Part 13

This was a consolation indeed to me in my misfortunes; but though we managed to exchange a certain amount of correspondence, yet it was impossible for me to relax any of the precautions I was taking to preserve my life. Achmet Decab dared not come near me where I was, but neither dared I go near my old home: for, unless I killed him, which I might certainly do, my life was not safe from hour to hour; whereas, if I did kill him, I should only give rise to another blood feud and be no better off than I was before. At length in answer to my many complaints of the pain of absence, I received a letter from Baïda appointing a meeting in a cave well known to both of us, situated upon the other side of the mountain against which our tribe had encamped. My joy upon the receipt of this epistle I will leave you to imagine, and I need not tell you that I did not fail to keep the appointed time. On the date given me I set off early, and with due circumspection, travelled two-thirds of the distance and then hid myself in a retired spot to wait for the shades of night to fall. As soon as it began to get dark I resumed my journey, and as the moon was just beginning to rise and shed its tender beams, so dear to a lover’s heart, over the stony waste, I arrived at the trysting-place, where I tethered my horse in the innermost recesses of a cave and then took up a position among some broken rocks whence I could see and yet not be seen. I had not waited long, when I saw Baïda approaching. She appeared troubled in mien, but made light of all obstacles in her way as only an Arab girl could. Ever and anon she stopped and listened, clearly, as I thought, for me, for it was not yet the full time appointed: then she would hurry on again until at length she arrived at the cave. I heard her call my name in a low voice, and needed no second summons before I was at her side. Ah! how can I describe to you our mutual transports at meeting each other again after so long an interval, rendered twice as long by the sharp impatience of love and doubting as we did that we should ever see each other again? It seemed that we had hardly exchanged a word, when she suddenly started back, and looking fearfully around, informed me that my life was in the greatest danger. She had come at the peril of her own to warn me that our correspondence had been intercepted and that the letter inviting me was none of hers but merely a decoy which she had discovered by the merest accident but a few hours ago. Seeing some of her relations assembled armed at her father’s tent, her suspicions were aroused, and listening behind the curtain, she overheard the whole plot. Achmet Decab had decoyed me here, and, while I unsuspectingly awaited my Baïda, he hoped easily to surprise and overcome me. She had scarcely finished her recital when with a shriek she threw herself in front of me, and almost at the same instant fell at my feet pierced through the heart by a javelin, while the war-cry of my tribe rung in my ears. I stooped down to kiss her, and saw that she was dead: my heart became filled with the fury of ten thousand devils: I drew my sword, and rushed down upon my enemies blind with rage; I attacked madly, and the first person I encountered was Achmet Decab, whose sword I beat down, and whom I instantly slew. Then I turned upon the others, nor did I know what afterwards happened, so blind was my fury, save that shortly afterwards I found that all my enemies had fled, leaving two of their number besides Achmet Decab dead behind them. When there was no one left to fight, my senses returned to me, and I went back to Baïda and lifted her tenderly up. How beautiful she was in death! Gently I closed those loving eyes that never again would respond to my impassioned gaze, and smoothed those tresses for the last time with my trembling hands. That fearful glance was gone, her features were composed in peace, she would feel no more of the griefs and anxieties of this world: her woes were ended, even as she had supplicated the Most High--may our union be a blessed one in Paradise! Then I dug a grave, and laid her in it, while my tears ran in two rivulets at my feet. Her body I covered over with sand, but left her face free, for I felt that the sand might choke her. Then I piled large stones around and over it, and sat there three days weeping and reciting verses from the Koran, while the vultures and jackals demolished the carcasses of those I had slain. After this I wandered away as one distraught, I know not for how long, until I took up my abode here; where I daily pray that the Merciful One will release me from this life and reunite me with my beloved where separation can never more come.

Zehneb wept when I had finished my story, and said: ‘Alas, it is true that there is no security for love in this life, but only in Paradise!’ By this time we had arrived at our journey’s end and were entering the city of Mosul, where separation would come upon us, and the hearts of both of us were full. Yet a few steps, and we should enter the palace of Hussein, after which our companionship would be ended for ever, and I should never set eyes on Zehneb again, much less hear or talk to her. Already a guard of honour had come forth to meet us, and presently Hussein approached and embraced me, and then led the way at the head of the procession to a palace that he had prepared for the reception of Zehneb, whose nuptials were to be celebrated on the morrow. After this I followed him to the Governor’s palace. He was full of questions as to the events of the journey and of our old home, but every word from him was as a stab in my heart. I could not talk, so full were my thoughts of Zehneb and of our separation, and I answered him but absently. Then he commanded the slaves to bring the table, and we washed our hands and sat, Hussein feeding me and commending the dishes, but I had no appetite and I could not eat. Then they set the sweetmeats before us of a hundred different sorts, and he conjured me to eat; but when I essayed to do so the conserves seemed to dry up in my mouth, and I was not able to. So he ordered them to set the wine before us, wine from Shiraz of the choicest, and he filled a cup and handed it to me, and said: ‘Oh Yousef, drink to the happiness of thy brother Hussein and to his speedy union with Zehneb, the beloved one.’ Whereupon I drank, and said: ‘May all happiness be theirs!’ Then Hussein said: ‘Tell us somewhat of Zehneb, and of her beauty, for thou hast been with her many days and hast enjoyed her company, nor would I have entrusted her to any one but thee.’ Upon this I hung my head, and said: ‘Oh, my lord, it is in truth of thy kindness that thou commandest me to speak of one whose charms are such that any word concerning her is delightful; but I desire of thy goodness that I may be excused, for my tongue is inept, and I have not yet recovered from the fatigues of the journey and my fear and anxiety concerning her safety.’ Whereat he laughed, and said: ‘Oh Yousef, indeed we would not force thee; but since thy bosom is contracted, perhaps the hearing of music will dilate it.’ Then he clapped his hands, and a slave girl appeared more beautiful than the Moon; and behind her came another slave girl carrying a lute in a bag of silk. And when she had seated herself, she drew the lute forth, and tuned it, bending over it as a mother bends over her child; then she swept her hands over the strings, and they wailed as a lover mourning the loss of his beloved. After a prelude played in seven different manners, she sang as follows:

Like the Cassia branch is she, Oh, my soul, so slim and fair! Sweet as honey from the bee: None can with my love compare!

I saw the bright Moon rise on high, Amidst the constellations pass: My love is like the Moon, I cry, As unattainable, alas!

I fear to die of grief. Ah me! A burning fire consumes my heart There is no greater agony Than that when weeping lovers part!

Be sparing of your blame on one Who must endure a lover’s pain: There is no hope left to me, none, That I shall meet her e’er again!

Then peace be on thee, fairest love! Nought in the world of power or pelf, No being on earth, or heaven above, Can compensate me for thyself!

When she had finished, I gave a great cry and fell back senseless; and Hussein sprinkled me with rose-water until I had recovered. Then he said to me: ‘Oh, my brother, I did not ply thee with questions concerning Zehneb but of my desire to prove to myself what I knew before, namely the love and affection that thou bearest to her. Know that I was with the caravan the whole of the journey in the guise of a camel-driver, and listened to thy conversation with Zehneb, and to the stories that were related between you; and I became aware that thou didst love her, and that she loved thee in return. Nevertheless thy loyalty to friendship, and her loyalty to her betrothed, withstood the temptation of mutual love. Oh Yousef! if thou wert not my brother I would not do what I am about to do: for I also, in seeing and hearing her and learning the nobility of her mind and the beauty of her understanding, learned to love her too. But thou hast the first right to her, since she loves thee, and I yield her up. We will celebrate your nuptials to-morrow.’ When I heard this, I threw myself on the ground before him, and kissed his hands, and thanked him in stammering words. Then I drew out the Jacinth from my bosom, the talisman which my father had given to me and which I had worn ever since, and it had never left me, and I said: ‘Oh, my Lord, thou hast overwhelmed me with thy bounty and kindness, and thy slave hath neither words to thank thee nor aught to make in return to thee for thy beneficence. But deign to take this jewel, which alone, of all I possess, is not wholly unworthy of thy acceptance; for good fortune can do no harm even to those who enjoy the highest of the gifts of God. It is a talisman by virtue of which the wearer ever has good luck;’ and I related to him its story: whereupon he took it and thanked me, and tied it round his neck.

The next day my marriage with Zehneb was celebrated with the utmost magnificence and pomp. Hussein appointed me to a subordinate governorship at Jaffa; and I took up my residence there, dealing justly with my people, and was beloved by them in return. But one day as I was riding along by the seashore with but few attendants, in order that I might examine more closely a ship which was anchored hard by, a number of men suddenly darted up from behind the sandhills, where they had been concealed, and seized me together with such of my attendants as had been unable to fly, and hurrying us on board the vessel, weighed the anchor and set sail; so that I knew that they were pirates. They sold me to a dealer in slaves at Alexandria, who would not listen to me when I told him who I was, and that I was a true believer and a free man whom it was not lawful to enslave; nor would he believe that I was able to pay ransom, for he perceived that I was a Kurd. So he sold me to some merchants of Barbary, and now I am become what you see. Destiny had marked me out for misfortune; I am cast down from the highest happiness to the lowest depths of despair, and scarcely have a hope left that I shall ever enjoy felicity again in this life.

I tell this story as one that I thought to be worthy of remembrance and one of those that served to beguile some of the tedious hours of my captivity. There were besides others, not unworthy of notice, one especially, which was told to me by a High German, a slave of sinister aspect, who called himself Wolfram von Rabenbach, which I think worthy of relation; though, indeed, I hardly know whether to give credence to it or not: for it contains many wonderful things concerning the power of Satan over mortals, which were more frequent in past ages than in these times. This slave related to us one evening the story of his life, as follows.

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_THE STORY OF WOLFRAM VON RABENBACH_

I need not begin the story of my life with any account of my early youth, which passed without any noteworthy event, much as that of others; but I will begin from the time that I entered the service of Count Dietrich von Schneckenstein, lord of Schneckenstein, at a time when I was yet scarce eighteen years old. The castle of Schneckenstein was situated on the summit of a lofty pinnacle of rock, the spur of a still higher mountain, and all around was a dense pine forest, the home of the deer, wild boar, wolf, and occasional bears. The cultivated plains beneath served to sustain the laborious population of many villages, who all owned the Lord of Schneckenstein for their master.

Our days were passed in hunting and the exercises of war, and our evenings in wild carouse; when Count Dietrich with his knights and any stranger guests that chanced to be passing that way and claimed his hospitality, would drink and sing and swear until the early hours of the morning. There was nothing to hinder him or to soften his manners. His wife had been dead many years, leaving an only daughter who was called Hildegard, and who was, at the time I am speaking of, the only lady in the castle. But she never appeared at her father’s board, being still young, only fourteen years of age; and she passed her time in the ordinary occupations of females with her women in a separate wing of the castle. I had been about a year in Count Dietrich’s service before I saw her; and though I had heard that she was very beautiful, I had never given much thought to her until one day when being on guard, I saw her passing from the castle gardens to her bower. I had no sooner seen her than, young as we both were, I had fallen in love with her; but, on my part, it was a hopeless love, for how could I hope without either rank or wealth to be able to carry off the heiress of the house of Schneckenstein? For her part I doubt that she ever saw me, or if she did, that she ever noticed me amidst the crowd of her father’s retainers; and I was compelled to nurse my love in silence. This I would willingly have done for an indefinite time, for it was sufficient for me to worship her at a distance so long as I had no fear of any rival; but, to my great distress, the confessor of my Lord of Schneckenstein recalled him from his selfish pursuits to think of his daughter who, as he pointed out, was now growing up to womanhood, and whose beauty was so renowned that it only needed a public declaration from her father that he was willing to entertain the idea of marriage for his daughter, for a crowd of suitors for her hand to come forward. Count Dietrich took this advice to heart, and since he knew of no one more suitable for a husband to her than another, he adopted the usual device of proclaiming a tournament (though such jousts were rather out of date), the winner of which was to be rewarded with his daughter’s hand.

This announcement cost me the utmost perturbation of spirit. How could I hope to prove victorious in a tournament against the most accomplished cavaliers of the age? And if I were, how could I, without rank or wealth, be accepted as a suitor for her hand? One afternoon, almost beside myself with these thoughts, I wandered forth into the woods. It wanted but a few days to the tournament. The weather was lowering and portended a storm. Already as I walked beneath the giant pines they sighed to the first blast of the gale. Soon murky clouds began to discharge their threatening drops of moisture, the heavens grew dark as night, blinding flashes of lightning were followed by peals of thunder that shook the earth; the wind howled and roared, making the trees to groan and creak and crash around me. But the turmoil of the storm hardly echoed the fury within my soul as I struggled on in an ecstasy of rage. I cursed my fate, I cursed the elements and bade them do their worst, I cursed the day on which I was born, I cursed my life, and I cursed the life to come! Suddenly a terrible flash of lightning blasted a tree just before me; recoiling almost blinded, I was recovering from the shock when I saw a figure clad all in red emerge from behind the ruined trunk. Though my spirits a moment before had been madly excited, a sudden horror seized me at the sight of the stranger. I would have turned and fled had I not been paralysed. A thousand thoughts of fear, anger, horror, and of flight, chased each other through my brain as I stood uncertain what to do; but before I could determine anything the stranger accosted me--that is, I seemed to know what he said though no words were expressed. It seemed to me that he knew all my past life--of my love, of my longing, and of my despair; and that he gave me the promise of success in the forthcoming tournament upon one condition: it seemed to me that he assured me of the attainment of all I wished during this life if I would agree to serve him in the life hereafter. I loved too deeply to refuse; and straightway he produced a document already engrossed and with my name in it, and then handing me a pen he pointed out the place where I was to sign. ‘One drop of blood,’ he said, ‘to write your signature is enough for me; we need no seal.’ I drew my poignard and bade him use it on my arm; but he fell back and said that he could have no hand in it, and that I must do it myself. So I drew blood and signed. Then there came a roll of thunder more terrible than any I had yet heard; lightnings played around and a cloud of sulphurous and other mephitic vapours surrounded and almost suffocated me, so that I lost my senses for a time, and when I had regained them the stranger was gone, but there near by me, tied to a tree, was a war horse laden with a complete suit of magnificent armour. As I turned home cowed and sad, leading my new possession by the bridle, the storm began to abate, dying away in wails and sobs, but the tempestuous air seemed to my imagination to be thick with unseen beings, that could be felt although they could not be seen. A rush of wings accompanied me as I went, howls and groans were intermingled with sad sweet cries, among which I could distinguish the words ‘Lost! lost!’ drowned in shrieks of fiendish laughter. The rain now ceased, but the wind still wailed dirges through the trees, and night was coming on apace. As I groped my way onward, strange shadowy forms seemed to dog my footsteps, and stranger creatures seemed to follow me through the branches overhead. Ghastly faces would appear from behind the trunks of the trees, faces that curdled the very marrow in my bones, so terrible was their expression or so awful the agony they betrayed; while ever and anon some frightful flying thing would sweep by me so closely as to brush my face with a touch that froze me.