Tales of the Marvellous and News of the Strange (Hardcover Classics) (61 page)

Next morning, when the effects of the wine had worn off, she asked him who had told him that she was Mahliya after she had successfully tricked him, and he amazed her by telling her the story of Haifa’ from start to finish. She then said that, thanks to repeated letters from her father, she had made up her mind to leave, although she was consumed by love and grieved at having to part from him. Mauhub shed tears at this and made her promise solemnly not to betray him, as he would not betray her, in words, the forming of friendships, or in joy and delight. They exchanged solemn oaths, and when they parted Mauhub asked her about the white-footed gazelle. She told him that she had sent it on ahead with the baggage and the servants, but that she would return it to him without delay.

He took leave of her in tears and went back to his tent, after she had presented him with ten horses and magnificent robes of honour, and when he got there he sent her many times more than she had given him. She left immediately, and he went at the same time, both complaining and in tears, and when they had settled back at home Mahliya wrote to him to congratulate him on his safe arrival and he replied to congratulate her in the most eloquent of terms.

When his messenger reached her she had him brought up to her and treated him with kindness, asking him how Mauhub was. He said: ‘By God, lady, he cannot sleep at night or rest by day. The only friends with whom he talks are the lion, the lioness and Haifa’, to whom he complains and with whom he weeps.’ When Mahliya heard him mention Haifa’ she told him to describe her, and he said: ‘I cannot do this and can only say: “Glory to her Creator Who formed her!” ’ Mahliya thought about this and wrote a letter with no introduction or good wishes, which read: ‘By God, Whom we recognize as Lord of mankind, we shall not meet again nor will you ever enjoy my love, as treachery is in your nature and you are an inventor of lies.’ She sealed this with pitch and gave it to the messenger, telling him that if he brought back an answer she would inflict a painful punishment on him.

The messenger took the letter back to Mauhub who, on seeing that it was sealed with pitch, realized that Mahliya was breaking with him but did not know why. He opened it, noting what was in it, and in his bewilderment he took out the gifts that she had given him so that he might remember her. He was weeping and sobbing until he came to the mirror and the carpet and when he looked in the mirror he seemed to see her sitting with him, the only thing missing being the lady herself.

When the messenger had left Mahliya she sent an aggressive eagle with magical powers carrying a message under its wing which it was to drop on Mauhub. She told it to snatch the mirror and the carpet away from him and to hurry back, bringing no answer. In her letter she wrote: ‘Being alone with Haifa’ has taken your attention away from your solemn covenants, and your love for her has made you forget your other loves, you untrustworthy mine of treachery. It is not to be thought of that I should send you the white-footed gazelle or see you coming on foot beneath my stirrup. Goodbye.’ The eagle flew off quickly and, having dropped the letter in Mauhub’s room, it snatched up the mirror and the carpet from in front of him and soared away back to Mahliya.

Mauhub was sure that the disaster that had struck him was caused by Haifa’, and he exiled her from his country. He stripped off his fine clothes, exchanging them for a gown of hair, and he neither ate nor drank. When his father heard of this he came and said to him: ‘My son, I have gathered wealth and men only in order to protect you and bring you what you want. So what misfortune is it that has now struck you?’ Mauhub was forced to tell him about the situation, and his father urged him to write a letter of excuse and to renew his oath, adding: ‘No fault can be found with that, and it may be that she feels uncertain and will be inclined to accept your excuse.’

Mauhub wrote a letter shorn of the usual style of scribes, excusing himself and swearing that he had not betrayed Mahliya and would never deceive her. He sent this off with his original messenger, but when she learned that the man was near her land she sent someone to take the letter from him and she had him fastened to a cross for eleven days, before secretly letting him go. He fled as fast as he could back to Mauhub and told him what had happened, at which his sighs redoubled.

When he told his father how Mahliya had treated his messenger, his father said: ‘My son, these treasuries are at your disposal. March against her with your men, or else spend all this money on her or tell me what you think.’ Mauhub said: ‘Father, I don’t want to attack her before I have presented my excuse to her, especially as she is lodged firmly in my heart. I think that I should write to her to try to win her over, telling her of the state I am in and confirming my solemn covenant. If she gives a favourable reply, I shall go to her to ask for her hand in marriage, but if she intends evil, then it will be for me to act.’ ‘This is a matter for you,’ his father replied.

The letter that Mauhub wrote was as follows: ‘In the Name of the
Eternal God, the Generous Protector: Queen of rulers, clearer away of doubt, I read your letter, which came close to my heart and dispelled my cares, and I understood what it was you were talking about. Since I parted from you I have not tasted sleep, nor have I taken anyone to my heart, whether legally or against the law, nor have I felt inclined to listen to anyone’s conversation. Because of you I have sat amongst the ashes and through grief for you I have dressed in mourning, depriving myself, thanks to you, of the company of God’s servants. The lands have shrunk for me through grief, and my heart is obsessed by love for you. My mind is crippled because of you, and the sword of love has slain my body. You have dealt well with me [
lac.]
and if you turn to me in kindness, my weakness will leave me and my sickness will be cured. This letter is both an excuse and a warning, as I have not found anything that should be concealed. It is the last reproach that I will send you as before this I sent you solemn covenants, but you turned away from them to falsehoods and lies.’

He sealed the letter with musk and ambergris and looked for a messenger to carry it to Mahliya, but could find no one thanks to the distance to be covered and fear caused by her treatment of his first messenger. The mate of the lioness who had suckled him said that he would go and force Mauhub’s words on her. Mauhub thanked him warmly and passed over the letter, after which he took his leave and left. The lioness said to him: ‘Lion, I hold you very dear to me in my heart. You are going to Syria, where lions abound, and you will continue to look at other lionesses. I am afraid you may betray me during your journey, so swear an oath for me.’

After doing this the lion set off across the desert wastes and when he was within a three-day journey of Egypt Mahliya was told that he was coming from Mauhub. She sent an old sorceress to trick him and take away his letter. To meet him, she sat in a lovely meadow with trees and streams, facing a tomb surrounded by reeds, wearing mourning and weeping loudly. By her side was a jar of wine, with the body of a skinned beast, and there was a lighted fire and a cup filled with what appeared to be perfume of musk and ambergris. Beside the old woman was an image of a woman covered by a robe.

When the lion saw her he crouched down in front of her as he was both tired and ravenously hungry and he coveted the skinned beast. He was astonished by what he saw, and the old woman asked him: ‘Lord lion, what are you looking at me for? I am a tearful old woman with a
sorrowful heart.’ ‘Do not be alarmed,’ he told her; ‘I am a stranger from a distant land and when I saw you sobbing and weeping by this tomb with food and wine in front of you, I wondered what you were doing and sat down to rest in this meadow.’ The old woman said: ‘I see that you have a letter,’ and the lion told her: ‘I am a merchant’s messenger carrying a bill of exchange to an Egyptian merchant so that he may get his money.’ She told him to leave her and go about his business, but he swore that he would not go until she had told him who was buried there and what connection she had with him.

The old woman said: ‘He was my son-in-law,’ and she pointed to the image and the robe that covered it. ‘He was a good husband and a good son-in-law,’ she went on, ‘and this daughter of mine was one of the most perfectly lovely ladies of her time, the best of wives and the truest companion, as well as being the most generous and graceful. No woman has mourned her husband as sorrowfully and tearfully as she has, but because of this sorrow and these tears she has just now been overcome by sleep.’ The lion said: ‘I have never seen anyone show greater sorrow for a son-in-law than you, may God reward you. But tell me what has this perfume and the skinned beast to do with your grief.’ ‘Lion,’ she told him, ‘my son-in-law who is buried here was himself a wild lion who could transform himself into the shape of the handsomest of men. The skinned beast is his food, and what is in the cup is his perfume, for when he was alone with my daughter he used to eat this meat, drink the wine and use this perfume, after which they would sleep, enjoying the happiest of lives. As you see, he then died, and we never forget him, night or day.’

The lion said: ‘You should know, old woman, that I myself am in mourning for a lovely and graceful woman who preferred me to her mother and father, setting me on a pinnacle and recognizing my rightful position. She died, and I have remained in solitary loneliness with no resting place in any land. Most of my time I spend here wandering aimlessly in my grief. What I used to drink and the perfume that I used were what you have here and, by God, I am of kingly stock. Would you agree to marry me to your daughter, for I can see that you are the best of mothers-in-law, and I am sure that she would be the best of wives?’

‘By God, my son,’ replied the old woman, ‘I can see no good in today’s husbands, who frustrate and restrict their wives. If I were sure that you would treat her as well as her first husband, whose grave this is, I would agree to your marriage, although I am not sure that she would obey me, as I know that since his death her great grief has meant that she has had
no interest in men.’ ‘Mother,’ the lion told her, ‘I would be the best of husbands and companions to her and I would make her forget her first husband. Further, I am a stranger with no kin, so make me your slave.’ The old woman said: ‘Give me your solemn oath so that both I and my daughter can have confidence in you.’

The lion did this and when the old woman was sure of him, she said: ‘These covenants that you have made before God and that lie between you and me mean that you will work hard to give your wife a good life without restricting her or allowing her husband’s family to gloat over her.’ When the lion had agreed warmly she told him to come forward and share in their food and drink. On hearing this, he came up and ate until he was full, as well as drinking until he had become drunk, and in this state he fell asleep. The old woman then removed the image and, taking Mauhub’s letter from the lion, she flew off with it to Mahliya.

When Mahliya had read it she wrote a reply, which the old woman took back to the lion, substituting it for Mauhub’s letter. She then sat down, weeping and wailing, and she was doing this when the lion woke up. When he could not see the image he asked what was wrong with her and what had her daughter done. She said: ‘When she woke up I told her we had agreed that she should marry you. She looked at you and said that you were suitably noble but she would refuse you because her first husband, unlike you, had a docked tail. She was afraid that she would be blamed for having too many husbands, and if you were like him she would marry you so that people would not notice what she had done.’ ‘If this is what you would advise, then please yourself by cutting off my tail,’ the lion told her. The old woman passed him over to devils in human shape and told one of them to cut off the tail, which he did, and she then told him to cauterize the stump with the fire, which almost killed him.

She then said: ‘My daughter has gone to her family so that they may deck her out as befits a bride. Meanwhile, fetch a ram and some wine so that we can prepare a feast for her family as you consummate the marriage.’ ‘By God,’ replied the lion, ‘I don’t know where to find a ram or wine, or where I could look for something to live on, as I am a stranger with little knowledge of this land. Find me someone who will lend me money in return for a note of exchange, and I shall pay him back.’ The old woman said: ‘There is a merchant here who knows us and who has the meat and wine you need. He used to lend money to my first son-in-law, and if you want I will get you to meet him so that he can give you what you want.’

He told her to do that, and she told him to come so that she could arrange a meeting. The lion followed her, and she went to one of the devils, who was in the form of a merchant, and she told him: ‘Give this son-in-law of mine what he wants and he will pay you back, as he is rich.’ The devil gave him a ram and wine as well as whatever else he asked for, and the old woman slaughtered the ram and strained the wine. She then told the lion to sit until she brought him her daughter. She then went off and was away until nightfall, when she came back, saying that her daughter had a fever.

She kept on putting him off for some days, and he grew disturbed. Then one day when he was sleeping she came and shook him awake, causing him to start up in alarm and ask her what was wrong. ‘The merchant has come to look for you,’ she told him, ‘and he said that he wanted me to take him to you so he could get his money back. I am here to tell you, for I’m afraid that, if you can’t pay him now, he will put you in prison.’ ‘Can he do that?’ the lion asked, and she said: ‘Yes, by God, he did it to my first son-in-law until one of his eyes glazed over and he became so mangy and weak that he almost died.’ ‘How can we keep him away from me until I get married, as I am afraid that he might prevent me?’ the lion asked. ‘There is a way,’ the old woman told him, ‘for if I cut off your ears and nose and shave off your whiskers, when he comes he won’t recognize you, and you will be able to consummate your marriage.’ ‘Do it,’ the lion told her, and when she had done it all, she cut meat for him from the skinned beast, which he ate, and she poured him wine until he fell into a drunken sleep.