Part 10

My education was that usual for a boy in my position: I was taught to ride almost before I could walk; to throw the jereed in the game of war, and to handle arms as soon as I could bear them. Without boasting, I may say that at a very early age I showed considerable proficiency in all manly exercises, so much so that Ogloo Beg himself was pleased to notice me, and would delight to see his son, who was scarcely one year my elder, contend with me in mimic warfare. It is needless to add that I always allowed him to overcome me, greatly to the delight of his father, who would exclaim, ‘_Afferin_, well done!’ and so I not only retained the consideration of the father Ogloo Beg, but also gained the affection of the son, Hussein, who was a youth of great beauty and of a noble disposition, whom to see was to love. As soon as I grew old enough to take part in the plundering expeditions, I was attached to the person of Hussein, and more than once, had it not been for me, his ardour and impetuosity in the fight would have cost him dearly, so that he loved me all the more as the preserver of his life, and we became inseparable companions.

Now it happened upon one occasion that Ogloo Beg had plundered a particularly rich caravan of Indian merchants, which he had had notice had left Bagdad under a guard of soldiers supplied by the Pasha of that city. The guard had instantly fled upon our attack, we had slain the merchants and taken their goods to our fastness; but since Ogloo Beg had received a private message from the Pasha informing him of this opportunity, and that the guard had instructions not to resist, it was incumbent upon him to send in return half the value of the goods taken, which he did, and appointed his son Hussein to accompany them and to present his respects to the Pasha. I, of course, went with him, and we were well received. Whether by policy, so as to have a valuable hostage always in his power, or whether he was struck by the noble bearing of the son of the mountain chieftain, I cannot tell; but certain it was that Hussein grew daily in greater favour with the Pasha, and was induced to put off his departure for many days, until at length, when he grew more pressing in desiring permission to return to his father, the Pasha announced that the governorship of Mosul was vacant, and that, _Inshallah!_ God willing, he would appoint him to the vacant place. My friend immediately prostrated himself, as in duty bound, and thanked the Pasha, but desired permission to acquaint his father with the honour that had been done him, in order that he might also express his gratitude at the kindness that had been shown his son, and the permission being accorded, I was deputed to return to Ogloo Beg and acquaint him with the fact. Accordingly I set forth, but I found that all that had happened was well known to my master, and although he did not seem to be quite satisfied with the position in which his son was placed, he was too old a diplomatist to do otherwise than send me back with many protestations of thanks and professions of duty. He argued, perhaps, that though his son might be to some extent a hostage, yet that it was easier to escape from Mosul than from Bagdad; and, moreover, as Governor of Mosul, he might procure many good things for him in the way of business.

Having received his firman, Hussein took leave of the Pasha, and set out for Mosul, taking me with him in the capacity of his vizier; and he was no sooner settled in his government, than one day, calling me aside, he said, ‘My brother, it is hard for the wild hawk to be chained in the mews, even if he have all that his heart can desire save freedom; and like the wild hawk, I often pine for our valley-home, where we ever saw men around us, not slaves as here. But there is one thing in our home that might reconcile me to my banishment, the procuring whereof I would entrust to no one but thee, who art united to me by every tie of affection. Say, wilt thou do this thing for me?’ ‘On my head and my eyes, oh Aga,’ I replied, ‘nor is there anything that I would not do for you, even were it to divorce my soul from my body!’ Then he confided to me that he had long loved Zehneb, the daughter of his uncle, and that he wished me to go and demand her in marriage for him, for that he himself was unable to leave his Government. Accordingly, I set forth with many rich presents, and, to make a long story short, soon accomplished his purpose. The lady Zehneb took leave of her parents with many tears, and set forth with a caravan richly provided and many guards, for she carried a rich dowry with her. Of this caravan I had the command.

It is perhaps necessary to tell you that we Kurds give our women more freedom than is elsewhere common in the East, and as children, both my lord and I had played with Zehneb, neither as she grew older had we been altogether separated, nor had my heart escaped unscorched by the fire of her eyes. Alas! the cold embers of my love, which had almost burnt out in the all-absorbing practice of war, were again kindled into flame with my mission. She did not veil herself before me, for she regarded me as a brother almost, she said; and I could not look upon her without longing that she should be mine. It was only by constantly recalling to myself the loyalty that I owed to Hussein, and that Zehneb was his betrothed wife, that I could prevent my lips from declaring to her what my traitor eyes could no longer conceal.

As the caravan journeyed along day by day, I rode by the side of her litter, and though I essayed to talk upon such indifferent subjects as philosophy, and the history and heroes of our race, such as might both interest her and be permitted to me, yet one glance of her eyes was sufficient to render me mute, and my troubled looks and frequent sighs could hardly escape the notice of one so acute, so sympathetic, and so friendly as she. On one occasion, when I had been relating to her some of the adventures of Rustem, a silence ensued for some time, and then she said to me, ‘Oh, Yusef, thou hast related many stories to me of the might and power of the old heroes, and it behoveth me also to relate in my turn somewhat of the stories of yore, calculated to admonish the understanding and make us extol the power and perfection of God.’ Upon which she related to me the story of ‘El Melek en Assad, or Evil is Rewarded by Evil.’

[Illustration]

_EL MELEK EN ASSAD, OR EVIL IS REWARDED BY EVIL._

Know that in the days of yore, when Mahommed, on whom be peace, had returned to heaven but a short time, and the victorious armies of the believers in the true faith had converted the unbelievers of Arabia, and of Syria, and of Mesopotamia, that there was a warrior of Persia, a champion among the champions, whose name was Assad, and who had been among the first to welcome the true faith in that country. He was a man of so great might, that even the hosts of the Arabs would have been worsted and overcome had he been against them. Now Assad, of his greatness of heart and ambition, could not fold the hand of complacency upon the belly of satiety, or remain at rest upon the carpet of luxury, wherefore, when Persia was conquered, and the worshippers of fire overthrown, and the people were converted, and peace was proclaimed, seeing that there were no more enemies of the sons of Adam in whose blood he might bathe his sword, he set forth single-handed against the king of the Divs or Demons, in order that he might compel him also to embrace the true faith of our Lord Mahommed. Now this king was called the Red King, and he was Sultan over a thousand tribes of the Jinn, each of which was a hundred thousand in number, and every one of whom ruled over a thousand Marids, who each ruled over a thousand Afrits, who each ruled over a thousand Shitans, and every Shitan ruled over a thousand warlocks. No human foot had ever trodden the soil of his country, because of the perils and frightful sights and sounds by which it was encompassed, and which no human being had hitherto had the courage to brave or the strength to encounter. But Assad in his pride recked nought of these things, and donning his suit of mail, and girding on his scimitar, he mounted his horse, a noble beast of the Keheyleh tribe, and so set forth into the desert. Here he journeyed on for many days, until hunger and thirst overtook him, and his soul nearly departed from his body, when at length he came upon a great sea of fresh water, whereupon he returned thanks to God for his preservation, and drank his fill. Then he tethered his horse, and sat down by the shore, because it was not possible for him to cross or to go farther. After he had sat there for some time, putting his trust in Allah the Compassionate, the Merciful, he heard a voice from a neighbouring grove chanting the blessed Koran, and drawing near, little by little, that he might see from whence the voice proceeded, he perceived an ancient Sheikh, who had taken up his abode there in an empty tomb. This Sheikh was clad in a garment of camel’s hair, his locks were long and matted, and his beard descended to his knees. After salutations, the Sheikh questioned him of his coming, whereupon Assad related to him the cause, and of his desire to win to the kingdom of the Divs, in order that he might propound to them the true faith, and save their souls from the fire. The Sheikh when he heard these words shook all over with delight, and said: ‘Oh! my son, know that I am of the children of the Divs, and being converted to the true faith, I sought to bring my father, the Red King, together with his subjects, to profess that there was but one God, and that Mahommed was his Prophet; but they would not listen to me, and scorned my words, and drove me forth from among them. Whereupon I wept, and humbled myself to Allah, and I besought Him that He would aid me to convert the blood of my blood, and not visit them with His judgment. And He sent an angel to me who swore that my prayer had been heard, and that in His good time He would send a champion who would convert them, but that I must surrender my immortality, and become one of the sons of Adam. This I accepted, and immediately I became as thou seest me; for though I am the youngest of the sons of the Red King, yet have I seen 1,040 years. Now, however, thou wilt release me from this life, and I shall attain Paradise.’ Upon this, he threw certain magic herbs upon a brazier of living coal, and repeated some incantations, when immediately a ship appeared sailing without wind, until it stopped at the shore where they were. Then the Sheikh bade him depart in it, for it would carry him to the country of the Divs; and scarcely had he ceased speaking, when he became a heap of dust. Assad thereupon dug a grave, and deposited his remains therein, and having read some verses of the Koran over him, went on board the vessel. As soon as he had set foot upon it, it left the shore, and without wind or sails departed swifter than the flight of the eagle for the opposite shore, where he disembarked, and, mounting his horse, fared on.

Now the Sheikh had informed him that he would first have to pass a stony desert in which he would be assailed by soulless bodies of hideous form, but that he must not heed them or turn his head, for if he did they would instantly slay him, nor would his valour avail him; and he had not proceeded a parasang into the desert when he was surrounded with threatening forms such as the imagination can scarcely conceive; nor would it have been possible for anyone endowed with less valour and stoutness of heart and belief in his own strength than Assad to have escaped death. For they tempted him in every way to turn his head, they filled the air around him, they clasped him round the waist, they sat on the crupper of his horse, but all this he heeded not and fared on until he had left the desert behind him and had come to an oasis, as the old man had informed him that he would, where he found dates for himself, grass for his horse, and water for both; and after he had said the evening prayers and had eaten, he passed the night there. In the morning he arose refreshed, and prepared to go through his second adventure, which was to pass through a plain filled with wild beasts that seemed to bar his way, lions and winged serpents and basilisks and unicorns, but he recked not of them, and passed on unscathed, for as he had no fear they did him no harm. Then he saw before him a mighty wall of fierce flame, and the blast from it was as the blast from a furnace, or as the wind of the desert, and it roared like a troop of baboons in a resounding cavern. He would have feared to enter it, deeming that no man could enter it and live, had not the old man forewarned him of it and assured him that it would not harm him; and when he passed through it he felt nothing, no more than had he been riding on the meidan. When he had passed through this, he saw the whole army of the Red King drawn up before him in battle array, arranged rank after rank, and more numerous than the blades of waving corn. The air above them was thick with Afrits, whose forms were hideous enough to instil fear even into the stoutest heart. As soon as they perceived him, they gave a great cry and beat their spears upon their shields so that the sky seemed as if it were about to fall, and a hundred of their chiefest champions galloped forward to take him and present him to their king, but though they wheeled round him and cut and thrust, yet they could not overcome him; and he slew them one by one until he had slain fifty of them, when fear of him overcame them, their livers became water, and they fled before him, and the whole army fled with them. Assad pursued them and seized the Red King as he too was preparing to fly, and having bound him, drew his sword and made him kneel down, and then propounded Islam to him, saying: ‘Either accept the true belief in one God brought to us by our Lord Mahommed, on whom be peace, or thy head shall roll from between thy shoulders.’ Whereupon the Red King was convinced of the truth of Islam, and pronounced the requisite formula: ‘Allah il Allah, Mahommed Rasoul Allah;’ so Assad raised him from the ground, and unbound him and treated him with honour, and after they had sat for a while conversing, the Red King said: ‘Oh, my lord, since you have come among us, and we have become brothers, it is incumbent upon us to show you somewhat of hospitality; therefore accompany us to our city in order that we may do what is necessary.’ To this Assad replied, ‘No harm’; and accordingly they set forth mounted on horses richly caparisoned, the drums beating before them, banners flying, and surrounded by the troops, until they arrived at the city of the Red King. The inhabitants thereof decorated the town and came forth to meet them and do them honour, and so conducted them to the palace. Then the Red King took his seat on the musnud with Assad on his right hand and the wuzeers and emirs and the captains and chief men around him, and he cried out to them with a loud voice, ‘Oh, Jinn, this champion of the sons of Adam has come among us and has vanquished the most accomplished of our cavaliers and most valiant of our captains; and we threw out spells against him, but neither our valour nor our spells availed us aught; wherefore it is obvious that his religion is the true religion and it is incumbent upon us that we embrace Islam.’ Then all present cried: ‘Long live our king!’ and they one and all made the profession of the faith. After this, Assad having accomplished his purpose, demanded permission of the king to depart to his own country; but he replied to him, ‘What is this? You would depart and have not yet partaken of our hospitality!’ So Assad remained, and there were festivities for three days, every man eating and drinking at the royal expense. On the third night, when Assad was reposing in his chamber, he suddenly perceived that he was no longer alone, but that a lovely girl stood by his couch, accompanied only by one attendant slave girl. Did I attempt to describe her beauty to you, no words would avail me, and I will only say, therefore, that it was such that no human pen could write or human mind conceive it. She smiled upon the bewildered Assad and then spoke in words sweeter than distilled honey, saying: ‘My name is Tamineh, and I am the daughter of the Red King. Hearing the praise of thy doughty deeds and of thy prowess, whereby thou didst overcome all the champions of my father, I became enamoured of thee, and swore that I would espouse no other man. Therefore demand my hand of my father, and he will not deny me to thee.’ So saying she retired, and Assad the next morning demanded her hand, which being accorded to him, the nuptials were celebrated the same day.