Part 39

O moon for ever set this earth below, ✿ Whose loss bewail the stars which stud the sky! O wand, which broken, ne'er with bend and wave ✿ Shall fascinate the ravisht gazer's eye; These eyne for jealousy I 'reft of thee, ✿ Nor shall they till next life thy sight descry: I'm drowned in sea of tears for insomny ✿ Wherefore, indeed in Sáhirah-stead[374] I lie.

Then he threw himself on As'ad's tomb, groaning and weeping and lamenting and versifying with these couplets:—

Indeed I longed to share unweal with thee, ✿ But Allah than my will willed otherwise: My grief all blackens 'twixt mine eyes and space, ✿ Yet whitens all the blackness from mine eyes:[375] Of tears they weep these eyne run never dry, ✿ And ulcerous flow in vitals never dries: Right sore it irks me seeing thee in stead[376] ✿ Where slave with sovran for once levelled lies.

And his weeping and wailing redoubled; and, after he had ended his lamentations and his verse, he forsook his friends and intimates, and denying himself to his women and his family, cut himself off from the world in the House of Lamentations, where he passed his time in weeping for his sons. Such was his case; but as regards Amjad and As'ad they fared on into the desert eating of the fruits of the earth and drinking of the remnants of the rain for a full month, till their travel brought them to a mountain of black flint[377] whose further end was unknown; and here the road forked, one line lying along the midway height and the other leading to its head. They took the way trending to the top and gave not over following it five days, but saw no end to it and were overcome with weariness, being unused to walking upon the mountains or elsewhere.[378] At last, despairing of coming to the last of the road, they retraced their steps and, taking the other, that led over the midway heights,——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.

Now when it was the Two Hundred and Twenty-sixth Night,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Princes Amjad and As'ad returned from the path leading to the Mountain-head and took that which ran along the midway heights, and walked through all that day till nightfall, when As'ad, weary with much travel, said to Amjad, "O my brother, I can walk no farther, for I am exceeding weak." Replied Amjad, "O my brother, take courage! May be Allah will send us relief." So they walked on part of the night, till the darkness closed in upon them, when As'ad became weary beyond measure of weariness and cried out, "O my brother, I am worn out and spent with walking," and threw himself upon the ground and wept. Amjad took him in his arms and walked on with him, bytimes sitting down to rest till break of day, when they came to the mountain-top and found there a stream of running water and by it a pomegranate-tree and a prayer-niche.[379] They could hardly believe their eyes when they saw it; but, sitting down by that spring, drank of its water and ate of the fruit of that granado-tree; after which they lay on the ground and slept till sunrise, when they washed and bathed in the spring and, eating of the pomegranates, slept again till the time of mid-afternoon prayer. Then they thought to continue their journey, but As'ad could not walk, for both his feet were swollen. So they abode there three days till they were rested, after which they set out again and fared on over the mountain days and nights, tortured by and like to die of thirst, till they sighted a city gleaming afar off, at which they rejoiced and made towards it. When they drew near it, they thanked Allah (be His Name exalted!) and Amjad said to As'ad, "O my brother, sit here, whilst I go to yonder city and see what it is and whose it is and where we are in Allah's wide world, that we may know through what lands we have passed in crossing this mountain, whose skirts had we followed, we had not reached this city in a whole year. So praised be Allah for safety!" Replied As'ad, "By Allah, O my brother, none shall go down into that city save myself, and may I be thy ransom! If thou leave me alone, be it only for an hour, I shall imagine a thousand things and be drowned in a torrent of anxiety on thine account, for I cannot brook thine absence from me." Amjad rejoined, "Go then and tarry not." So As'ad took some gold pieces, and leaving his brother to await him, descended the mountain and ceased not faring on till he entered the city. As he threaded the streets he was met by an old man age-decrepit, whose beard flowed down upon his breast and forked in twain;[380] he bore a walking-staff in his hand and was richly clad, with a great red turband on his head. When As'ad saw him, he wondered at his dress and his mien; nevertheless, he went up to him and saluting him said, "Where be the way to the market, O my master?" Hearing these words the Shaykh smiled in his face and replied, "O my son, meseemeth thou art a stranger?" As'ad rejoined, "Yes, I am a stranger."——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.

Now when it was the Two Hundred and Twenty-seventh Night,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the Shaykh who met As'ad smiled in his face and said to him, "O my son, meseemeth thou art a stranger?" and As'ad replied, "Yes, I am a stranger." Then rejoined the old man, "Verily, thou gladdenest our country with thy presence, O my son, and thou desolatest thine own land by reason of thine absence. What wantest thou of the market?" Quoth As'ad, "O uncle, I have a brother, with whom I have come from a far land and with whom I have journeyed these three months; and, when we sighted this city, I left him, who is my elder brother, upon the mountain and came hither, purposing to buy victual and what else, and return therewith to him, that we might feed thereon." Said the old man, "Rejoice in all good, O my son, and know thou that to-day I give a marriage-feast, to which I have bidden many guests, and I have made ready plenty of meats, the best and most delicious that heart can desire. So if thou wilt come with me to my place, I will give thee freely all thou lackest without asking thee a price or aught else. Moreover I will teach thee the ways of this city; and, praised be Allah, O my son, that I, and none other have happened upon thee." "As thou wilt," answered As'ad, "do as thou art disposed, but make haste, for indeed my brother awaiteth me and his whole heart is with me." The old man took As'ad by the hand and carried him to a narrow lane, smiling in his face and saying, "Glory be to Him who hath delivered thee from the people of this city!" And he ceased not walking till he entered a spacious house, wherein was a saloon and behold, in the middle of it were forty old men, well stricken in years, collected together and forming a single ring as they sat round about a lighted fire, to which they were doing worship and prostrating themselves.[381] When As'ad saw this, he was confounded and the hair of his body stood on end though he knew not what they were; and the Shaykh said to them, "O Elders of the Fire, how blessed is this day!" Then he called aloud, saying, "Hallo, Ghazbán!" Whereupon there came out to him a tall black slave of frightful aspect, grim-visaged and flat nosed as an ape who, when the old man made a sign to him, bent As'ad's arms behind his back and pinioned them; after which the Shaykh said to him, "Let him down into the vault under the earth and there leave him and say to my slave-girl Such-an-one:—Torture him night and day and give him a cake of bread to eat morning and evening against the time come of the voyage to the Blue Sea and the Mountain of Fire, whereon we will slaughter him as a sacrifice." So the black carried him out at another door and, raising a flag in the floor, discovered a flight of twenty steps leading to a chamber[382] under the earth, into which he descended with him and, laying his feet in irons, gave him over to the slave-girl and went away. Meanwhile, the old men said to one another, "When the day of the Festival of the Fire cometh, we will sacrifice him on the mountain, as a propitiatory offering whereby we shall pleasure the Fire." Presently the damsel went down to him and beat him a grievous beating, till streams of blood flowed from his sides and he fainted; after which she set at his head a scone of bread and a cruse of brackish water and went away and left him. In the middle of the night, he revived and found himself bound and beaten and sore with beating: so he wept bitter tears; and recalling his former condition of honour and prosperity, lordship and dominion, and his separation from his sire and his exile from his native land——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.

[Illustration]

Now when it was the Two Hundred and Twenty-eight Night,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when As'ad found himself bound and beaten and sore with beating he recalled his whilome condition of honour and prosperity and dominion and lordship, and he wept and groaned aloud and recited these couplets:—

Stand by the ruined stead and ask of us; ✿ Nor deem we dwell there as was state of us: The World, that parter, hath departed us; ✿ Yet soothes not hate-full hearts the fate of us: With whips a cursèd slave-girl scourges us, ✿ And teems her breast with rancorous hate of us: Allah shall haply deign to unpart our lives, ✿ Chastise our foes, and end this strait of us.

And when As'ad had spoken his poetry, he put out his hand towards his head and finding there the crust and the cruse full of brackish water he ate a bittock, just enough to keep life in him, and drank a little water, but could get no sleep till morning for the swarms of bugs[383] and lice. As soon as it was day, the slave-girl came down to him and changed his clothes, which were drenched with blood and stuck to him, so that his skin came off with the shirt; wherefor he shrieked aloud and cried, "Alas!" and said, "O my God, if this be Thy pleasure, increase it upon me! O Lord, verily Thou art not unmindful of him that oppresseth me; do Thou then avenge me upon him!" And he groaned and repeated the following verses:—

Patient, O Allah! to Thy destiny ✿ I bow, suffice me what Thou deign decree: Patient to bear Thy will, O Lord of me, ✿ Patient to burn on coals of Ghazátree: They wrong me, visit me with hurt and harm; ✿ Haply Thy grace from them shall set me free: Far be't, O Lord, from thee to spare the wronger ✿ O Lord of Destiny my hope's in Thee!

And what another saith:—

Bethink thee not of worldly state, ✿ Leave everything to course of Fate; For oft a thing that irketh thee ✿ Shall in content eventuate; And oft what strait is shall expand, ✿ And what expanded is wax strait. Allah will do what wills His will, ✿ So be not thou importunate! But 'joy the view of coming weal ✿ Shall make forget past bale and bate.

And when he had ended his verse, the slave-girl came down upon him with blows till he fainted again; and, throwing him a flap of bread and a gugglet of saltish water, went away and left him sad and lonely, bound in chains of iron, with the blood streaming from his sides and far from those he loved. So he wept and called to mind his brother and the honours he erst enjoyed——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.

Now when it was the Two Hundred and Twenty-ninth Night,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that As'ad called to mind his brother and the honours he erst enjoyed; so he wept and groaned and complained and poured forth tears in floods and improvised these couplets:—

Easy, O Fate! how long this wrong, this injury, ✿ Robbing each morn and eve my brotherhood fro' me? Is't not time now thou deem this length sufficiency ✿ Of woes and, O thou Heart of Rock, show clemency? My friends thou wrongedst when thou madst each enemy ✿ Mock and exult me for thy wrongs, thy tyranny: My foeman's heart is solaced by the things he saw ✿ In me, of strangerhood and lonely misery: Suffice thee not what came upon my head of dole, ✿ Friends lost for evermore, eyes wan and pale of blee? But must in prison cast so narrow there is naught ✿ Save hand to bite, with bitten hand for company; And tears that tempest down like goodly gift of cloud, ✿ And longing thirst whose fires weet no satiety. Regretful yearnings, singulfs and unceasing sighs, ✿ Repine, remembrance and pain's very ecstacy: Desire I suffer sore and melancholy deep, ✿ And I must bide a prey to endless phrenesy: I find me ne'er a friend who looks with piteous eye, ✿ And seeks my presence to allay my misery: Say, liveth any intimate with trusty love ✿ Who for mine ills will groan, my sleepless malady? To whom moan I can make and, peradventure, he ✿ Shall pity eyes that sight of sleep can never see? The flea and bug suck up my blood, as wight that drinks ✿ Wine from the proffering hand of fair virginity: Amid the lice my body aye remindeth me ✿ Of orphan's good in Kázi's claw of villainy: My home's a sepulchre that measures cubits three, ✿ Where pass I morn and eve in chainèd agony: My wines are tears, my clank of chains takes music's stead; ✿ Cares my dessert of fruit and sorrows are my bed.

And when he had versed his verse and had prosed his prose, he again groaned and complained and remembered what he had been and how he had been parted from his brother. Thus far concerning him; but as regards his brother Amjad, he awaited As'ad till mid-day yet he returned not to him: whereupon Amjad's vitals fluttered, the pangs of parting were sore upon him and he poured forth abundant tears,——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.

Now when it was the Two Hundred and Thirtieth Night,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when Amjad awaited his brother As'ad till mid-day and he returned not to him, Amjad's vitals fluttered; the pangs of parting were sore upon him and he poured forth abundant tears, exclaiming, "Alas, my brother! Alas, my friend! Alas my grief! How I feared me we should be separated!" Then he descended from the mountain-top with the tears running down his cheeks; and, entering the city, ceased not walking till he made the market. He asked the folk the name of the place and concerning its people and they said, "This is called the City of the Magians, and its citizens are mostly given to Fire-worshipping in lieu of the Omnipotent King." Then he enquired of the City of Ebony and they answered, "Of a truth it is a year's journey thither by land and six months by sea: it was governed erst by a King called Armanus; but he took to son-in-law and made King in his stead a Prince called Kamar al-Zaman distinguished for justice and munificence, equity and benevolence." When Amjad heard tell of his father, he groaned and wept and lamented and knew not whither to go. However, he bought a something of food and carried it to a retired spot where he sat down thinking to eat; but, recalling his brother, he fell a-weeping and swallowed but a morsel to keep breath and body together, and that against his will. Then he rose and walked about the city, seeking news of his brother, till he saw a Moslem tailor sitting in his shop; so he sat down by him and told him his story; whereupon quoth the tailor, "If he have fallen into the hands of the Magians, thou shalt hardly see him again: yet it may be Allah will reunite you twain. But thou, O my brother," he continued, "wilt thou lodge with me?" Amjad answered, "Yes"; and the tailor rejoiced at this. So he abode with him many days, what while the tailor comforted him and exhorted him to patience and taught him tailoring, till he became expert in the craft. Now one day he went forth to the sea-shore and washed his clothes; after which he entered the bath and put on clean raiment; then he walked about the city, to divert himself with its sights and presently there met him on the way a woman of passing beauty and loveliness, without peer for grace and comeliness. When she saw him she raised her face-veil and signed to him by moving her eyebrows and her eyes with luring glances, and versified these couplets:—

I drooped my glance when seen thee on the way ✿ As though, O slim-waist! felled by Sol's hot ray: Thou art the fairest fair that e'er appeared, ✿ Fairer to-day than fair of yesterday:[384] Were Beauty parted, a fifth part of it ✿ With Joseph or a part of fifth would stay; The rest would fly to thee, thine ownest own; ✿ Be every soul thy sacrifice, I pray!

When Amjad heard these her words, they gladdened his heart which inclined to her and his bowels yearned towards her and the hands of love sported with him; so he sighed to her in reply and spoke these couplets:—

Above the rose of cheek is thorn of lance;[385] ✿ Who dareth pluck it, rashest chevisance? Stretch not thy hand towards it, for night long ✿ Those lances marred because we snatched a glance! Say her, who tyrant is and tempter too ✿ (Though justice might her tempting power enhance):— Thy face would add to errors were it veiled; ✿ Unveiled I see its guard hath best of chance! Eye cannot look upon Sol's naked face; ✿ But can, when mist-cloud dims his countenance: The honey-hive is held by honey-bee;[386] ✿ Ask the tribe-guards what wants their vigilance? An they would slay me, let them end their ire ✿ Rancorous, and grant us freely to advance: They're not more murderous, an charge the whole ✿ Than charging glance of her who wears the mole.

And hearing these lines from Amjad she sighed with the deepest sighs and, signing to him again, repeated these couplets:—

'Tis thou hast trodden coyness-path not I: ✿ Grant me thy favours for the time draws nigh: O thou who makest morn with light of brow, ✿ And with loosed brow-locks night in lift to stye! Thine idol-aspect made of me thy slave, ✿ Tempting as temptedst me in days gone by: 'Tis just my liver fry with hottest love: ✿ Who worship fire for God must fire aby: Thou sellest like of me for worthless price; ✿ If thou must sell, ask high of those who buy.

When Amjad heard these her words he said to her, "Wilt thou come to my lodging or shall I go with thee to thine?" So she hung her head in shame to the ground and repeated the words of Him whose Name be exalted, "Men shall have the pre-eminence above women, because of those advantages wherein Allah hath caused the one of them to excel the other."[387] Upon this, Amjad took the hint——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.

Now when it was the Two Hundred and Thirty-first Night,