She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that as soon as Kamar al-Zaman had finished his poetry and had taken his rest, he arose and entered the city-gate311 not knowing whither he should wend. He crossed the city from end to end, entering by the land-gate, and ceased not faring on till he came out at the sea-gate, for the city stood on the sea-shore. Yet he met not a single one of its citizens. And after issuing from the land-gate he fared forwards and ceased not faring till he found himself among the orchards and gardens of the place; and, passing among the trees presently came to a garden and stopped before its door; where-upon the keeper came out to him and saluted him. The Prince returned his greeting and the gardener bade him welcome, saying, “Praised be Allah that thou hast come off safe from the dwellers of this city! Quick, come into the garth, ere any of the townfolk see thee.” Thereupon Kamar al-Zaman entered that garden, wondering in mind, and asked the keeper, “What may be the history of the people of this city and who may they be?” The other answered, “Know that the people of this city are all Magians: but Allah upon thee, tell me how thou camest to this city and what caused thy coming to our capital.” Accordingly Kamar al-Zaman told the gardener all that had befallen him from beginning to end, whereat he marvelled with great marvel and said, “Know, O my son, that the cities of Al–Islam lie far from us; and between us and them is a four months’ voyage by sea and a whole twelve months’ journey by land. We have a ship which saileth every year with merchandise to the nearest Moslem country and which entereth the seas of the Ebony Islands and thence maketh the Khalidan Islands, the dominions of King Shahriman.” Thereupon Kamar al-Zaman considered awhile and concluded that he could not do better than abide in the garden with the gardener and become his assistant, receiving for pay one fourth of the produce. So he said to him, “Wilt thou take me into thy service, to help thee in this garden?” Answered the gardener, “To hear is to consent;” and began teaching him to lead the water to the roots of the trees. So Kamar al-Zaman abode with him, watering the trees and hoeing up the weeds and wearing a short blue frock which reached to his knees. And he wept floods of tears; for he had no rest day or night, by reason of his strangerhood and he ceased not to repeat verses upon his beloved, amongst others the following couplets,
“Ye promised us and will ye not keep plight?
Ye said a say and shall not deed be dight?
We wake for passion while ye slumber and sleep;
Watchers and wakers claim not equal right:
We vowed to keep our loves in secrecy,
But spake the meddler and you spoke forthright:
O friend in pain and pleasure, joy and grief,
In all case you, you only, claim my sprite!
Mid folk is one who holds my prisoned heart;
Would he but show some ruth for me to sight.
Not every eye like mine is wounded sore,
Not every heart like mine love-pipings blight:
Ye wronged me saying, Love is wrongous aye
Yea! ye were right, events have proved that quite.
Forget they one love-thralled, whose faith the world
Robs not, though burn the fires in heart alight:
If an my foeman shall become my judge,
Whom shall I sue to remedy his despight?
Had not I need of love nor love had sought,
My heart forsure were not thus love-distraught.”
Such was the case with Kamar al-Zaman; but as regards his wife, the Lady Budur, when she awoke she sought her husband and found him not: then she saw her petticoat-trousers undone, for the band had been loosed and the bezel lost, whereupon she said to herself, “By Allah, this is strange! Where is my husband? It would seem as if he had taken the talisman and gone away, knowing not the secret which is in it. Would to Heaven I knew whither can he have wended! But it must needs have been some extraordinary matter that drew him away, for he cannot brook to leave me a moment. Allah curse the stone and damn its hour!” Then she considered awhile and said in her mind, “If I go out and tell the varlets and let them learn that my husband is lost they will lust after me: there is no help for it but that I use stratagem. So she rose and donned some of her husband’s clothes and riding- boots, and a turband like his, drawing one corner of it across her face for a mouth-veil.312 Then, setting a slave-girl in her litter, she went forth from the tent and called to the pages who brought her Kamar al-Zaman’s steed; and she mounted and bade them load the beasts and resume the march. So they bound on the burdens and departed; and she concealed her trick, none doubting but she was Kamar al-Zaman, for she favoured him in face and form; nor did she cease journeying, she and her suite, days and nights, till they came in sight of a city overlooking the Salt Sea, where they pitched their tents without the walls and halted to rest. The Princess asked the name of the town and was told, “It is called the City of Ebony; its King is named Armanús, and he hath a daughter Hayát al-Nufús313 hight,”—And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
311 Moslem port towns usually have (or had) only two gates. Such was the case with Bayrut, Tyre, Sidon and a host of others; the faubourg-growth of modern days has made these obsolete. The portals much resemble the entrances of old Norman castles—Arques for instance. (Pilgrimage i. 185.)
312 Arab. “Lisám”; before explained.
313 i.e. Life of Souls (persons, etc.).
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the Lady Budur halted within sight of the Ebony City to take her rest, King Armanus sent a messenger, to learn what King it was who had encamped without his capital; so the messenger, coming to the tents, made inquiry anent their King, and was told that she was a King’s son who had lost the way being bound for the Khalidan Islands; whereupon he returned to King Armanus with the tidings; and, when the King heard them, he straightway rode out with the lords of his land to greet the stranger on arrival. As he drew near the tents the Lady Budur came to meet him on foot, whereupon the King alighted and they saluted each other. Then he took her to the city and, bringing her up to the palace, bade them spread the tables and trays of food and commanded them to transport her company and baggage to the guess house. So they abode there three days; at the end of which time the King came in to the Lady Budur. Now she had that day gone to the Hammam and her face shone as the moon at its full, a seduction to the world and a rending of the veil of shame to mankind; and Armanus found her clad in a —suit of silk, embroidered with gold and jewels; so he said to her, ‘O my son, know that I am a very old man, decrepit withal, and Allah hath blessed me with no child save one daughter, who resembleth thee in beauty and grace; and I am now waxed unfit for the conduct of the state. She is shine, O my son; and, if this my land please thee and thou be willing to abide and make thy home here, I will marry thee to her and give thee my kingdom and so be at rest.” When Princess Budur heard this, she bowed her head and her forehead sweated for shame, and she said to herself. “How shall I do, and I a woman? If I refuse and depart from him, I cannot be safe but that haply send after me troops to slay me; and if I consent, belike I shall be put to shame. I have lost my beloved Kamar al-Zaman and know not what is become of him; nor can I escape from this scrape save by holding my peace and consenting and abiding here, till Allah bring about what is to be.” So she raised her head and made submission to King Armanus, saying, “Hearkening and obedience!”; whereat he rejoiced and bade the herald make proclamation throughout the Ebony Islands to hold high festival and decorate the houses. Then he assembled his Chamberlains and Nabobs, and Emirs and Wazirs and his officers of state and the Kazis of the city; and, formally abdicating his Sultanate, endowed Budur therewith and invested her in all the vestments of royalty. The Emirs and Grandees went in to her and did her homage, nothing doubting but that she was a young man, and all who looked on her bepissed their bag-trousers, for the excess of her beauty and loveliness. Then, after the Lady Budur had been made Sultan and the drums had been beaten in announcement of the glad event, and she had been ceremoniously enthroned, King Armanus proceeded to equip his daughter Hayat al-Nufus for marriage, and in a few days, they brought the Lady Budur in to her, when they seemed as it were two moons risen at one time or two suns in conjunction. So they entered the bridal-chamber and the doors were shut and the curtains let down upon them, after the attendants had lighted the wax-candles and spread for them the carpet-bed. When Budur found herself alone with the Princess Hayat al-Nufus, she called to mind her beloved Kamar al-Zaman and grief was sore upon her. So she wept for his absence, and estrangement and she began repeating,
“O ye who fled and left my heart in pain low li’en,
No breath of life if found within this frame of mine:
I have an eye which e’er complains of wake, but lo!
Tears occupy it would that wake content these eyne!
After ye marched forth the lover ‘bode behind;
Question of him what pains your absence could design!
But for the foods of tears mine eyelids rail and rain,
My fires would flame on high and every land calcine.
To Allah make I moan of loved ones lost for aye,
Who for my pine and pain no more shall pain and pine:
I never wronged them save that over love I nurst:
But Love departs us lovers into blest and curst.”
And when she had finished her repeating, the Lady Budur sat down beside the Princess Hayat al-Nufus and kissed her on the mouth; after which rising abruptly, she made the minor ablution and betook herself to her devotions; nor did she leave praying till Hayat al-Nufus fell asleep, when she slips into bed and lay with her back to her till morning. And when day had broke the King and Queen came in to their daughter and asked her how she did. whereupon she told them what she had seen, and repeated to them the verses she had heard. Thus far concerning Hayat al-Nufus and her father; but as regards Queen Budur she went forth and seated herself upon the royal throne and all the Emirs and Captains and Officers of state came up to her and wished her joy of the kingship, kissing the earth before her and calling down blessings upon her. And she accosted them with smiling face and clad them in robes of honour, augmenting the fiefs of the high officials and giving largesse to the levies; wherefore all the people loved her and offered up prayers for the long endurance of her reign, doubting not but that she was a man. And she ceased not sitting all day in the hall of audience, bidding and forbidding; dispensing justice, releasing prisoners and remitting the customs-dues, till nightfall, when she withdrew to the apartment prepared for her. Here she found Hayat al-Nufus seated, so she sat down by her side and, clapping her on the back, coaxed and caressed her and kissed her between the eyes, and fell to versifying in these couplets,
“What secret kept I these my tears have told,
And my waste body must my love unfold:
Though hid my pine, my plight on parting day
To every envious eye my secret sold:
O ye who broke up camp, you’ve left behind
My spirit wearied and my heart a-cold:
In my hearts core ye dwell, and now these eyne
Roll blood-drops with the tears they whilome rolled:
The absent will I ransom with my soul;
All can my yearning for their sight behold:
I have an eye whose babe,314 for love of thee,
Rejected sleep nor hath its tears controlled.
The foeman bids me patient bear his loss,
Ne’er may mine ears accept the ruth he doled!
I tricks their deme of me, and won my wish
Of Kamar al-Zaman’s joys manifold:
He joins all perfect gifts like none before,
Boasted such might and main no King of old:
Seeing his gifts, Bin Zá‘idah’s315 largesse
Forget we, and Mu’áwiyah mildest-soul’d:316
Were verse not feeble and o’er short the time
I had in laud of him used all of rhyme.”
Then Queen Budur stood up and wiped away her tears and, making the lesser ablution,317 applied her to pray: nor did she give over praying till drowsiness overcame the Lady Hayat al-Nufus and she slept, whereupon the Lady Budur came and lay by her till the morning. At daybreak, she arose and prayed the dawn-prayer; and presently seated herself on the royal throne and passed the day in ordering and counter ordering and giving laws and administering justice. This is how it fared with her; but as regards King Armanus he went in to his daughter and asked her how she did; so she told him all that had befallen her and repeated to him the verses which Queen Budur had recited, adding, “O my father, never saw I one more abounding in sound sense and modesty than my husband, save that he cloth nothing but weep and sigh.” He answered, “O my daughter, have patience with him yet this third night, and if he go not in unto thee and do away thy maidenhead, we shall know how to proceed with him and oust him from the throne and banish him the country.” And on this wise he agreed with his daughter what course he would take.—And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
314 Arab. “Insánu-há”=her (i.e. their) man: i.e. the babes of the eyes: the Assyrian Ishon, dim. of Ish=Man; which the Hebrews call “Bábat” or “Bit” (the daughter) the Arabs “Bubu (or Hadakat) al-Aye”; the Persians “Mardumak-i-chashm” (mannikin of the eye); the Greeks and the Latins pupa, pupula, pupilla. I have noted this in the Lyricks of Camoens (p. 449).
315 Ma’an bin Zá‘idah, a soldier and statesman of the eighth century.
316 The mildness of the Caliph Mu’áwiyah, the founder of the Ommiades, proverbial among the Arabs, much resembles the “meekness” of Moses the Law-giver, which commentators seem to think has been foisted into Numbers xii. 3.
317 Showing that there had been no consummation of the marriage which would have demanded “Ghusl,” or total ablution, at home or in the Hammam.
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when King Armanus had agreed with his daughter on this wise and had determined what course he would take and night came on, Queen Budur arose from the throne of her kingdom and betaking herself to the palace, entered the apartment prepared for her. There she found the wax-candles lighted and the Princess Hayat al-Nufus seated and awaiting her; whereupon she bethought her of her husband and what had betided them both of sorrow and severance in so short a space; she wept and sighed and groaned groan upon groan, and began improvising these couplets,
“News of my love fill all the land, I swear,
As suns on Ghazá318-wold rain heat and glare:
Speaketh his geste but hard its sense to say;
Thus never cease to grow my cark and care:
I hate fair Patience since I loved thee;
E’er sawest lover hate for love to bear?
A glance that dealt love-sickness dealt me death,
Glances are deadliest things with torments rare:
He shook his love locks down and bared his chin,
Whereby I spied his beauties dark and fair:
My care, my cure are in his hands; and he
Who caused their dolour can their dole repair:
His belt went daft for softness of his waist;
His hips, for envy, to uprise forbear:
His brow curl-diademed is murky night;
Unveil ‘t and lo! bright Morn shows brightest light.”
When she had finished her versifying, she would have risen to pray, but, lo and behold! Hayat al-Nufus caught her by the skirt and clung to her saying, “O my lord, art thou not ashamed before my father, after all his favour, to neglect me at such a time as this?” When Queen Budur heard her words, she sat down in the same place and said, “O my beloved, what is this thou sayest?” She replied, “What I say is that I never saw any so proud of himself as thou. Is every fair one so disdainful? I say not this to incline thee to me; I say it only of my fear for thee from King Armanus; because he purposeth, unless thou go in unto me this very night, and do away my maidenhead, to strip thee of the kingship on the morrow and banish thee his kingdom; and peradventure his excessive anger may lead him to slay thee. But I, O my lord, have ruth on thee and give thee fair warning; and it is thy right to reck.”319 Now when Queen Budur heard her speak these words, she bowed her head ground-wards awhile in sore perplexity and said in herself, “If I refuse I’m lost; and if I obey I’m shamed. But I am now Queen of all the Ebony Islands and they are under my rule, nor shall I ever again meet my Kamar al-Zaman save in this place; for there is no way for him to his native land but through the Ebony Islands. Verily, I know not what to do in my present case, but I commit my care to Allah who directeth all for the best, for I am no man that I should arise and open this virgin girl.” Then quoth Queen Budur to Hayat al- Nufus, “O my beloved, that I have neglected thee and abstained from thee is in my own despite.” And she told her her whole story from beginning to end and showed her person to her, saying, “I conjure thee by Allah to keep my counsel, for I have concealed my case only that Allah may reunite me with my beloved Kamar al-Zaman and then come what may.”—And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the Lady Budur acquainted Hayat al-Nufus with her history and bade her keep it secret, the Princess heard her with extreme wonderment and was moved to pity and prayed Allah to reunite her with her beloved, saying, “Fear nothing, O my sister; but have patience till Allah bring to pass that which must come to pass:” and she began repeating,
“None but the men of worth a secret keep; With worthy men a secret’s hidden deep; As in a room, so secrets lie with me, Whose door is sealed, lock shot and lost the key.”320
And when Hayat al-Nufus had ended her verses, she said, “O my sister, verily the breasts of the noble and brave are of secrets the grave; and I will not discover shine.” Then they toyed and embraced and kissed and slept till near the Mu’ezzin’s call to dawn prayer, when Hayat al-Nufus arose and took a pigeon-poult,321 and cut its throat over her smock and besmeared herself with its blood. Then she pulled off her petticoat-trousers and cried aloud, where-upon her people hastened to her and raised the usual lullilooing and outcries of joy and gladness. Presently her mother came in to her and asked her how she did and busied herself about her and abode with her till evening; whilst the Lady Budur arose with the dawn, and repaired to the bath and, after washing herself pure, proceeded to the hall of audience, where she sat down on her throne and dispensed justice among the folk. Now when King Armanus heard the loud cries of joy, he asked what was the matter and was informed of the consummation of his daughter’s marriage; whereat he rejoiced and his breast swelled with gladness and he made a great marriage-feast whereof the merry-making lasted a long time. Such was their case: but as regards King Shahriman it was on this wise. After his son had fared forth to the chase accompanied by Marzawan, as before related, he tarried patiently awaiting their return at nightfall; but when his son did not appear he passed a sleepless night and the dark hours were longsome upon him; his restlessness was excessive, his excitement grew upon him and he thought the morning would never dawn. Anc when day broke he sat expecting his son and waited till noon, but he came not; whereat his heart forebode separation and was fired with fears for Kamar al-Zaman; and he cried, “Alas! my son!” and he wept till his clothes were drenched with tears, and repeated with a beating heart,
“Love’s votaries I ceased not to oppose,
Till doomed to taste Love’s bitter and Love’s sweet:
I drained his rigour-cup to very dregs,
Self humbled at its slaves’ and freemen’s feet:
Fortune had sworn to part the loves of us;
She kept her word how truly, well I weet!”
And when he ended his verse, he wiped away his tears and bade his troops make ready for a march and prepare for a long expedition. So they all mounted and set forth, headed by the Sultan, whose heart burnt with grief and was fired with anxiety for his son Kamar al-Zaman; and they advanced by forced marches. Now the King divided his host into six divisions, a right wing and a left wing, a vanguard and a rear guard;322 and bade them rendezvous for the morrow at the cross-roads. Accordingly they separated and scoured the country all the rest of that day till night, and they marched through the night and at noon of the ensuing day they joined company at the place where four roads met. But they knew not which the Prince followed, till they saw the sign of torn clothes and sighted shreds of flesh and beheld blood still sprinkled by the way and they noted every piece of the clothes and fragment of mangled flesh scattered on all sides. Now when King Shahriman saw this, he cried from his heart-core a loud cry, saying, “Alas, my son!”; and buffeted his face and plucks his beard and rent his raiment, doubting not but his son was dead. Then he gave himself up to excessive weeping and wailing, and the troops also wept for his weeping, all being assured that Prince Kamar al-Zaman had perished. They threw dust on their heads, and the night surprised them shedding tears and lamenting till they were like to die. Then the King with a heart on fire and with burning sighs spake these couplets,
“Chide not the mourner for bemourning woe;
Enough is yearning every Ill to show:
He weeps for stress of sorrow and of pain,
And these to thee best evidence his lowe:
Happy!323 of whom Love sickness swore that ne’er
Should cease his eye lids loving tears to flow:
He mourns the loss of fairest, fullest Moon,
Shining o’er all his peers in glorious glow:
But death made drink a brimming cup, what day
He fared from natal country fain to go:
His home left he and went from us to grief;
Nor to his brethren could he say adieu:
Yea, his loss wounded me with parting pangs,
And separation cost me many a throe:
He fared farewelling, as he fared, our eyes;
Whenas his Lord vouch-safed him Paradise.”
And when King Shahriman had ended his verses, he returned with the troops to his capital,—And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
320 This quatrain occurs in Night ix.: I have borrowed from Torrens (p. 79) by way of variety.
321 The belief that young pigeon’s blood resembles the virginal discharge is universal; but the blood most resembling man’s is that of the pig which in other points is so very human. In our day Arabs and Hindus rarely submit to inspection the nuptial sheet as practiced by the Israelites and Persians. The bride takes to bed a white kerchief with which she staunches the blood and next morning the stains are displayed in the Harem. In Darfour this is done by the bridegroom. “Prima Venus debet esse cruenta,” say the Easterns with much truth, and they have no faith in our complaisant creed which allows the hymen-membrane to disappear by any but one accident.
322 Not meaning the two central divisions commanded by the King and his Wazir.
323 Ironicè.
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when King Shahriman had ended his verses, he returned with the troops to his capital, giving up his son for lost, and deeming that wild beasts or banditti had set upon him and torn him to pieces; and made proclamation that all in the Khalidan Islands should don black in mourning for him. Moreover, he built, in his memory, a pavilion, naming it House of Lamentations; and on Mondays and Thursdays he devoted himself to the business of the state and ordering the affairs of his levies and lieges; and the rest of the week he was wont to spend in the House of Lamentations, mourning for his son and bewailing him with elegiac verses,324 of which the following are some:—
“My day of bliss is that when thou appearest;
My day of bale325 is that whereon thou farest:
Though through the night I quake in dread of death;
Union wi’ thee is of all bliss the dearest.”
And again he said,
“My soul be sacrifice for one, whose going
Afflicted hearts with sufferings sore and dread:
Let joy her widowed term326 fulfil, for I
Divorced joy with the divorce thrice-said.”327
Such was the case with King Shahriman; but as regards Queen Budur daughter of King Ghayur, she abode as ruler in the Ebony Islands, whilst the folk would point to her with their fingers, and say, “Yonder is the son-in-law of King Armanus.” And every night she lay with Hayat al-Nufus, to whom she lamented her desolate state and longing for her husband Kamar al-Zaman; weeping and describing to her his beauty and loveliness, and yearning to enjoy him though but in a dream: And at times she would repeat,
“Well Allah wots that since my severance from thee,
I wept till forced to borrow tears at usury:
‘Patience!’ my blamer cried, ‘Heartsease right soon shalt see!’
Quoth I, ‘Say, blamer, where may home of Patience be?’”
This is how it fared with Queen Budur; but as regards Kamar al- Zaman, he abode with the gardener in the garden for no short time, weeping night and day and repeating verses bewailing the past time of enjoyment and delight; whilst the gardener kept comforting him and assuring him that the ship would set sail for the land of the Moslems at the end of the year. And in this condition he continued till one day he saw the folk crowding together and wondered at this; but the gardener came in to him and said, “O my son, give over work for this day nor lead water to the trees; for it is a festival day, whereon folk visit one another. So take thy rest and only keep shine eye on the garden, whilst I go look after the ship for thee; for yet but a little while and I send thee to the land of the Moslems.” Upon this, he went forth from the garden leaving to himself Kamar al-Zaman, who fell to musing upon his case till his heart was like to break and the tears streamed from his eyes. So he wept with excessive weeping till he swooned away and, when he recovered, he rose and walked about the garden, pondering what Time had done with him and bewailing the long endurance of his estrangement and separation from those he loved. As he was thus absorbed in melancholy thought, his foot stumbled and he fell on his face, his forehead striking against the projecting root of a tree; and the blow cut it open and his blood ran down and mingled with his tears Then he rose and, wiping away the blood, dried his tears and bound his brow with a piece of rag; then continued his walk about the garden engrossed by sad reverie. Presently, he looked up at a tree and saw two birds quarrelling thereon, and one of them rose up and smote the other with its beak on the neck and severed from its body its head, wherewith it flew away, whilst the slain bird fell to the ground before Kamar al-Zaman. As it lay, behold, two great birds swooped down upon it alighting, one at the head and the other at the tail, and both drooped their wings and bowed their bills over it and, extending their necks towards it, wept. Kamar al-Zaman also wept when seeing the birds thus bewail their mate, and called to mind his wife and father, And Shahrazed perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
324 Arab. “Rasy”=praising in a funeral sermon.
325 Arab. “Manáyá,” plur. of “Maniyat” = death. Mr. R. S. Poole (the Academy, April 26, 1879) reproaches Mr. Payne for confounding “Muniyat” (desire) with “Maniyat” (death) but both are written the same except when vowel-points are used.
326 Arab. “Iddat,” alluding to the months of celibacy which, according to Moslem law, must be passed by a divorced woman before she can re-marry.
327 Arab. “Talák bi’l-Salásah”=a triple divorce which cannot be revoked; nor can the divorcer re-marry the same woman till after consummation with another husband. This subject will continually recur.
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Kamar al- Zaman wept and lamented his separation from spouse and sire, when he beheld those two birds weeping over their mate. Then he looked at the twain and saw them dig a grave and therein bury the slain bird; after which they flew away far into the firmament and disappeared for a while; but presently they returned with the murtherer-bird and, alighting on the grave of the murthered, stamped on the slayer till they had done him to death. Then they rent his belly and tearing out his entrails, poured the blood on the grave of the slain328: moreover, they stripped off his skin and tare his flesh in pieces and, pulling out the rest of the bowels, scattered them hither and thither. All this while Kamar al-Zaman was watching them wonderingly; but presently, chancing to look at the place where the two birds had slain the third, he saw therein something gleaming. So he drew near to it and noted that it was the crop of the dead bird. Whereupon he took it and opened it and found the talisman which had been the cause of his separation from his wife. But when he saw it and knew it, he fell to the ground a-fainting for joy; and, when he revived, he said, “Praised be Allah! This is a foretaste of good and a presage of reunion with my beloved.” Then he examined the jewel and passed it over his eyes329; after which he bound it to his forearm, rejoicing in coming weal, and walked about till nightfall awaiting the gardener’s return; and when he came not, he lay down and slept in his wonted place. At daybreak he rose to his work and, girding his middle with a cord of palm-fibre, took hatchet and basket and walked down the length of the garden, till he came to a carob-tree and struck the axe into its roots. The blow rang and resounded; so he cleared away the soil from the place and discovered a trap-door and raised it.—And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
328 An allusion to a custom of the pagan Arabs in the days of ignorant Heathenism The blood or brain, soul or personality of the murdered man formed a bird called Sady or Hámah (not the Humá or Humái, usually translated “phœnix”) which sprang from the head, where four of the five senses have their seat, and haunted his tomb, crying continually, “Uskúni!”=Give me drink (of the slayer’s blood) ! and which disappeared only when the vendetta was accomplished. Mohammed forbade the belief. Amongst the Southern Slavs the cuckoo is supposed to be the sister of a murdered man ever calling or vengeance.
329 To obtain a blessing and show how he valued it.
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when Kamar al-Zaman raised the trap-door, he found a winding stair, which he descended and came to an ancient vault of the time of Ad and Thamúd,330 hewn out of the rock. Round the vault stood many brazen vessels of the bigness of a great oil-jar which he found full of gleaming red gold: whereupon he said to himself, “Verily sorrow is gone and solace is come!” Then he mounted from the souterrain to the garden and, replacing the trap-door as it was before, busied himself in conducting water to the trees till the last of the day, when the gardener came back and said to him, “O my son, rejoice at the good tidings of a speedy return to thy native land: the merchants are ready equipped for the voyage and the ship in three days’ time will set sail for the City of Ebony, which is the first of the cities of the Moslems, and after making it, thou must travel by land a six months’ march till thou come to the Islands of Khalidan, the dominions of King Shahriman.” At this Kamar al-Zaman rejoiced and began repeating,
“Part not from one whose wont is not to part from you;
Nor with your cruel taunts an innocent mortify:
Another so long parted had ta’en heart from you,
And had his whole condition changed,—but not so I.”
Then he kissed the gardener’s hand and said, “O my father, even as thou hast brought me glad tidings, so I also have great good news for thee,’ and told him anent his discovery of the vault; whereat the gardener rejoiced and said, “O my son, fourscore years have I dwelt in this garden and have never hit on aught whilst thou, who hast not sojourned with me a year, hast discovered this thing; wherefore it is Heaven’s gift to thee, which shall end thy crosses and aid thee to rejoin thy folk and foregather with her thou lovest.” Quoth Kamar al-Zaman, “There is no help but it must be shared between me and thee.” Then he carried him to the underground-chamber and showed him the gold, which was in twenty jars: he took ten and the gardener ten, and the old man said to him, “O my son, fill thyself leather bottles331 with the sparrow-olives 581 which grow in this garden, for they are not found except in our land; and the merchants carry them to all parts. Lay the gold in the bottles and strew it over with olives: then stop them and cover them and take them with thee in the ship.” So Kamar al-Zaman arose without stay or delay and took fifty leather bottles and stored in each somewhat of the gold, and closed each one after placing a layer of olives over the gold; and at the bottom of one of the bottles he laid the talisman. Then sat he down to talk with the gardener, confident of speedy reunion with his own people and saying to himself, “When I come to the Ebony Islands I will journey thence to my father’s country and enquire for my beloved Budur. Would to Heaven I knew whether she returned to her own land or journeyed on to my father’s country or whether there befel her any accident by the way.” And he began versifying,
“Love in my breast they lit and fared away,
And far the land wherein my love is pent:
Far lies the camp and those who camp therein;
Par is her tent-shrine, where I ne’er shall tent.
Patience far deaf me when from me they fled;
Sleep failed mine eyes, endurance was forspent:
They left and with them left my every joy,
Wending with them, nor find I peace that went:
They made these eyes roll down love tears in flood,
And lacking them these eyne with tears are drent.
When my taste spins once again would see them,
When pine and expectation but augment,
In my heart’s core their counterfeits I trace,
With love and yearning to behold their grace.”
Then, while he awaited the end of the term of days, he told the gardener the tale of the birds and what had passed between them; whereat the hearer wondered; and they both lay down and slept till the morning. The gardener awoke sick and abode thus two days; but on the third day, his sickness increased on him, till they despaired of his life and Kamar al-Zaman grieved with sore grief for him. Meanwhile behold, the Master and his crew came and enquired for the gardener; and, when Kamar al-Zaman told them that he was sick, they asked, “Where be the youth who is minded to go with us to the Ebony Islands?” “He is your servent and he standeth before you!” answered the Prince and bade them carry the bottles of olives to the ship; so they transported them, saying, “Make haste, thou, for the wind is fair;” and he replied, “I hear and obey.” Then he carried his provaunt on board and, returning to bid the gardener farewell, found him in the agonies of death; so he sat down at his head and closed his eyes, and his soul departed his body; whereupon he laid him out and committed him to the earth unto the mercy of Allah Almighty. Then he made for the ship but found that she had already weighed anchor and set sail; nor did she cease to cleave the seas till she disappeared from his sight. So he went back to whence he came heavy-hearted with whirling head; and neither would he address a soul nor return a reply; and reaching the garden and sitting down in cark and care he threw dust on his head and buffeted his cheeks.—And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the ship sped on her course, Kamar al-Zaman returned to the garden in cark and care; but— anon he rented the place of its owner and hired a man to help him in irrigating the trees. Moreover, he repaired the trap-door and he went to the underground chamber and bringing the rest of the gold to grass, stowed it in other fifty bottles which he filled up with a layer of olives. Then he enquired of the ship and they told him that it sailed but once a year, at which his trouble of mind redoubled and he cried sore for that which had betided him, above all for the loss of the Princess Budur’s talisman, and spent his nights and days weeping and repealing verses. Such was his case; but as regards the ship she sailed with a favouring wind till she reached the Ebony Islands. Now by decree of destiny, Queen Budur was sitting at a lattice-window overlooking the sea and saw the galley cast anchor upon the strand. At this sight, her heart throbbed and she took horse with the Chamberlains and Nabobs and, riding down to the shore, halted by the ship, whilst the sailors broke bulk and bore the bales to the storehouses; after which she called the captain to her presence and asked what he had with him. He answered “O King, I have with me in this ship aromatic drugs and cosmetics and healing powders and ointments and plasters and precious metals and rich stuffs and rugs of Yemen leather, not to be borne of mule or camel, and all manner of otters and spices and perfumes, civet and ambergris and camphor and Sumatra aloes-wood, and tamerinds333 and sparrow-olives to boot, such as are rare to find in this country.” When she heard talk of sparrow-olives her heart longed for them and she said to the ship-master, “How much of olives hast thou?” He replied, “Fifty bottles full, but their owner is not with us, so the King shall take what he will of them.” Quoth she, “Bring them ashore, that I may see them.’’ Thereupon he called to the sailors, who brought her the fifty bottles; and she opened one and, looking at the olives, said to the captain, “I will take the whole fifty and pay you their value, whatso it be.” He answered, “By Allah, O my lord, they have no value in our country; moreover their shipper tarried behind us, and he is a poor man.” Asked she, “And what are they worth here?” and he answered “A thousand dirhams.” “I will take them at a thousand,” she said and bade them carry the fifty bottles to the palace. When it was night, she called for a bottle of olives and opened it, there being none in the room but herself and the Princess Hayat al-Nufus. Then, placing a dish before her she turned into it the contents of the jar, when there fell out into the dish with the olives a heap of red gold; and she said to the Lady Hayat al-Nufus, “This is naught but gold!” So she sent for the rest of the bottles and found them all full of precious metal and scarce enough olives to fill a single jar. Moreover, she sought among the gold and found therein the talisman, which she took and examined and behold, it was that which Kamar al-Zaman had taken from off the band of her petticoat trousers. Thereupon she cried out for joy and slipped down in a swoon;—And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
332 Arab. “Asáfírí,” so called because they attract sparrows (asáfír) a bird very fond of the ripe oily fruit. In the Romance of “Antar” Asáfír camels are beasts that fly like birds in fleetness. The reader must not confound the olives of the text with the hard unripe berries (“little plums pickled in stale”) which appear at English tables, nor wonder that bread and olives are the beef-steak and potatoes of many Mediterranean peoples It is an excellent diet, the highly oleaginous fruit supplying the necessary carbon,
333 Arab. “Tamer al-Hindi”=the “Indian-date,” whence our word “Tamarind.” A sherbet of the pods, being slightly laxative, is much drunk during the great heats; and the dried fruit, made into small round cakes, is sold in the bazars. The traveller is advised not to sleep under the tamarind’s shade, which is infamous for causing ague and fever. In Sind I derided the “native nonsense,” passed the night under an “Indian date-tree” and awoke with a fine specimen of ague which lasted me a week.
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when King Budur saw the talisman she cried out for joy and slipped down in a swoon; and when she recovered she said to herself, “Verily, this talisman was the cause of my separation from my beloved Kamar al-Zaman; but now it is an omen of good.” Then she showed it to Hayat al-Nufus and said to her, “This was the cause of disunion and now, please Allah, it shall be the cause of reunion.” As soon as day dawned she seated herself on the royal throne and sent for the ship-master, who came into the presence and kissed the ground before her. Quoth she, “Where didst thou leave the owner of these olives?” Quoth he, “O King of the age, we left him in the land of the Magians and he is a gardener there.” She rejoined, “Except thou bring him to me, thou knowest not the harm which awaiteth thee and thy ship.” Then she bade them seal up the magazines of the merchants and said to them, “Verily the owner of these olives hath borrowed of me and I have a claim upon him for debt and, unless ye bring him to me, I will without fail do you all die and seize your goods.” So they went to the captain and promised him the hire of the ship, if he would go and return a second time, saying, “Deliver us from this masterful tyrant.” Accordingly the skipper embarked and set sail and Allah decreed him a prosperous voyage, till he came to the Island of the Magians and, landing by night, went up to the garden. Now the night was long upon Kamar al-Zaman, and he sat, bethinking him of his beloved, and bewailing what had befallen him and versifying,
“A night whose stars refused to run their course,
A night of those which never seem outworn:
Like Resurrection-day, of longsome length334
To him that watched and waited for the morn.”
Now at this moment, the captain knocked at the garden-gate, and Kamar al-Zaman opened and went out to him, whereupon the crew seized him and went down with him on board the ship and set sail forthright; and they ceased not voyaging days and nights, whilst Kamar al-Zaman knew not why they dealt thus with him; but when he questioned them they replied, “Thou hast offended against the Lord of the Ebony Islands, the son-in-law of King Armanus, and thou hast stolen his monies, miserable that thou art!” Said he, “By Allah! I never entered that country nor do I know where it is!” However, they fared on with him, till they made the Ebony Islands and landing, carried him up to the Lady Budur, who knew him at sight and said, “Leave him with the eunuchs, that they may take him to the bath.” Then she relieved the merchants of the embargo and gave the captain a robe of honour worth ten thousand pieces of gold; and, after returning to the palace, she went in that night to the Princess Hayat al-Nufus and told her what had passed, saying, “Keep thou my counsel, till I accomplish my purpose, and do a deed which shall be recorded and shall be read by Kings and commoners after we be dead and gone.” And when she gave orders that they bear Kamar al-Zaman to the bath, they did so and clad him in a royal habit so that, when he came forth, he resembled a willow-bough or a star which shamed the greater and lesser light335 and its glow, and his life and soul returned to his frame. Then he repaired to the palace and went in to the Princess Budur; and when she saw him she schooled her heart to patience, till she should have accomplished her purpose; and she bestowed on him Mamelukes and eunuchs, camels and mules. Moreover, she gave him a treasury of money and she ceased not advancing him from dignity to dignity, till she made him Lord High Treasurer and committed to his charge all the treasures of the state; and she admitted him to familiar favour and acquainted the Emirs with his rank and dignity. And all loved him, for Queen Budur did not cease day by day to increase his allowances. As for Kamar al-Zaman, he was at a loss anent the reason of her thus honouring him; and he gave gifts and largesse out of the abundance of the wealth; and he devoted himself to the service of King Armanus; so that the King and all the Emirs and people, great and small, adored him and were wont to swear by his life. Nevertheless, he ever marvelled at the honour and favour shown him by Queen Budur and said to himself, “By Allah, there needs must be a reason for this affection! Peradventure, this King favoureth me not with these immoderate favours save for some ill purpose and, therefore, there is no help but that I crave leave of him to depart his realm.” So he went in to Queen Budur and said to her, “O King, thou hast overwhelmed me with favours, but it will fulfil the measure of thy bounties if thou take from me all thou hast been pleased to bestow upon me, and permit me to depart.” She smiled and asked, “What maketh thee seek to depart and plunge into new perils, whenas thou art in the enjoyment of the highest favour and greatest prosperity?” Answered Kamar al-Zaman, “O King, verily this favour, if there be no reason for it, is indeed a wonder of wonders, more by token that thou hast advanced me to dignities such as befit men of age and experience, albeit I am as it were a young child.” And Queen Budur rejoined, “The reason is that I love thee for shine exceeding loveliness and thy surpassing beauty; and if thou wilt but grant me my desire of thy body, I will advance thee yet farther in honour and favour and largesse; and I will make thee Wazir, for all thy tender age even as the folk made me Sultan over them and I no older than thou; so that nowadays there is nothing strange when children take the head and by Allah, he was a gifted man who said,
‘It seems as though of Lot’s tribe were our days,
And crave with love to advance the young in years.’”336
When Kamar al-Zaman heard these words, he was abashed and his cheeks flushed till they seemed a-flame; and he said, “I need not these favours which lead to the commission of sin; I will live poor in wealth but wealthy in virtue and honour.” Quoth she, “I am not to be duped by thy scruples, arising from prudery and coquettish ways; and Allah bless him who saith,
‘To him I spake of coupling, but he said to me,
How long this noyous long persistency?’
But when gold piece I showed him, he cried,
‘Who from the Almighty Sovereign e’er shall flee?’”
Now when Kamar al-Zaman, heard these words and understood her verses and their import, he said, “O King, I have not the habit of these doings, nor have I strength to bear these heavy burthens for which elder than I have proved unable; then how will it be with my tender age?” But she smiled at his speech and retorted, “Indeed, it is a matter right marvellous how error springeth from the disorder of man’s intendiment!! Since thou art a boy, why standest thou in fear of sin or the doing of things forbidden, seeing that thou art not yet come to years of canonical responsibility; and the offences of a child incur neither punishment nor reproof? Verily, thou hast committed thyself to a quibble for the sake of contention, and it is thy duty to bow before a proposal of fruition, so henceforward cease from denial and coyness, for the commandment of Allah is a decree foreordained:337 indeed, I have more reason than thou to fear falling and by sin to be misled; and well inspired was he who said,
‘My prickle is big and the little one said,
‘Thrust boldly in vitals with lion-like stroke!
Then I, ‘ ’Tis a sin!; and he, ‘No sin to me!
So I had him at once with a counterfeit poke.”338
When Kamar al-Zaman heard these words, the light became darkness in his sight and he said, “O King, thou hast in thy household fair women and female slaves, who have not their like in this age: shall not these suffice thee without me? Do thy will with them and let me go!” She replied, “Thou sayest sooth, but it is not with them that one who loveth thee can heal himself of torment and can abate his fever; for, when tastes and inclinations are corrupted by vice, they hear and obey other than good advice. So leave arguing and listen to what the poet saith,
‘Seest not the bazar with its fruit in rows?
These men are for figs and for sycamore339 those!’
And what another saith,
‘Many whose anklet rings are dumb have tinkling belts,
And this hath all content while that for want must wail:
Thou bidd’st me be a fool and quit thee for her charms;
Allah forfend I leave The Faith, turn Infidel!
Nay, by thy rights of side-beard mocking all her curls,
Nor mott nor maid340 from thee my heart shall spell.’
And yet another,
‘O beauty’s Union! love for thee’s my creed,
Free choice of Faith and eke my best desire:
Women I have forsworn for thee; so may
Deem me all men this day a shaveling friar.’341
And yet another,
‘Even not beardless one with girl, nor heed
The spy who saith to thee ‘’Tis an amiss!’
Far different is the girl whose feet one kisses
And that gazelle whose feet the earth must kiss.’
And yet another,
‘A boy of twice ten is fit for a King!’
And yet another,
‘The penis smooth and round was made with anus best to match
it,
Had it been made for cunnus’ sake it had been formed
like hatchet!’
And yet another said,
‘My soul thy sacrifice! I chose thee out
Who art not menstruous nor oviparous:
Did I with woman mell, I should beget
Brats till the wide wide world grew strait for us.’
And yet another,
‘She saith (sore hurt in sense the most acute
For she had proffered what did not besuit),
‘Unless thou stroke as man should swive his wife
Blame not when horns thy brow shall incornùte!
Thy wand seems waxen, to a limpo grown,
And more I palm it, softer grows the brute!’
And yet another,
‘Quoth she (for I to lie with her forbore),
‘O folly-following fool, O fool to core:
If thou my coynte for Kiblah342 to thy coigne
Reject, we’ll shall please thee more.’343
And yet another,
‘She proffered me a tender coynte
Quoth I ‘I will not roger thee!’
She drew back, saying, ‘From the Faith
He turns, who’s turned by Heaven’s decree!344
And front wise fluttering, in one day,
Is obsolete persistency!’
Then swung she round and shining rump
Like silvern lump she showed me!
I cried: ‘Well done, O mistress mine!
No more am I in pain for thee;
O thou of all that Allah oped345
Showest me fairest victory!’
And yet another,
‘Men craving pardon will uplift their hands;
Women pray pardon with their legs on high:
Out on it for a pious, prayerful work!
The Lord shall raise it in the depths to lie.’”346
When Kamar al-Zaman heard her quote this poetry, and was certified that there was no escaping compliance with what willed she, he said, “O King of the age, if thou must needs have it so, make covenant with me that thou wilt do this thing with me but once, though it avail not to correct thy depraved appetite, and that thou wilt never again require this thing of me to the end of time; so perchance shall Allah purge me of the sin.” She replied “I promise thee this thing, hoping that Allah of His favour will relent towards us and blot out our mortal offence; for the girdle of heaven’s forgiveness is not indeed so strait, but it may compass us around and absolve us of the excess of our heinous sins and bring us to the light of salvation out of the darkness of error; and indeed excellently well saith the poet,
‘Of evil thing the folk suspect us twain;
And to this thought their hearts and souls are bent:
Come, dear! let’s justify and free their souls
That wrong us; one good bout and then—repent!’’’347
Thereupon she made him an agreement and a covenant and swore a solemn oath by Him who is Self-existent, that this thing should befal betwixt them but once and never again for all time, and that the desire of him was driving her to death and perdition. So he rose up with her, on this condition, and went with her to her own boudoir, that she might quench the lowe of her lust, saying, “There is no Majesty, and there is no Might save in Allah, the Glorious, the Great! This is the fated decree of the All- powerful, the All-wise!”; and he doffed his bag-trousers, shamefull and abashed, with the tears running from his eyes for stress of affright. Thereat she smiled and making him mount upon a couch with her, said to him, “After this night, thou shalt see naught that will offend thee.” Then she turned to him bussing and bosoming him and bending calf over calf, and said to him, “Put thy hand between my thighs to the accustomed place; so haply it may stand up to prayer after prostration.” He wept and cried, “I am not good at aught of this,” but she said, “By my life, an thou do as I bid thee, it shall profit thee!” So he put out his hand, with vitals a-fire for confusion, and found her thighs cooler than cream and softer than silk. The touching of them pleasured him and he moved his hand hither and thither, till it came to a dome abounding in good gifts and movements and shifts, and said in himself, “Perhaps this King is a hermaphrodite,348 neither man nor woman quite;” so he said to her, “O King, I cannot find that thou hast a tool like the tools of men; what then moved thee to do this deed?” Then loudly laughed Queen Budur till she fell on her back,349 and said, “O my dearling, how quickly thou hast forgotten the nights we have lain together!” Then she made herself known to him, and he knew her for his wife, the Lady Budur, daughter of King al-Ghayur, Lord of the Isles and the Seas. So he embraced her and she embraced him, and he kissed her and she kissed him; then they lay down on the bed of pleasure voluptuous, repeating the words of the poet,
“When his softly bending shape bid him close to my embrace
Which clips him all about like the tendrils of the vine
And shed a flood of softness on the hardness of his heart,
He yielded though at first he was minded to decline;
And dreading lest the railer’s eye should light upon his form,
Came armoured with caution to baffle his design:
His waist makes moan of hinder cheeks that weigh upon his feet
Like heavy load of merchandise upon young camel li’en;
Girt with his glances scymitar which seemed athirst for blood,
And clad in mail of dusky curls that show the sheeniest
shine,
His fragrance wafted happy news of footstep coming nigh,
And to him like a bird uncaged I flew in straightest line:
I spread my cheek upon his path, beneath his sandal-shoon,
And lo! the stibium350 of their dust healed all my hurt
of eyne.
With one embrace again I bound the banner of our loves351
And loosed the knot of my delight that bound in bonds
malign:
Then bade I make high festival, and straight came flocking in
Pure joys that know not grizzled age352 nor aught of
pain and pine:
The full moon dotted with the stars the lips and pearly teeth
That dance right joyously upon the bubbling face of wine:
So in the prayer-niche of their joys I yielded me to what
Would make the humblest penitent of sinner most indign.
I swear by all the signs353 of those glories in his face
I’ll ne’er forget the Chapter entituled Al–Ikhlas.”354
Then Queen Budur told Kamar al-Zaman all that had befallen her from beginning to end and he did likewise; after which he began to upbraid her, saying, “What moved thee to deal with me as thou hast done this night?” She replied, “Pardon me! for I did this by way of jest, and that pleasure and gladness might be increased.” And when dawned the morn and day arose with its sheen and shone, she sent to King Armanus, sire of the Lady Hayat al-Nufus, and acquainted him with the truth of the case and that she was wife to Kamar al-Zaman. Moreover, she told him their tale and the cause of their separation, and how his daughter was a virgin, pure as when she was born. He marvelled at their story with exceeding marvel and bade them chronicle it in letters of gold. Then he turned to Kamar al-Zaman and said, “O King’s son, art thou minded to become my son-in-law by marrying my daughter?” Replied he, “I must consult the Queen Budur, as she hath a claim upon me for benefits without stint.” And when he took counsel with her, she said, “Right is thy recking; marry her and I will be her handmaid; for I am her debtor for kindness and favour and good offices, and obligations manifold, especially as we are here in her place and as the King her father hath whelmed us with benefits.”355 Now when he saw that she inclined to this and was not jealous of Hayat al-Nufus, he agreed with her upon this matter.—And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.
334 Moslems are not agreed upon the length of the Day of Doom when all created things, marshalled by the angels, await final judgment; the different periods named are 40 years, 70, 300 and 50,000. Yet the trial itself will last no longer than while one may milk an ewe, or than “the space between two milkings of a she-camel.” This is bringing down Heaven to Earth with a witness; but, after all, the Heaven of all faiths, including “Spiritualism,” the latest development, is only an earth more or less glorified even as the Deity is humanity more or less perfected.
335 Arab. “Al–Kamaráni,” lit. “the two moons.” Arab rhetoric prefers it to “Shamsáni,” or {‘two suns,” because lighter (akhaff), to pronounce. So, albeit Omar was less worthy than Abu–Bakr the two are called “Al–Omaráni,” in vulgar parlance, Omarayn.
336 Alluding to the angels who appeared to the Sodomites in the shape of beautiful youths (Koran xi.).
337 Koran xxxiii. 38.
338 “Niktu-hu taklidan” i.e. not the real thing (with a woman). It may also mean “by his incitement of me.” All this scene is written in the worst form of Persian–Egyptian blackguardism, and forms a curious anthropological study. The “black joke” of the true and modest wife is inimitable.
339 Arab. “Jamíz” (in Egypt “Jammayz”) = the fruit of the true sycomore (F. Sycomorus) a magnificent tree which produces a small tasteless fig, eaten by the poorer classes in Egypt and by monkeys. The “Tín” or real fig here is the woman’s parts; the “mulberry— fig,” the anus. Martial (i. 65) makes the following distinction:—
Dicemus ficus, quas scimus in arbore nasci,
Dicemus ficos, Caeciliane, tuos.And Modern Italian preserves a difference between fico and fica.
340 Arab. “Ghániyat Azárá” (plur. of Azrá = virgin): the former is properly a woman who despises ornaments and relies on “beauty unadorned” (i.e. in bed).
341 “Nihil usitatius apud monachos, cardinales, sacrificulos,” says Johannes de la Casa Beneventius Episcopus, quoted by Burton Anat. of Mel. lib. iii. Sect. 2; and the famous epitaph on the Jesuit,
Ci-git un Jesuite:
Passant, serre les fesses et passe vite!342 Arab. “Kiblah”=the fronting-place of prayer, Meccah for Moslems, Jerusalem for Jews and early Christians. See Pilgrimage (ii. 321) for the Moslem change from Jerusalem to Meccah and ibid. (ii. 213) for the way in which the direction was shown.
343 The Koran says (chaps. ii.): “Your wives are your tillage: go in therefore unto your tillage in what manner so ever ye will.” Usually this is understood as meaning in any posture, standing or sitting, lying, backwards or forwards. Yet there is a popular saying about the man whom the woman rides (vulg. St. George, in France, le Postillon); “Cursed be who maketh woman Heaven and himself earth!” Some hold the Koranic passage to have been revealed in confutation of the Jews, who pretended that if a man lay with his wife backwards, he would beget a cleverer child. Others again understand it of preposterous venery, which is absurd: every ancient law-giver framed his code to increase the true wealth of the people—population—and severely punished all processes, like onanism, which impeded it. The Persians utilise the hatred of women for such misuse when they would force a wive to demand a divorce and thus forfeit her claim to Mahr (dowry); they convert them into catamites till, after a month or so, they lose all patience and leave the house.
344 Koran lit 9: “He will be turned aside from the Faith (or Truth) who shall be turned aside by the Divine decree;” alluding, in the text, to the preposterous venery her lover demands.
345 Arab. “Futúh” meaning openings, and also victories, benefits. The lover congratulates her on her mortifying self in order to please him.
346 “And the righteous work will be exalt”: (Koran xxxv. 11) applied ironically.
347 A prolepsis of Tommy Moore:—
Your mother says, my little Venus,
There’s something not quite right between us,
And you’re in fault as much as I,
Now, on my soul, my little Venus,
I swear ‘twould not be right between us,
To let your mother tell a lie.But the Arab is more moral than Mr. Little. as he purposes to repent.
348 Arab. “Khunsa” flexible or flaccid, from Khans=bending inwards, i.e. the mouth of a water-skin before drinking. Like Mukhannas, it is also used for an effeminate man, a passive sodomite and even for a eunuch. Easterns still believe in what Westerns know to be an impossibility, human beings with the parts and proportions of both sexes equally developed and capable of reproduction; and Al–Islam even provides special rules for them (Pilgrimage iii. 237). We hold them to be Buffon’s fourth class of (duplicate) monsters belonging essentially to one or the other sex, and related to its opposite only by some few characteristics. The old Greeks dreamed, after their fashion, a beautiful poetic dream of a human animal uniting the contradictory beauties of man and woman. The duality of the generative organs seems an old Egyptian tradition, at least we find it in Genesis (i. 27) where the image of the Deity is created male and female, before man was formed out of the dust of the ground (ii. 7). The old tradition found its way to India (if the Hindus did not borrow the idea from the Greeks); and one of the forms of Mahadeva, the third person of their triad, is entitled “Ardhanárí”=the Half-woman, which has suggested to them some charming pictures. Europeans, seeing the left breast conspicuously feminine, have indulged in silly surmises about the “Amazons.”
349 This is a mere phrase for our “dying of laughter”: the queen was on her back. And as Easterns sit on carpets, their falling back is very different from the same movement off a chair.
350 Arab. “Ismid,” the eye-powder before noticed.
351 When the Caliph (e.g. Al-Tá‘i li’llah) bound a banner to a spear and handed it to an officer, he thereby appointed him Sultan or Viceregent.
352 Arab. “Sháib al-ingház”=lit. a gray beard who shakes head in disapproval.
353 Arab. “Ayát” = the Hebr. “Ototh,” signs, wonders or Koranic verses.
354 The Chapter “Al–Ikhlás” i.e. clearing (oneself from any faith but that of Unity) is No. cxii. and runs thus:—
Say, He is the One God!
The sempiternal God,
He begetteth not, nor is He begot,
And unto Him the like is not.It is held to be equal in value to one-third of the Koran, and is daily used in prayer. Mr. Rodwell makes it the tenth.
355 The Lady Budur shows her noble blood by not objecting to her friend becoming her Zarrat (sister-wife). This word is popularly derived from “Zarar”=injury; and is vulgarly pronounced in Egypt “Durrah” sounding like Durrah = a parrot (see Burckhardt’s mistake in Prov. 314). The native proverb says, “Ayshat al-durrah murrah,” the sister-wife hath a bitter life. We have no English equivalent; so I translate indifferently co-wife, co-consort, sister-wife or sister in wedlock.
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Kamar al- Zaman agreed with his wife, Queen Budur, upon this matter and told King Armanus what she had said; whereat he rejoiced with great joy. Then he went out and, seating himself upon his chair of estate, assembled all the Wazirs, Emirs, Chamberlains and Grandees, to whom he related the whole story of Kamar al-Zaman and his wife, Queen Budur, from first to last; and acquainted them with his desire to marry his daughter Hayat al-Nufus to the Prince and make him King in the stead of Queen Budur. Whereupon said they all, “Since he is the husband of Queen Budur, who hath been our King till now, whilst we deemed her son-in-law to King Armanus, we are all content to have him to Sultan over us; and we will be his servants, nor will we swerve from his allegiance.” So Armanus rejoiced hereat and, summoning Kazis and witnesses and the chief officers of state, bade draw up the contract of marriage between Kamar al-Zaman and his daughter, the Princess Hayat al-Nufus. Then he held high festival, giving sumptuous marriage-feasts and bestowing costly dresses of honour upon all the Emirs and Captains of the host; moreover he distributed alms to the poor and needy and set free all the prisoners. The whole world rejoiced in the coming of Kamar al-Zaman to the throne, blessing him and wishing him endurance of glory and prosperity, renown and felicity; and, as soon as he became King, he remitted the customs-dues and released all men who remained in gaol. Thus he abode a long while, ordering himself worthily towards his lieges; and he lived with his two wives in peace, happiness, constancy and content, lying the night with each of them in turn. He ceased not after this fashion during many years, for indeed all his troubles and afflictions were blotted out from him and he forgot his father King Shahriman and his former estate of honour and favour with him. After a while Almighty Allah blessed him with two boy children, as they were two shining moons, through his two wives; the elder whose name was Prince Amjad,356 by Queen Budur, and the younger whose name was Prince As’ad by Queen Hayat al-Nufus; and this one was comelier than his brother. They were reared in splendour and tender affection, in respectful bearing and in the perfection of training; and they were instructed in penmanship and science and the arts of government and horsemanship, till they attained the extreme accomplishments and the utmost limit of beauty and loveliness; both men and women being ravished by their charms. They grew up side by side till they reached the age of seventeen, eating and drinking together and sleeping in one bed, nor ever parting at any time or tide; wherefore all the people envied them. Now when they came to man’s estate and were endowed with every perfection, their father was wont, as often as he went on a journey, to make them sit in his stead by turns in the hall of judgement; and each did justice among the folk one day at a time. But it came to pass, by confirmed fate and determined lot, that love for As’ad (son of Queen Hayat al-Nufus) rose in the heart of Queen Budur, and that affection for Amjad (son of Queen Budur) rose in the heart of Queen Hayat al-Nufus.357 Hence it was that each of the women used to sport and play with the son of her sister-wife, kissing him and straining him to her bosom, whilst each mother thought that the other’s behaviour arose but from maternal affection. On this wise passion got the mastery of the two women’s hearts and they became madly in love with the two youths, so that when the other’s son came in to either of them, she would press him to her breast and long for him never to be parted from her; till, at last, when waiting grew longsome to them and they found no path to enjoyment, they refused meat and drink and banished the solace of sleep. Presently, the King fared forth to course and chase, bidding his two sons sit to do justice in his stead, each one day in turn as was their wont.—And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
356 Lane preserves the article “El–Amjad” and “El–As’ad;” which is as necessary as to say “the John” or “the James,” because neo-Latins have “il Giovanni” or “il Giacomo.” In this matter of the article, however, it is impossible to lay down a universal rule: in some cases it must be preserved and only practice in the language can teach its use. For instance, it is always present in Al–Bahrayn and al-Yaman; but not necessarily so with Irak and Najd.
357 It is hard to say why this ugly episode was introduced. It is a mere false note in a tune pretty enough.
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