Tales of the Marvellous and News of the Strange (Hardcover Classics) (24 page)

‘ “You saw what this monstrous evil-doer did,” she said to me, “and you realize that, had I wanted to get you down from your tree, it would have been easy enough for me, and if I wanted to harm you I could. Don’t be afraid but come down now, for I will do what you want.” When I heard this, and after seeing what she had done, I climbed down to her, although I was still afraid. Without a word she came up to me and embraced me, holding me tightly. When my flesh met hers my lust was roused, and on noticing this she put herself at my disposal, and I lay with her, experiencing such delight as I had never known before.

‘She had robbed me of my wits, and when I felt at ease with her I said: “My lady, I heard you ask God in your prayer how you might use one of His Great Names to escape from your plight. I have a ring on which is the Greatest Name.” She showed delight, telling me to give it to her quickly, and when I did she took off an engraved silver ring set with a pearl such as I had never seen before. “Take this and put it on your finger in place of your own,” she said, “and it will protect you against
jinn
and devils.” When I took it from her she told me to go back to my place in the tree, which I did.

‘She herself went quickly over to the black creature as he lay asleep and placed the ring on the parting of his hair before pressing down on it with all the strength she could muster. Then she took a knife and cut his throat from ear to ear, leaving a torrent of blood to pour out over the island, an act that filled me with alarm and terror as I watched.

‘When she was sure that he was dead and could no longer feel anything or move, she sat beside him, sobbing and weeping, and I heard her say: “Alas for all scheming and treacherous women, who keep no covenant of love or pact of faithfulness and who neither abide by nor show loyalty to their lovers.”

‘I was astonished by what she said and what she had done, in that she had dared to cut his throat and then regretted killing him. She got up and came towards me, telling me to come down. When I did she asked: “Are you happy now that I have killed my lover?” “Yes I am,” I said, “but tell me about this
jinni
and how you came across him, for I’m sure that this must be a strange tale.” She agreed that it was but then stayed
silent, and when I saw that she didn’t want to talk about it I held back and didn’t press her.

‘I stayed with her for ten days, enjoying life on the island, forgetting my family, my son and my home land. For her part she gave me quantities of pearls, gems and corals, showing love for me, but then she came up to me and said: “I think that you have a wife and son and that you are longing for them. Take everything I have given you, as it will make you rich. Then go to the end of the island, jump into the sea and begin to swim, for it is not far to go. Don’t be afraid of the waves, for if you hold out you will get to another island. When you are there, walk for twenty days towards the east and you will find enough fruits and fresh water sweeter than sugar, milk or butter, to eat and drink. After the twenty days you will come across a fisherman who is from an inhabited land. He will have a light boat and will be catching pearl oysters. Go up and complain of your plight to him, and he will take you back to civilization. So return to your family and your home land and leave me here for God to do with me as He wills.”

‘ “Lady,” I said to her, “as long as I live I shall never leave you, for to go with you is dearer to me than the world and everything in it.” “Do you want me to go back to your country with you?” she asked. “Yes, by God, lady!” I said; “I cannot endure without you and your beauty and loveliness, for to part from you would be like losing the soul from my body. If you stay, I shall stay here with you, and if you leave the island, I shall go too.”

‘ “I am now happy,” she said, “and so sit down and listen to my story from beginning to end. If you are content, you can take me with you in the full knowledge of what I have done, and if you don’t like it, you can go off by yourself.” “Lady,” I told her, “there is nothing I should like more than to hear what you have to say and listen to your fine speech and sweet words.” “Listen, then, with your ears and your heart,” she said to me, and I told her to tell me her story, as I would be her ransom.

‘She said: “I am the daughter of kings. My father was lord of a coastal city that had nothing to match it on the face of the earth. It was the most wholesome and prosperous of places, and there was nowhere with more trees or sweeter fruits. It covered seven
parasangs
, and a river that ran right through the middle of it provided water for it and for its orchards. It had a fine city wall, and there were so many people there that only God could know their number. It was thanks to me that it and all those in it were destroyed, and I shall tell you about this from beginning to end.

‘ “My father was obeyed throughout the lands, and his undisputed and untroubled rule was of long standing. He had eighty wives and eighty concubines but he had no son to help him in his kingdom and no brother on whom he could lean. In his old age one of his fellow kings presented him with a slave girl of perfect and radiant beauty. When he set eyes on her he admired her and fell so deeply in love with her that he could not do without her. This was my mother. He preferred her to all his other women and when he lay with her she conceived instantly.

‘ “My father was delighted to hear the news. He took note of the date and the hour and gave alms to the poor and the wretched and continued to do so. After her nine months’ pregnancy my mother went into labour and gave birth to me. I was the most beautiful of baby girls, and my father was overjoyed. On seeing me he thought that my beauty was a sign of blessing and he called me ‘Arus al-‘Ara’is [Bride of Brides].

‘ “With him were ten of the most learned astrologers of the age, to whom he had been in the habit of paying a salary as well as providing them with bounty and benefits. He got them together and said: ‘I rely on you for I have saved you up for a time like this. Something happened in my palace yesterday which I want to use as a test for you, to find out what you foresee will be its consequences. You may investigate whatever you want, and I shall allow you three days for this.’ He provided each of them with a chamber of his own and a servant to look after him as well as supplies of food and drink.

‘ “On the fourth night he sat on his royal throne and, having collected the leaders of his people, he called for the astrologers one after the other, telling them to produce their findings. The first of them took out his astrolabe and looked at what star was in the ascendant. He asked whether the king wanted to hear both the good and the bad news, and the king said that he did, telling the man not to hold back anything that he knew. The man began by pointing out that no force could overcome the fate decreed by Almighty God for His servants, and what was destined to happen would happen. He went on: ‘What took place in your palace was that a girl was born to you at an unlucky time, this being when God cast out Adam, when Abel was killed, when Abraham the friend of God was thrown into the fire, and when the peoples of Lot, Thamud, ‘Ad and Salih were destroyed. The girl born under these inauspicious signs is marked by misfortune. She will be wily and deceitful and more evil than any other of Adam’s children. Through her both the king and his city will be destroyed.’

‘ “The king was furious at what the man had said and drove him away. He summoned another astrologer but when he put the same question to him the man gave him the same reply. He kept on calling for one after the other until he had questioned all ten of them, but all of them said the same thing, no more and no less, telling him that his daughter was the most unlucky girl born on earth. On hearing this, the king ordered their heads to be cut off and their bodies exposed on crosses; their houses were to be plundered and their women taken as booty. What happened to these men was the first instance of the misfortune that I bring.

‘ “I stayed with servants and nurses and by the time I was four I knew more about poetry and literature than anyone else. By the time I was seven I had studied various branches of knowledge, including grammar, and I had read stories, histories and accounts.

‘ “An uncle of mine who had ruled the city before my father until his death had two sons, al-Yasr and al-Yasar. Of these al-Yasr, the younger son, had helped my father take power, while al-Yasar, the elder, was kept in prison until he escaped and fled away for fear that my father would kill him. Al-Yasr, for his part, liked collecting money and continued to help my father. When I had reached puberty my father promised my hand to him, and I stayed at home for some years waiting to be married.

‘ “My father had given me a slave girl, who was on friendly terms with me and would never leave me. She used to tell me stories of lovers and their desperate passions and describe men to me. I was so fond of her that she stole away my wits. One day while she was sitting telling me stories and bemusing and enticing me with tales of all sorts, she said: ‘By God, lady, you fit your name, ‘Arus al-‘Ara’is, but when I look at the beauty of your face and your loveliness, I feel sad at how all this passes without you knowing anything of the world and its delights and the pleasures of life. When a girl has reached maturity her only pleasure and delight is in a man. He should be handsome and attractive, well-spoken and intelligent and she could play with him and he could play with her.’

‘ “She kept on pressing this kind of point, and describing young men and those who were smitten by love in earlier generations until she had roused my longing. I told her that I was obsessed and distracted and I asked her to find a way to fetch me a handsome young man, after which she brought me one disguised as a woman. The reason why she had tried to seduce me was because she was jealous of my unique beauty, of the kindness and love that my father showed me and of the fact that he had put my mother in charge of all his women and slave girls.

‘ “The young man sat beside me on the same bed, and after the girl had anointed me with fragrant perfume and provided us with food and drink she went out, closing the doors and leaving us. The young man stretched out his hand to fondle me, and when he had got what he wanted, my heart was filled with love for him, and this attraction robbed me of my wits. After that he used to come to me in secret every day, entering and leaving without being noticed.

‘ “Soon after I had got to know him, my cousin al-Yasr asked my father to arrange our wedding, to which he agreed. Celebrations were held for six days in the city, to which everybody was invited. During this time no trading was done and in every market place and street people were eating, drinking, carousing and playing music. It was a great occasion, and people were beginning to say: ‘There has never been a wedding like that of Princess ‘Arus al-‘Ara’is.’

‘ “On the day that I should have been brought to my bridegroom, my mother came to me in tears, having learned of my affair with the young man. ‘My little daughter,’ she said, ‘tonight you will be taken to your cousin al-Yasr and you will be dishonoured and disgraced both before him and your father and everyone else. You have harmed yourself, as your cousin will find out that you are not a virgin, and your father will have to bow down his head in shame.’

‘ “ ‘Mother,’ I told her, ‘what happened to me was the result of a scheme planned by a woman like me who seduced me. She wanted to see me abandoned and so she tricked me and brought about my fall.’ I then thought the matter over and sent an urgent message to my elegant young man. He came as usual and after we had eaten and drunk I said to him: ‘You have to know that tomorrow I am going to be taken to my bridegroom and I’m afraid that you will never meet me again.’ He wept and said: ‘What can we do, lady?’ ‘I’ll make a plan for you,’ I told him.

‘ “I went to a chest and, after taking out a thousand dinars in a purse, I said: ‘Go off and distribute this money straight away amongst a hundred young men in the city, friends of yours whom you can trust. Tell them to arm themselves and let them hide with drawn swords amongst all those many trees in the orchard. I will trick my father into seeing that we come at night in a big boat on the river opposite it, and with me will be all the daughters of the viziers, officers and leaders. We shall have all kinds of musical instruments with us but no men capable of fighting. When we get to you, you must all pull on the ship’s ropes and draw it towards you before fastening it to a large tree. Then kill the servants on
the ship so that each of you can take one of the girls and rape her. I myself will not resist you, and you can take me and make your escape wherever you want.’

‘ “This delighted the young man, who trusted what I had said. He took the money and went off to hand it over to his friends, who set out by night to hide themselves in the orchard. Next day my father came to me and, after having kissed me on the head, he embraced me and said: ‘Light of my eyes and fruit of my heart, I have given the people cause for joy, providing them with huge banquets for your sake, and tonight I shall lead you to your bridegroom. Is there anything you need that I can do for you?’

‘ “ ‘Father,’ I said, ‘everyone is happy, eating and drinking, apart from me, your daughter. What I ask you to do is to order a boat to be prepared for me with wine on board. I shall then collect the daughters of the viziers, officers and leaders, choosing those who are suitable companions for me, all of them virgins. There will be food and drink and only two or three servants to see to the boat. Then have it proclaimed that nobody is to go on the river this night. We shall set off by moonlight with candles and our musical instruments and spend the whole night enjoying ourselves on the river, eating, drinking and taking our pleasures. When it is time for the dawn prayer we shall come back, and then I can be taken to my bridegroom while I am still drunk with wine.’

‘ “My father was delighted and agreed enthusiastically to do what I had asked. He gave the orders straight away and then at supper time he came to tell me that everything I had asked for was ready and that he had given instructions that every girl who had led a sheltered life should make sure to come.