Tales of the Marvellous and News of the Strange (Hardcover Classics) (18 page)

It is said – and God knows better and is wiser, greater, more powerful, more splendid, nobler, more kind and more merciful – that in times past there was a great and important Persian king who had three sons. He continued to lead a life of comfort until one day, when he had reached the age of eighty, he thought about who should succeed him on the throne.

He summoned his eldest son, whose name was Bahram, and told him: ‘I dreamed last night that I was riding on a black horse with a sheathed sword, wearing a black turban and a robe of black brocade. I went through a barren waste where there was neither water nor pasturage until I came to a stormy sea. So afraid was I of that land that I plunged just as I was into the sea on my horse and crossed over to the far side. How do you interpret this dream, my son?’

Bahram said: ‘Father, the horse is glory, and the sword power. The blackness is the many years you will live, and the sea means that you will live for more than a hundred years of unbroken rule and constant glory.’ This interpretation pleased the king and he told Bahram that he would be pleased to learn that as crown prince he would succeed to the throne.

After Bahram had left, the king called for his second son and told him what he had told Bahram about his dream. This son said: ‘Father, you will rule with great power over a huge kingdom extending from this land of yours to the Sea of Darkness, and it may be that you will penetrate for a day’s journey or more into the darkness itself because you rode into that black sea.’ This delighted the king, who said: ‘My son, you are my partner in my kingdom and the inheritor of my prosperity.’

When the prince had left, the king called for his youngest son and told him what he had told his brothers about his dream. When the young man heard, he turned pale and exclaimed: ‘God forbid that this dream
come true! The blackness is great grief, and it may be that you will find yourself attacked by a king whom you cannot drive off. He may be of your own blood and this will be I.’

The narrator continued: On hearing this the king became furious and exclaimed: ‘You have belittled and disparaged me by daring to talk to me like this.’ He gave orders for the prince to be beheaded, but his viziers and ministers all joined together to intercede for him, an intercession that the king accepted on condition that they cast the prince away in a desert, where he would die of hunger and thirst.

They followed the king’s orders and took him to the middle of the desert and were on the point of returning when the vizier gave him a jug of water and a little food, putting it in his clothes. ‘My son,’ he said, ‘this food will last you for three days, and after that Almighty God will bring you relief.’ Then, after taking his leave, he and his servants went away.

For three days the young prince wandered through the desert, not knowing where he was going. On the fourth day he had no food left and fear of death made his heart tremble. His strength was exhausted, and he was near his end. A hot wind was blowing as he shed tears and looked up to heaven, saying: ‘I call on You Who bring speedy relief and save the drowning man from the sea.’ He had looked right and left in search of someone who might help him when he saw something indistinct in the distance and, although he had been on the point of giving up the ghost, he set off towards it.

The sun was directly overhead, and he was confused and parched with thirst, when what he was aiming for became clearer and turned out to be a lofty and spacious castle towering into the sky. He remembered his father’s castle and his city, as well as his own friends and companions, and as he thought of how he had been isolated and separated from them tears flooded down his cheeks.

When he went up to the castle he found that it had a huge door with plates and ornamental patterns of gold and silver. It was covered with hangings, and in the entrance hall there were various types of singing birds. The door stood open, and the prince went in, convinced that it was death that faced him.

In the halls was a series of mats, and felt coverings were fixed to the walls. The prince came to an elaborately decorated door leading to a marbled space in which were forty raised thrones with jugs set beside them, together with all kinds of elegant accessories. Leading out of this
were forty rooms, each containing a bed with splendid coverings of varied colours. The doors of these faced one another, and whoever entered could pass by the whole forty, starting from the beginning. In them were gold and beautifully coloured paintings as well as various types of mattresses and coverings suitable for the daughters of great kings. At the upper end of the hall was a table of red gold, on which were set forty plates of white silver, around which were placed forty loaves of white bread.

The young prince could not restrain himself from going up to the food and eating one mouthful from each plate. When he had had enough he went back and searched for water. After looking around, he discovered beside the hall a drinking room with forty regal seats, and at the upper end one seat of particular splendour. By each seat was a golden tray with a crystal flask containing a drink scented more pungently than musk, with on the one side vegetables and on the other fruit. In the middle were flowers and scented herbs together with censers burning aloes wood and ambergris, continuously spreading their perfume. Each part of the room had its seat.

After the prince had taken a mouthful from each flask he started to look out of the windows, and there beneath them he saw a large wadi and a broad meadow, at the upper part of which was an orchard with two fruits of every kind, planted with trees producing both fruits of all sorts and blooms. From the tops of them bird song conveyed its own secret message.

The narrator continued: The prince looked up and as the wine had gone to his head and he was enjoying himself he stayed unconcernedly until the end of the day, when all of a sudden he heard the noise of horses’ hooves. He looked out of the window and saw forty riders approaching, fully armed and prepared for war. Their leader was wearing a cloak of red brocade with a green turban, riding a horse black as a raven with a white blaze on its forehead.

When the riders reached the palace door they dismounted and put their horses away in their stables beside the palace, tethering them to their mangers, while on seeing this the prince hid away in a corner of the building. The riders came into the hall, disarmed and removed their riding gear, revealing themselves as women more beautiful than the houris of Paradise.

The prince was watching them from where he could not be seen as they went to the dining room. He was astonished by their beauty and
their clothes but he did not know what they were. When they sat down they were annoyed to notice that a mouthful had been taken from each of their loaves and they started to look at those of their neighbours. Then they turned to the lady who was sitting in the place of honour and who had been riding on the black horse. ‘Lady,’ they said, ‘this is something that we have never experienced before and what
jinni
or man has dared to do it?’ ‘Patience,’ the lady replied; ‘don’t be in a hurry for I shall look into it, and whoever did it is bound to come back.’

They ate their fill and washed their hands, as the prince watched, and they then moved to the drinking room, swaying like branches, with their lovely faces, recalling the lines of the poet:

With slender waists and murderous coquetry

They aim at us with their wide eyes,

Lovely dark eyes that have no need of kohl.

They came up robed in beauty, stealing away my wits,

And when they tried to move forward a pace,

It was as though their feet were stuck in mud.

The narrator went on: They continued to relax with their wine, reciting poetry and telling stories until the night was past and day had arrived. Then each of them put on armour, equipped herself with a long spear and fastened on a sharp sword, after which they mounted and left through the castle gate.

Their leader was one of the great sorceresses, and thanks to her skill it was she who produced the food, drink, fruits and vegetables. She parted from her companions after telling them to go off as usual while she hid in order to discover who it was who had violated the sanctity of their castle. She then went back to a hide of hers at the side of the castle.

The young prince stayed where he was until the sun was high, and he then came out and approached the table, stretching out his hand to take a morsel from it. As he was about to put it in his mouth the sorceress came out and went up to him. At the sight of her he trembled with fear, letting the morsel drop from his hand. She looked at him and, seeing how handsome and how frightened he was, she went nearer and smiled at him, before sitting beside him and beginning a friendly conversation with him. When he complained of his plight to her she embraced him and kissed him, before asking him whether he was mortal or from the
jinn
. ‘I am a mortal,’ he told her, ‘and the son of a king who has been betrayed by Time, which has parted me from my family and
my friends.’ ‘How was that?’ she asked, ‘and what was it that brought you here?’

At that he told her the story of his dealings with his father, explaining what had happened. When she heard this and saw what a handsome and cultured young man he was, love for him took possession of her heart. She told him: ‘Relax and be joyful, for I have fallen in love with you and will conceal your secret from all my cousins and companions.’ She then ate with him before taking him to the drinking room, where she joined him in drinking pure wine. She then called him closer, and he jumped on her and deflowered her, discovering her to be a virgin. They went on like that until evening, when the girls were due to return, and it was then that the lady told him to go back to the hiding place that he had used the night before.

When the girls got back they entered the castle and took off their armour, putting on their female clothes before taking their places at the table. The girl who had been leading them saw the changes that had been made to the food and said to the sorceress, who had hidden away to find out who had been responsible for this the day before: ‘Sister, who has done this?’ ‘I don’t know,’ replied the lady and although the other accused her of lying she concealed the affair and let no one in on her secret.

They all ate their fill, washed their hands and went on to drink wine as usual until dawn. Another girl was ordered to take the place of the first in the castle to see and then to tell who it was who had tampered with the food. The others then mounted and rode off, leaving behind the one who hid nobody knew where.

When the prince was certain that they had gone and that no one was left he came out from his hiding place and went to the dining room, where he approached the table and stretched out his hand to the food. At that point out came the girl, who was struck by his handsomeness and the perfection of his shape. When he saw her he was alarmed and terrified, not knowing what to do. ‘Darling,’ she said, ‘don’t be frightened but tell me about yourself, what you are and what has brought you here.’ This calmed him, and his fear diminished thanks to her beauty and the sweetness of her words. He told her what had happened to him with his father, and she sat down beside him, telling him that no harm would come to him.

After she had eaten with him they went to the drinking room, where they drank wine, and when they were in a state of happiness she invited
him to take her, and he discovered her to be a virgin, as God had created her. Love for him took hold of her heart and occupied her mind, and so they remained enjoying themselves until evening.

When the other girls returned the prince went back to his hiding place. They disarmed and after putting on their female clothes they went to sit at the table, where their leader noticed that the food had been tampered with. She asked the girl who had been left behind how this had come about, to which she replied: ‘Lady, I saw nothing, and nobody ate anything apart from me.’

The lady kept on selecting a new girl each day until the prince had come to the last of them. Each one of them had conceived, and as the days passed their pregnancies became visible, although no one of them had found out the secret of any of the others. None of this, however, was hidden from their mistress, and on the forty-first day, when she ordered them to ride out as usual, it was she herself who stayed behind, saying that none but she would uncover the affair, and she chose an undiscoverable hiding place.

When the prince thought that the palace was empty he came out as usual and went to sit at the table. The lady saw how handsome he was and trembled with uncontrollable love and, coming out, she threw herself before him. At the sight of her the prince quaked, and the mouthful he was holding dropped from his hand, while what he saw of her beauty bewildered him. She realized this and sat down beside him, addressing him in friendly tones and telling him that no harm would come to him. ‘I am the leader of these girls,’ she told him, ‘and I am yours and at your service.’

While she sat to eat with him she used her hand to put food in his mouth until he had had enough. They then washed their hands, after which they went to the drinking room, where she drank and poured him wine until he became dizzy. Then she said: ‘My darling, tell me your story. Let me know about you and how it was that you came here.’

He told her the whole tale from beginning to end, telling her about his father’s dream, his anger and how he had ordered him to be left in the desert. He explained how, after having been on the point of death, he had reached the castle and what had happened to him with the girls and what he had done with them.

When she had understood all this, she repeated: ‘No harm will come to you, my boy, for these are my maids and they are a gift from me to you. I saw that they were pregnant. You may get children from them,
and God may bring you relief and happiness. I myself am lovelier than them, and from this day on you will be my friend and lover, so after this don’t approach any of them, for I am here at your disposal. If you do go to any of them, I shall imprison you, torture you and load you with iron chains.’