Tales of the Marvellous and News of the Strange (Hardcover Classics) (21 page)

Time passed, and the boy grew up. At the age of ten he was taught writing, the Qur’an and the art of horsemanship, which he practised until, by the time he was fifteen, he was an invincible rider and a dangerous fighter. One day Shahriyar went out to hunt and when he came back at the end of the day and entered his palace he found Badr seated on the throne, exercising authority with force and commanding greater reverence than that shown to him. He prostrated himself in gratitude to God and then went in tears to Julnar. She asked him why he was weeping and added: ‘May God not lead you to weep as He has given you what you asked of Him.’ ‘That is true,’ replied Shahriyar, ‘but the poet says:

When something is completed, its decline begins;

Say: “It is finished” and it starts to fade.

There is no doubt that the end for which I asked God is near at hand. He has granted me
[lac.]
God willing, tomorrow morning I shall resign power and pass it to my son so that he may not be hurt by any change after my death.’

Next day he took his seat and summoned the viziers, emirs and officers of state, as well as his seventy subordinate kings. When they were all present he got to his feet and said: ‘Kings and emirs, I call you to witness that I have appointed my son Badr to be your king in place of me.’ They all accepted this, and he got them to swear an oath of allegiance. Some days later he died, and this was followed by deep mourning.

Afterwards Julnar told Salih that she wanted a wife for Badr. She must be his match in beauty so as to be his equal as a queen, for like to be joined to like. She went on: ‘The girl must be a sea princess, and I know them well, having seen all of them.’ Salih started to list the princesses, but even after he had named about two hundred, Julnar found not one of them suitable. Salih then said: ‘Is your son asleep? There is one girl left whom I have not mentioned. If he is asleep, I’ll tell you her name, but if not, I’ll wait until he is, as were he to hear her described he might fall in love with her, and that might cause his heart to ache.’ Julnar told him to speak out, as Badr was asleep, and he said: ‘Sister, the girl is Jauhara the daughter of Samandal, the supreme king of the sea. She has no match on land or sea for beauty, radiance and perfection. Almighty God created beauty in ninety parts and granted her eighty-nine.’

Julnar said: ‘I have seen her. Her beauty is unsurpassed, and I want no other bride for my son, God help me, for on Him do I rely.’ Salih said: ‘You do know that there can be no one more stupid than her father, a violent man, so don’t tell your son about this until tomorrow morning.’ She agreed, and next morning Badr got up, having heard all that had passed, including what his uncle had said. He had fallen violently in love with Jauhara and when he left the baths he went to his mother, and the two of them, together with Salih, ate the breakfast that was brought to them, after which they washed their hands.

Salih now got up and took his leave of his sister, intending to go off. When Badr got up with him he asked where he was going. Badr said: ‘I am going to the shore to say goodbye to you,’ at which Salih went off and on reaching the shore dived into the water. Badr dismounted and dived after him. When he had caught up, Salih again asked where he was going, and this time Badr said: ‘Take me with you and marry me to the girl whom you described, as it may be that God, praise be to Him, will bring about our union. Otherwise there is nothing but death for me here, so deeply am I in love with her.’ His uncle struck one hand against the other and pronounced the words that ensure that those who repeat them will never be disappointed: ‘There is no might and no power except with God the Omnipotent.’ Then he told Badr to go home while he himself went to Samandal and arranged things for him. Badr, however, said: ‘Don’t say this for, by God, my heart is consumed by a fire that can only be quenched if I go to Jauhara. I must come with you so that I may either achieve my wish or else die first.’

Salih asked if he was sure that he had to go with him and when Badr said that he was Salih told him to do what he wanted. He then produced a ring inscribed with all the names found on the signet of Solomon son of David, on whom be peace, and passed it to him, telling him to put it on his finger. Badr took it and put it on, and Salih told him that he was now safe from the violence of the sea or of anything else. He then took him by the hand and dived down for some time until they both emerged at his palace. ‘Stay with me,’ he told Badr, ‘until I arrange things. I shall go to King Samandal and when I meet him I shall offer him a great amount of money for his daughter’s hand. If he accepts, I shall thank him, but if he refuses I shall give him a harsh reply on the spot and collect my kinsmen and meet him in battle, with God giving victory to whichever of us He pleases. I shall then take the girl by force of arms.’ ‘May God give you a good reward on my behalf,’ Badr told him.

They spent the night there and next morning Salih went to open the treasuries of his palace, from which he took a hundred chests of sapphires and other gems before going on to the palace of Samandal. When he entered, Samandal replied with cordiality to his greeting and welcomed him, saying: ‘I see that you have brought me a present.’ Salih explained: ‘I have come to ask for the hand of your noble daughter, and one good deed should be repaid by another. Do you share the wishes of her suitor and will you accept his request?’ Samandal laughed scornfully and asked: ‘Salih, how has this occurred to you? I never realized that you were so short of sense that you should ask for my daughter’s hand, when she is the unique queen of the age. If anyone but you had done this I would have cut off his head.’ He then shouted to his troops, and Salih had to make his escape to an island.

He then collected all his men and launched a major attack on Samandal, shattering his army and capturing his palace. He seized Samandal himself and put him in chains, after which he looked for his daughter, but got no news of her, while similarly he could not find Badr. Badr meanwhile had escaped to an island, where he hid in a tree, while Jauhara had also escaped with fifty maid-servants.

Salih was distressed and exclaimed: ‘Cousins, nothing that we have done, small or great, can make up for this loss.’ They said that they would search throughout the sea and were bound to succeed, but he told them: ‘My only fear is that the damned Jauhara may have fallen in with Badr, and I cannot return to my sister until I have news of her son.’ He sent out search parties and took his seat on Samandal’s throne.

So much for them, but as for Jauhara, she ended up in the island where Badr was, as he knew she would, since this was her only place of safety. As fate would have it she came and sat down beneath the tree in which he was hiding. At the sight of her he lost all self-control and exclaimed: ‘Glory to God Who created this girl! By God, she is so lovely that I have never seen anyone to match her in beauty!’ He kept on staring at her until she looked up and said: ‘Who is in this tree?’ When her girls said that they did not know she told one of them to put down what she was holding and go to investigate. The girl saw Badr, and after greeting him she told him to come down and talk to the princess.

Badr came down and when Jauhara saw him and asked who he was he told her that he was Badr, the son of Julnar. She went up to him and pulled him close so that his muscles trembled and she put water in her mouth before spitting it out over him and saying: ‘Leave this shape and
become a white bird with red legs and beak.’ She then told one of her girls: ‘Take him and have no fear of his family. They will be looking for him, and otherwise I would have killed him and been quit of him, for his entry into the sea and his arrival at our court were inauspicious in the extreme.’ Then she ordered the girl to take him to the Waterless Island, let him go there and come back quickly.

The girl took Badr, transformed as he was by magic into a bird, and brought him to the Waterless Island. She had proposed to leave him there but felt unhappy, thinking of retribution and fearing that this would lead to his death. So she took him to another island filled with fruits and other good things and there she released him. She then went back to her mistress to tell her the news.

So much for Badr, but as for his mother, she waited for a time, but when word was slow in coming she got up without telling anyone and, after diving into the sea, she went to the palace of her brother Salih. On her arrival the maids came out to present their services and told her the story from beginning to end. She then went in to find her brother seated on his royal throne, and he rose out of respect for her and then, weeping bitterly, he repeated the whole story. She slapped her face and said: ‘Brother, look for my son and do not forget about him. If I stay with you, the army will be tempted to take over our kingdom and so I shall have to go back to govern it, but if I despair of Badr, I shall give it up and return to you. Then I shall construct a tomb and sit by it, saying: “This is Badr’s grave.” So don’t slacken in your search for him.’ ‘To hear is to obey,’ Salih replied, and she then went back to her palace and acted as ruler of the kingdom. The search for Badr continued, but no news of him was found.

So much for Julnar, but as for Badr, he stayed in the island, not knowing where to go until in the distance he caught sight of pigeons and flew off towards them. When he reached them he told himself: ‘By God, these birds will show me the way,’ but the birds flew down to a hunter’s net, and Badr went with them. Humans, however, do not eat bird food, and so, when the pigeons began to eat, the hunter spread his net, catching them and then killing them. He was intending to kill Badr, but on looking at his white body and his red legs like corals he told himself that he would not have the heart to kill him and so he went off with him to a pleasant and populous island ruled by an important king. One of the king’s servants saw him passing by and admired the bird’s mixture of colours. He called to the hunter, and when the man answered, he asked
whether the bird was for sale. ‘Yes, master,’ the man said, and the servant pulled out five dirhams and said: ‘Take this as its price.’ He then took the bird and handed it over to the king, leaving it with him.

The king was impressed by the bird’s beauty and asked the servant, Jauhar, how much he had bought it for and when Jauhar told him that this was five dirhams he brought out five dirhams and added ten dinars. He then took the bird and put it in a cage, providing it with food and drink, but the bird neither ate nor drank. This distressed the king, who told his servant to bring it to him. When this had been done it was let out of its cage and it then hopped down and perched on the king’s thigh. A tray was brought before the king on which was what is to be found on kings’ tables. The bird jumped up to settle on a roast chicken, which it ate, and to the king’s surprise it went on to eat everything else that was on the table. The tray was removed, and drinking glasses and jugs were brought in. Girls with musical instruments entered, and the room was adorned with scented herbs and flowers, as well as the glasses. The king took up one of these and was about to drink when the bird hopped up, sat on his hand and then, putting its head in the glass, drained it. The king laughed, and the girls cried out and joined in the laughter. The queen heard the noise and asked what was happening. She was told that the king’s bird had eaten everything that had been set before the king and that, sitting on his hand, it had drunk up the glass of wine that he was holding. She got up and went to him and when she had examined the bird she concealed her face from it. ‘Damn it, are you hiding away from a bird?’ he asked, but she told him: ‘Your Majesty, this bird is Badr, the son of Julnar of the Sea, who has been enchanted by the daughter of Samandal, the supreme king of the sea.’

The king was astonished and asked her: ‘By my life, tell me if you can release him from this spell.’ ‘I can,’ she told him, ‘but I have a compact with the girl who bewitched him that she would not break any spell of mine and I would not free anyone whom she had bewitched.’ ‘I ask you in God’s name to turn him back to his proper shape, as I am sorry for him,’ the king said. His wife agreed and went back to her palace and returned some time later with a red shawl with which she covered the bird. She lit a fire which produced vapours and, taking some water, she sprinkled this over the bird and wrapped it in the shawl, beneath which it trembled. Then she threw off the shawl and Badr stood up, looking like a full moon.

The delighted king sat him on his throne, addressing him by name. In
reply Badr said: ‘Your Majesty, may God give you a good reward on my behalf and enable me to recompense the two of you!’ The king then asked him for his story, which he told from beginning to end. ‘What do you intend to do?’ the king asked, and Badr said: ‘I want you to be good enough to prepare a ship for me and send enough of your men with me to take me to my kingdom. I don’t know what happened after I left, and every day without me must have seemed like a month for my people and every month an age. If – and God forbid – my mother has died, I shall go back to serve whoever is king and become one of his retainers.’

The king agreed to this and prepared a ship for him, in which he placed everything that would be needed. Badr took his leave and went on board, after which the sail was hoisted, and for ten days the ship sailed on with a favourable breeze. On the eleventh day, however, the wind got up and dashed it against a mountain, where it broke up. Badr climbed on to a plank of teak, which was tossed to and fro by the waves for three days until on the fourth his feet touched ground.

When morning came he saw a lofty city, white as a dove, and by the shore were ten thousand camels, horses, mules and cows. When he got out of the water they all advanced and began kicking him to stop him climbing up. He went back into the water and swam along until he landed behind them as dawn was breaking. He made for the city gate and went in, seeing nobody on his way. He then entered the market, where a greengrocer was cooking some beans. After an exchange of glances the man called to him, and Badr replied: ‘Here I am, master.’ The man told him to come closer and when he did the man asked: ‘Have you met anyone in the city?’ ‘No, master,’ said Badr, and the man told him to come up to his shop, and when he did he was told to go to the upper end, where he entered a room and sat until the sun was fully risen.