, which she had done for me; I therefore said, “how should I know her, when this is the first time I have ever set eyes upon her?”--“If that be true,” he replied, “take the scimitar and cut off her head. It is the price I set on your liberty, and the only way to convince me you have never seen her before, as you affirm.”--“With all my heart,” I answered, and took the scimitar in my hand. Do not, however, imagine, that I approached the beautiful princess of the Isle of Ebony, for the purpose of becoming the instrument of the barbarity of the Genius. I did it only to show her by my actions, as well as I could, that as she had the courage to sacrifice her life from love of me, neither could I refuse to immolate myself also from the same motive. The princess comprehended my meaning; and in spite of her pains and sufferings, gave me to understand by her looks, that she should willingly die, and was well satisfied with knowing that I was equally ready. I then drew back, and throwing the scimitar on the ground, said to the Genius, “I should be eternally condemned by all men, if I had the cowardice to murder, I will not say a person whom I do not know, but a lady, such as I now see, in the state in which she is, ready to expire. You may treat me as you please, since I am in your power, but I will never obey your barbarous commands.”

“I am well aware,” said the Genius, “that both of you brave my rage, and insult my jealousy; but you shall find what I am capable of by the manner in which I shall treat you. At these words, the monster took up the scimitar, and cut off one of the hands of the princess, who had barely time to bid me an eternal farewell with the other, before the great loss of blood from her other wounds, added to what flowed from the present, extinguished her life, not two moments after the perpetration of this last cruelty; the sight of which made me faint.

When I returned to my senses, I complained to the Genius for suffering me to remain in expectation of death. “Strike,” I cried, “I am ready to receive the mortal wound, and expect it from you as the greatest favour you can bestow.” Instead, however, of doing so, he said, “Observe in what manner Genii treat women, whom they suspect of infidelity. She received you here; and if I were convinced that she had done me any farther wrong, I would this instant annihilate you; but I shall content myself with changing you into a dog, an ass, a lion, or a bird. Make your choice; I wish not to control you.” These words gave me some hopes of softening him; I said, “Moderate, O powerful Genius, your wrath, and since you wish not to take my life, grant it me in a generous manner. If you pardon me, I shall always remember your clemency, as one of the best of men pardoned his neighbour, who bore him a most deadly envy.” The Genius then asked me, what had passed between these two neighbours, when I told him, if he would have the patience to listen to me, I would relate the history.

THE HISTORY OF THE ENVIOUS MAN, AND OF HIM WHO WAS ENVIED.

In a town of no inconsiderable importance, there were two men, who lived next door to each other. One of them was so excessively envious of the other, that the latter resolved to change his abode, and go and reside at some distance from him; supposing, that nearness of residence alone was the cause of his neighbour’s animosity; for although he was continually doing him some friendly office, he perceived that he was not the less hated. He therefore sold his house, and the small estate he had there, and went to the capital of the kingdom, which was at no great distance: and bought a small piece of ground about half a league from the town, on which there stood a very convenient house. He had also a good garden, and a moderate court, in which there was a deep cistern, that was not now used.

The good man having made this purchase, put on the habit of a dervise, in order to pass his life more quietly; and made also many cells in his house, where he soon established a small community of dervises. The report of his virtue was soon more generally spread abroad, and failed not to attract the attention and visits of great numbers of the principal inhabitants, as well as common people. At length he became honoured and noticed by almost every one. They came from a great distance to request him to offer up his prayers for them; and all, who remained in retirement with him, published an account of the blessings they thought they received from Heaven through his means.

The great reputation of this man at length reached the town from whence he came; and the envious man was so vexed, that he left his house and all his affairs, with the determination to go and destroy him. For this purpose, he went to the convent of dervises, whose chief, his former neighbour, received him with every possible mark of friendship. The envious man told him, that he was come for the express design of communicating an affair of great importance to him, and which he could only inform him of in private. “In short,” said he, “in order that no one may hear us, let us, I beg of you, walk in your court; and when night comes on, order all the dervises to their cells.” The chief of the dervises did as he requested.

When the envious man found himself alone with the good man, he began to relate to him whatever came into his thoughts, while they walked from one end of the court to the other, till observing they were just at the edge of the well, he gave him a push, and threw him into it; without there being any witness of so wicked an act. Having done this, he directly went away, got to the gate of the house, passed out unseen, returned home well satisfied with his journey, and highly pleased that the object of his envy was at length no more. In this, however, he was deceived.

It was a most fortunate thing for the dervise, that this well was inhabited by fairies and genii, who were ready to assist him. They both caught and supported him in their arms in such a way, that he received not the least injury. He naturally supposed there was something very extraordinary in having had such a fall, as ought to have cost him his life; and yet he could neither see nor perceive any thing. He soon after, however, heard a voice say, “Do you know any thing of this man, to whom we have been so serviceable?” when some other voices answered, “No.” The first then replied, “I will inform you. This man, with the most charitable and benevolent intentions in the world, left the town where he lived, and came to fix himself in this place, with the hopes of being able to cure one of his neighbours of the envy and hatred he had conceived against him. He soon became so universally esteemed, that the envious man could not endure it, and determined, therefore, to put an end to his existence. This design he would have executed, had it not been for the assistance we afforded this good man, whose reputation is so great, that the sultan, who resides in the neighbouring town, was coming to visit him to-morrow, in order to recommend the princess, his daughter, to his prayers.”

Another voice then asked what occasion the princess had for the prayers of the dervise, to which the first answered; “Are you ignorant then, that she is possessed by the power of the Genius Maimoun, the son of Dimdim, who has fallen in love with her? But I know how this good dervise can cure her. The thing is by no means difficult, as I will inform you. In his monastery there is a black cat, which has a white spot at the end of her tail, about the size of a small piece of money. Let him only pull out seven hairs from this while spot, and burn them; and then with the smoke perfume the head of the princess. From that moment she will be so thoroughly cured, and free from Maimoun, the son of Dimdim, that he will never again be able to come near her.”

The chief of the dervises did not lose a single syllable of this conversation between the Fairies and Genii, who, from this time, remained silent the whole night. The next morning, as soon as the day began to break, and the different objects became discernible, the dervise perceived, as the wall was decayed in many places, a hole, by which he could get out without any difficulty.

The other dervises, who were seeking after him, were delighted at his appearance. He related to them, in a few words, the cunning and wickedness of the guest he had entertained the day before, and then retired to his cell. It was not long before the black cat, which had been mentioned in the discourse of the Fairies and Genii, came to him to be taken notice of as usual. He then took it up, and plucked out seven hairs from the white spot in its tail, and put them aside, in order to make use of whenever he should have occasion for them.

The sun had not long risen above the horizon, when the sultan, who wished to neglect nothing, from which he thought there was any chance of curing the princess, arrived at the gate. He ordered his guards to stop, and went in with the principal officers who accompanied him. The dervises received him with the greatest respect. The sultan directly took the chief aside, and said to him, “Worthy sheik, you are perhaps already acquainted with the cause of my visit.”--“If, Sire,” the dervise modestly answered, “I do not deceive myself, it is the malady of the princess that has been the occasion of my seeing you; an honour of which I am unworthy.”--“It is so,” replied the sultan, “and you will restore almost my life to me, if, by means of your prayers, I shall obtain the re-establishment of my daughter’s health.”--“If your majesty,” answered the worthy man, “will have the goodness to suffer her to come here, I flatter myself, that with the help and favor of God she shall return in perfect health.”

The prince, transported with joy, immediately sent for his daughter, who soon appeared, accompanied by a numerous train of females and eunuchs; and veiled in such a manner, that her face could not be seen. The chief of the dervises made them hold a shovel over the head of the princess; and he no sooner threw the seven white hairs upon some burning coals, which he had ordered to be brought in it, than the Genius Maimoun, the son of Dimdim, uttered a violent scream, and left the princess quite at liberty. In the mean time nothing at all could be seen. The first thing she did was to put her hand to the veil, which covered her face, and lift it up to see where she was. “Where am I?” she cried; “Who has brought me here?” At these words the sultan could not conceal his joy; he embraced his daughter; he kissed her eyes: and then took the hand of the dervise and kissed that. “Give me,” said he to his officers, “your opinion; what return does he deserve, who has cured my daughter.”--They all answered that he was worthy of her hand. --“This is the very thing I was meditating,” he cried, “and from this moment I claim him for my son-in-law.”

Soon after this the first vizier died, and the sultan immediately advanced the dervise to the situation. The sultan himself afterwards dying without any male issue, this excellent man was proclaimed sultan by the general voice of the different religious and military orders.

The good dervise, being thus raised to the throne of his father-in-law, observed one day, as he was walking with his courtiers, the envious man among the crowd, who were in the road. He called one of his viziers, who accompanied him, told him in a whisper to bring that man, whom he pointed out to him, and to be sure not to alarm him. The vizier obeyed; and when the envious man was in the presence of the sultan, the latter addressed him in these words; “I am very happy, my friend, to see you: go,” said he, speaking to an officer, “and count out directly from my treasury a thousand pieces of gold. Nay more, deliver to him twenty bales of the most valuable merchandize my magazines contain; and let a sufficient guard escort him home.” After having given the officer this commission, he took his leave of the envious man, and continued his walk.

When I had told this history to the Genius, who had assassinated the princess of the Isle of Ebony, I made the application to myself, “O Genius,” I said to him, “you may observe how this benevolent monarch acted towards the envious man, and was not only satisfied in forgetting that he had attempted his life, but even sent him back with every benefit and advantage I have mentioned.” In short, I employed all my eloquence to persuade him to imitate so excellent an example, and to pardon me. But to alter his resolution was impossible.

“All that I can do for you,” he said, “is to spare your life; yet do not flatter yourself that I shall suffer you to return safe and well. I must at least make you feel what I can do by means of my enchantments.” At these words he violently seized me, and carrying me through the vaulted roof of the subterranean palace, which opened at his approach, he elevated me so high, that the earth appeared to me only like a small white cloud. From this height he again descended as quick as lightning, and alighted on the top of a mountain. On this spot he took up a handful of earth, and pronouncing, or rather muttering, certain words, of which I could not comprehend the meaning, threw it over me: “Quit,” he cried, “the figure of a man, and assume that of an ape.” He immediately disappeared, and I remained quite alone, changed into an ape, overwhelmed with grief, in an unknown country, and ignorant whether I was near the dominions of the king, my father.

I descended the mountain, and came to a flat level country, the extremity of which I did not reach till I had travelled a month; when I arrived at the sea-coast. There was at this time a profound calm, and I perceived a vessel about half a league from the shore. That I might not omit taking advantage of so fortunate a circumstance, I broke off a large branch from a tree, and dragged it after me to the sea-side. I then got astride it, with a stick in each hand by way of oar. In this manner I rowed myself along towards the vessel, and when I was sufficiently near to be seen, I presented a most extraordinary sight to the sailors and passengers, who were upon deck. They looked at me with the greatest admiration and astonishment. In the mean time I got along-side, and taking hold of a rope, I climbed up to the deck. But as I could not speak, I found myself in the greatest embarrassment. And in fact, the danger I now ran was not less imminent than what I had before experienced, when I was in the power of the Genius.

The merchants, who were on board, were both scrupulous and superstitious, and thought that I should be the cause of some misfortunes happening to them during their voyage, if they received me. “I will kill him,” cried one, “with a blow of this handspike.”--“Let me shoot an arrow through his body,” exclaimed another: “and then let us throw him into the sea,” said a third. Nor would they have desisted from executing their different threats, if I had not run to the captain, and thrown myself prostrate at his feet. In this supplicating posture I laid hold of the bottom of his dress; and he was so struck with this action, as well as with the tears that fell from my eyes, that he took me under his protection, declaring he would make any one repent, who should offer me the least injury. He even caressed and encouraged me. In order to make up for the loss of speech, I in return showed him, by means of signs, how much I was obliged to him.

The wind which succeeded this calm was not a strong, but it was a favourable one. It did not change for fifty days; and we then happily arrived in the harbour of a large, commercial, well-built, and populous city. Here we cast anchor. This city was of still more considerable importance, as it was the capital of a powerful kingdom. Our vessel was immediately surrounded with a multitude of small boats, filled with those who came either to congratulate their friends on their arrival, or to enquire of whom and what they had seen in the country they had come from; or simply from mere curiosity to see a ship which had arrived from a distance.

Among the rest some officers came on board, who desired, in the name of the sultan, to speak to the merchants that were with us. “The sultan, our sovereign,” said one of them to the merchants, who immediately appeared, “has charged us to express to you how much pleasure your arrival gives him, and entreats each of you to take the trouble of writing upon this roll of paper a few lines. In order to make you understand his motive for this, I must inform you, that he had a first vizier, who, besides his great abilities in the management of affairs, wrote in the greatest perfection. This minister died a few days since. The sultan is very much afflicted at it, and as he values perfection in writing beyond every thing, he has taken a solemn oath to appoint any person to the same situation, who shall write as well. Many have presented specimens of their abilities, but he has not yet found any one throughout the empire whom he has thought worthy to occupy the vizier’s place.

Each of those merchants who thought they could write well enough to aspire to this high dignity, wrote whatever they thought proper. When they had done, I advanced and took the paper from the hands of him who held it. Every body, and particularly the merchants who had written, thinking that I meant either to destroy it or throw it into the water, instantly called out; but they were soon satisfied, when they saw me hold the paper very properly, and make a sign, that I also wished to write in my turn. Their fears were now changed to astonishment. Yet as they had never seen an ape that could write, and as they could not believe I was more skilful than others, they wished to take the roll from my hands; but the captain still continued to take my part. “Suffer him to try,” he said, “let him write; if he only blots the paper, I promise you I will instantly punish him: but if, on the contrary, he writes well, as I hope he will, for I have never seen any ape more clever and ingenious, nor one who seemed so well to understand every thing, I declare that I will acknowledge him as my son. I once had one, who did not possess half so much ability as he does.”

Finding that no one any longer opposed my design, I took the pen, and did not leave off till I had given an example of six different sorts of writing used in Arabia. Each specimen contained a distich, or impromptu stanza of four lines, in praise of the sultan. My writing not only excelled that of the merchants, but I dare say they had never seen any so beautiful, even in that country. When I had finished, the officers took the roll and carried it to the sultan.