Tales of the Marvellous and News of the Strange (Hardcover Classics) (20 page)

Qudah then left the horse and collected all the various troops of
jinn marids
. He told them: ‘Know that the princess has asked me to do her a favour, and this is something I am obliged to do. I want you all to come tomorrow night and for each of you to carry one or two of the prince’s riders so that by morning his whole army may have reached the gate of his father’s city with their tents pitched and their spears fixed in the ground.’ ‘To hear is to obey,’ they replied. The horse then told the prince
to bring out his men with their equipment, weapons and all they needed for a journey. He did that, and by evening all of them had come out as ordered. The prince then dressed his sons in splendid clothes and mounted them on Arab horses, fetching out with them his money, stores and material. Every one of his men came out fully equipped and provisioned, and this went on all that day. When night fell, the
‘ifrit
arrived with all his companions and followers, and God sent sleep on them so that they slept. While they were asleep the
‘ifrits
came and took man after man with their equipment and their horses and set them down, asleep and unconscious, by the gate of the king’s city before pitching all their tents.

When morning came the king looked at those men in astonishment and amazement. The prince ordered the
nakers
to be beaten and the trumpets blown, as banners were unfurled and shouts raised. The sight of all this dismayed the king, and after he had had the city gates closed he sent a messenger to discover what was happening. The man charged with this task was his vizier, the man who had taken the young prince out to the desert. On his arrival at the prince’s pavilion he asked leave to enter, and when this had been granted he went in and delivered a courteous greeting, calling down God’s mercy on the prince.

After returning the greeting, the prince said: ‘You are the king’s vizier who took me out to the desert and gave me food and water, although my father had wanted me to die. My Lord had mercy on me and preserved me, giving me this kingdom, as well as wealth and sons, praise be to Him. I have not come to make war on my father but to show him what the Almighty has granted me.’

On hearing this, the vizier prostrated himself to God in amazement at what Fate had produced. The prince said: ‘I am content and happy with what God has given me, so go back to my father and tell him that, assuring him that both he and his kingdom are safe.’ When the vizier did that the king was delighted and he came out to meet his son, embracing him happily and asking him to tell him about himself.

The prince told his father all that had happened to him and said: ‘Father, I rule over lands such as eyes have not seen nor ears heard of. I shall stay here until I have satisfied my longing for you and for my brothers and then after a few days I shall go back home.’ He summoned his brothers and gave them a warm greeting, after which he assigned to each of them a town and a large village. Then he went back to the horse and said: ‘Lady, my needs have been fulfilled, and I should like you to
resume your proper shape so that I might enjoy having you in my service.’ ‘Is this what you want?’ she asked, and when he said: ‘Yes, may God give you a good reward,’ she went off for a while and came back in a shape whose loveliness would put the sun to shame.

He was captivated by what he saw and immediately summoned the qadi and the witnesses and drew up the contract of marriage. He scattered dinars and produced a wedding feast for her the like of which had never been heard of in any land. When his bride was brought to him he was delighted to discover her to be a pure virgin, as her Lord had sealed her. She occupied a great place in his heart, and he assigned her one of the beautiful palaces of her sisters.

He then proposed to return home and he took leave of his father, but his father said: ‘My son, I should like you not to leave me until you lay me in my grave, when you can rule over your brothers after my death.’ ‘Father,’ said the prince, ‘this is the interpretation of your dream which God has fulfilled.’

The king’s life ended, and he went to join his Lord. The prince’s brothers were grateful to him for the favours that he bestowed on him, and Time helped him to fulfil his desires. He continued to lead the best, most pleasant and untroubled of lives until his death.

They say – and God knows better – that amongst the stories of past peoples is one that deals with the land of Khurasan, where there was a great and powerful ruler called Shahriyar. He had a hundred concubines, but none of them had given him a son. He had sent agents round various lands and cities to inspect and buy slave girls, but whether he stayed with one of them for a day, a night or a year she would not conceive. The wide world shrank in his eyes as, whatever greatness he had achieved, he had no son.

One day when he was seated with his vizier a servant came in to tell him that at the door was a man with that day’s girl, who was asking leave to enter so that he might present her to him. Shahriyar told him to bring the man in, and when he came he kissed the ground respectfully and said: ‘Master, I have brought you this girl who has no match on the face of the earth for beauty, perfection and splendour.’ Shahriyar lifted his head and looked at the girl, whom he saw to be so wrapped up in Venetian cloth that nothing of her could be seen. She was acting with composure and when on Shahriyar’s instructions the man brought her forwards she took refuge behind him. He unveiled her, allowing Shahriyar to see the most beautiful face reflecting youthful charm that he had ever encountered, with seven plaits like horses’ tails that swept down to her anklets.

The astonished king asked the man for her price, and he said: ‘May God exalt Your Majesty, I bought her from
Bahr al-Mulk Qamar
for a thousand dinars. I have been exactly two years on the road, during which I have spent about five hundred dinars on her, but I present her to you, Your Majesty, as a gift.’ Shahriyar accepted her and left her with his slave girls, telling them to look after her and give her a room of her own, supplying her with everything she might need. He entertained the man for three days and presented him with three thousand dinars
together with robes of honour, providing him with one of his own special horses to ride. The man went off filled with gratitude.

The king ruled a coastal city known as White City, which overlooked the sea. In the dark of night he got up and entered the room that had been prepared for the girl and found her looking out over the sea. When she noticed him she paid him no attention or proper respect, while when he looked at her he saw that she had been suitably arrayed and was more splendid than the sun. It was as though Almighty God had given her more beauty, perfection and splendour than he had granted to any other of his creatures. ‘Praise be to God, Who created you from a vile drop in a secure place!’ he exclaimed, and then he went up to her, clasped her to his breast and kissed her between the eyes. He then sat down and had a gold table set with pearls and sapphires brought before him on which were such foods as no other king could have produced. The two of them ate, but the girl remained silent and although he did his best to get her to say even a single word she said nothing, and the astonished king exclaimed: ‘Praise be to God, Who created your beauty but made you dumb. Perfection is His alone, Great and Glorious is He!’

The table was then removed and glasses of wine brought in together with fruits and scented herbs, while the slave girls fetched all their various musical instruments. She watched them, but neither smiled nor spoke. The king then got up and, taking her by the hand, he brought her to his own room, where he lay with her, finding her to his delight to be a virgin. She came to occupy a prime place in his heart, and he devoted his entire attention to her, abandoning all his concubines and taking her to be all that he wanted from the world.

He stayed with her for a whole year but was saddened to hear no single word from her. One day he came in to find her seated with her face more radiant than the sun. He kissed it and said: ‘Heart’s desire, my kingdom is not worth a single speck of dust to me in comparison with the joy my heart has experienced since you have been here. Day and night I have been praying Almighty God to grant that you bear me a son and that I may live to see him assume authority and rule the kingdom. The lack of an heir is my only grief in this world, and I would be content to die if a son were born.’ When the girl heard this she looked down at the ground for a time and then raised her head and said: ‘Peace be on you, O king!’ Shahriyar was ecstatic with joy and replied: ‘Peace be on you, together with the mercy and blessing of God. By God, this is a blessed day!’ ‘Almighty God has answered all your requests,’ she told
him, ‘as I must tell you that I am carrying your child, and I have spoken to you although I had never intended to do so, since you should know of my pregnancy, although I don’t know whether it will result in a boy or a girl.’

In his delight the king distributed ten thousand dinars as alms to the poor and that night he went to the girl and said: ‘Desire of my heart, why was it that you did not talk to me for a year? How could you keep yourself from speaking, and what was it that stopped you?’ She replied: ‘The king should know, may God prolong his glory, that I am one of the daughters of the sea, with a brother and parents. One day, after a quarrel with my brother, I went to an island in what is known as the Sea of the Moon. There an old man seized me and took me to his house. I disliked him and when he laid hands on me I struck him an almost fatal blow. He took me out and sold me to the man who brought me to you. Had I not liked you and wanted to stay with you, I would simply have dived into the sea and gone back to my family, but I fell in love with you. If I wanted to spend three years without saying a single word [I could have done so].’

Shahriyar was astonished by this and asked the girl what her name was in the sea. She told him that it was ‘Julnar of the Sea’, and added that it was her heartfelt wish that her brother might see the luxury in which she lived, he being one of the kings of the sea. Shahriyar asked: ‘By God, Julnar, how do you walk in the sea?’ She told him: ‘We make a talisman with the names that were on the seal of Solomon son of David, on whom be peace, and we either construct this as a ring or as an amulet to be worn on the shoulder and then when we walk in the paths of the sea the water cannot reach us, and whether we are on land or under water, it is the same for us. The sea acts as a roof for us, and it is so light that we can see the stars, the sun and the moon above it, as well as what is below the level of the land. More creatures live there than on land.’ This astonished Shahriyar.

Nights and days passed until it was nearly time for Julnar to give birth and, after telling this to Shahriyar, she said that she wanted to send word to her parents so that they, and no earth dwellers, could be there with her. He told her to do what she wanted, and she removed from her shoulder an amulet containing a talisman. Out of this she took something black and, bringing out a golden censer, she filled it with charcoal and blew at it until this became burning coals. She then told Shahriyar: ‘Get up, master, and hide away with one of the girls so you can see my
parents and my brother as they come to me.’ When Shahriyar had done this she put some of the drug that she had with her on the fire and whistled thrice. At that the sea parted and out came a handsome man with green hair and beard, looking like the moon, accompanied by an old woman who herself had green hair, together with five maids, like moons. They swam up to the palace window, and the young man called out to his sister, who replied: ‘Here I am, brother.’ ‘What do you want?’ he asked, and she told him to come closer. He came out of the water and approached the window, at which she got up and embraced him as he kissed her head. He then turned to the old lady and said something to her that Shahriyar could not understand. She too came up to the window with her five maids. ‘My daughter, by the Lord of the Ka‘ba!’ she exclaimed and, clasping Julnar to her, she kissed her between the eyes and said: ‘Neither I nor your brother or your cousins could enjoy a tranquil life while we did not know where you were. We went round all the seas in the world but caught no sight and heard no news of you. Who are you with? We shall rescue you even if his armies are as many as the sands.’ She then breathed out flames that came out from her mouth and the sockets of her eyes and told Julnar: ‘Come home, for I have been longing for you for a long time.’

Shahriyar said: ‘I almost died from fear of the old woman, and for her part Julnar took her hand and kissed it, as well as kissing her cousins, the girls who were with her, who had shed tears of longing for her. She said: “Mother, you should know that I have fallen into the hands of a king who has no superior on the face of the earth or any who is nobler, with larger armies or more wealth. For him the world lies between my eyes. I am pregnant by him, and he has abandoned the whole world, leaving all his slave girls and his concubines; it is because I am enough for him that he has abandoned his kingdom, and I am all that he wants here. Were I not pregnant I would come with you, and no one could stop me, for as you know I can cross from east to west in the blink of an eye.”

‘When her mother heard what she said, her anger subsided, and she calmed down. Julnar herself turned to her brother and asked him why he was not saying anything. “What can I say?” he asked. “You know that neither on land nor sea is there anyone that I love more than you, Julnar, and it is only through you that I want what the world offers. If you are happy with this king, then that is what I look for.” Julnar got up and kissed his hand and his head and when they were all happy she ordered tables of gold and silver to be brought in covered with foods of
all kinds. Her mother then called to her and when Julnar answered she asked: “Should not the master of all this, the great king, be here?” ’ Julnar got up and went to Shahriyar, who was some way off, shaking like a palm leaf. He said: ‘By God, Julnar, I know that you love me but I am afraid of this old woman, and had I known that things were like this, I would never have been able to enjoy sleep.’ ‘Master, no harm will come to you,’ she said, ‘for as long as I am with you, you need fear nothing that lives on land or sea.’

Shahriyar got up and joined the company, who stood up to greet him, kissing the ground before him. They said: ‘Master, take and keep this unique pearl, who has no equal on the face of the earth. No one who sees her can look at her enough. All the kings of the sea have asked for her hand, but she did not find any of them acceptable, so praise be to God, Who has made you attractive to her and subjugated her to you.’ Shahriyar thanked them and told them that Julnar was all that he wanted from the world, after which they put their hands in the food and started to eat. They then washed their hands, and china plates filled with sweetmeats were produced. When these had been eaten they sat down to talk, enjoying each other’s company.

Julnar’s brother then brought out a chest of red gold, which he opened before removing three hundred sapphires, turquoises, emeralds and jacinths, as well as five hundred snow-white pearls, each weighing two
mithqals
, that shone like stars. He presented these to the king, who was asked to accept them and who won the favour of his guests by doing so. Looking at what he had been given, he exclaimed to Julnar: ‘What is this that your brother has given me? Were I to give him all that I own and twice as much besides, you would still be more generous than me.’ Julnar turned to her brother and said: ‘Brother, the king presents his excuses to you and says that he does not know what to do for you or how to make you an honourable return as even if he took all he owns and much more he would not consider this a suitable present for you.’ Her brother laughed and said: ‘Your Majesty, all this is of no importance in our eyes and, God willing, every time that I visit you I shall bring more than this with me.’

They passed the most pleasant of nights, and then Julnar fell into labour, and when her pains increased her cousins and her mother went to her while Shahriyar went to an adjoining room, where there was a window near the roof from which he could look at the room without anyone knowing. He sat there and looked out of this window, which
was only as big as the palm of a hand, and he could only use one side of his face. When Julnar was in difficulties her mother got up and took out a medicine bag, with which she perfumed herself and whistled. At this ten girls and an old woman appeared, whom she went up to and greeted. The old woman then removed her clothes and sat there to act as a midwife. Soon afterwards Julnar gave birth to a boy like a rising sun. Cries of joy were raised, and when the mother was asked what the child was to be called she said ‘Badr.’ They looked after him but spoke no single word, and no one, great or small, came to them from the king’s palace. They anointed him with a white substance and perfumed him with something strange.

His uncle, Salih, then took Badr in his arms as Shahriyar watched, saying to himself that perhaps he was going to bring him the baby, but instead he went to the window and jumped into the sea. For a time both he and the baby were under the water but then they emerged with the baby wearing a necklace of pearls as big as pigeon’s eggs, with a chain of rubies gleaming like the sun and worth a huge sum hanging over his chest above the swaddling-clothes. Her brother restored the child to his mother, who thanked him for what he had done. She then got up and put the child in a golden bowl studded with gems and, going to Shahriyar, she put the bowl down before him, saying: ‘May God delight you, Your Majesty, with the sight of this great king, the fierce lion, and may He grant you good fortune and illumine your guiding star.’ Shahriyar uttered a prayer of thankfulness and congratulated Julnar on her safe delivery. He then kissed the child and opened the doors for the servants, male and female, to come in, and there was rejoicing throughout the palace.

The citizens heard the noise, and the king distributed ten thousand dinars as bounty and sacrificed beasts, while, as the news spread, the people came to the palace. Julnar’s mother and brother stayed with her for a time and then went back to the sea and left her. Every ten days, however, her brother would return to visit her, bringing a gift of jewels, and he would take the child and go down into the sea with him for a time. She told Shahriyar that there was no need for him to worry as, even if the boy spent a month underwater, he would come to no harm or fall into any difficulty since he belonged to the sea people. She added that, if Shahriyar wanted, she would tell her brother not to take Badr off again, as he had achieved his purpose. When Badr was five years old and Salih brought him back, she told him what Shahriyar had said, and he
laughed and asked: ‘Is a king like you afraid for this boy? Our object has been achieved, and I shall not take him away again so as not to distress you.’ He then took his leave of Shahriyar and left.