The Arabian Nights II (40 page)

“O fate, destroy and of me nothing keep”;

My soul is between toil and peril deep.

If love's lord had only been fair to me

Sleep would not have been banished from my eyes.

O lady, pity one who has offered to love

His health, his wealth, his pride a sacrifice.

Be kind to him and his love recognize.

The railers chided me for you, but I

heeded them not and closed my ears and mind.

They said, “You love a slender one,” and I

Replied, “I chose her, yes, and left the rest behind.

Enough, for when fate strikes, the eyes are blind.”

When Qamar al-Zaman finished reciting these verses and felt rested, he entered the city, not knowing where to go. He walked through the entire city, without meeting any of its inhabitants, until, having entered by the land gate, he went out from the sea gate, for the city was on the shore of the sea. He kept walking until he came to the city orchards. He made his way among the trees and stood by the gate of one of the orchards, where the gardener came out and welcomed him, saying, “Thank God that you have escaped the people of this city. Come into this orchard quickly, before any of them sees you.” Qamar al-Zaman entered the orchard, perplexed, and asked the gardener, “What is the story of the people of this city?” and the gardener replied, “The inhabitants are Magians, but, for God's sake, tell me how you came to this city, and what is the reason for your coming to our country?”

Qamar al-Zaman related to the gardener all that had happened to him, and the gardener marveled exceedingly and said to him, “O my son, the Muslim countries are far from here, a four-month voyage by sea and a whole year's journey by land. We have a ship that sails every year with merchandise to the nearest of the Muslim countries. It goes from here to the Ebony Islands, then to the Khalidan Islands, whose ruler is called King Shahraman.” Qamar al-Zaman reflected for a while and concluded that the best course of action was to stay with the gardener and work as his assistant for one-fourth of the crop. He asked the gardener, “Will you take me as your assistant in this orchard for one-fourth of the crop?” The gardener replied, “I hear and obey,” and he clad him with a blue vest reaching to the knees and taught him how to direct the water among the trees. So he conducted the water and hoed the grass, and as he watered the trees, he wept bitterly and recited verses on his beloved, night and day. Among them were the following,

Will you the promise you have made fulfill

And follow words with deeds in all fidelity?

Passion has made me sleepless, while you sleep;

Sleepers and sleepless lack equality.

We vowed to hide our passion from the world,

But the traitor enticed you, and you broke the vow.

Beloved, whether angry or content,

You are always my wish, whatever happens now.

There's one who holds captive my aching heart;

Would that she had pity on my sore plight.

Not every heart is, like my own, enthralled by love;

No, nor every eye the bitter tears blight.

You wronged me, saying, “It was love that did.”

This is the case indeed, and what you say is true.

You have forgotten one whose vow endures,

Although his heart does burn with love and rue.

If my opponent is my judge in love,

To whom shall I complain about my foe?

Were it not for my ardent need for love,

My heart would not have suffered enslavement and woe.

This was what happened to Qamar al-Zaman; as for his wife, Princess Budur, the daughter of King Ghaiur, she awoke and looked for her husband Qamar al-Zaman but did not find him, and when she saw her pants open and, feeling the knot of the ribbon, found it untied and the jewel missing, she said to herself, “O God, this is strange. Where is my beloved? It seems that he has taken the jewel and gone, without knowing its secret power. I wonder where he has gone; it must have been some extraordinary matter that drew him away, for he cannot bear to be without me even for an hour. May God curse the jewel and its very existence.” Then she reflected and said to herself, “If I go out and tell the attendants that my husband is missing, they will be emboldened with me; therefore, I must find some strategy.” Then she put on some of Qamar al-Zaman's clothes and a turban like his and veiled the lower part of her face and, placing a maidservant in the litter, she came out of the tent and called to the pages, who brought her a horse. She mounted and ordered them to load the animals, and they did so and departed, none discovering her identity, for she resembled Qamar al-Zaman so much that no one doubted that she was he himself. She journeyed with her retinue many days and nights until they came in sight of a city overlooking the sea. She stopped outside the city and pitched the tents to rest there, and when she asked the name of the place, she was told that it was called the City of Ebony and that its king was called Armanus who has a daughter named Hayat al-Nufus.

Soon King Armanus sent out a messenger to find out about the king who had encamped outside his city. When the messenger arrived and inquired, they told him that it was the son of a king who had strayed from the road, on his way to the Khalidan Islands and their
king, Shahraman. The messenger returned and told King Armanus, who went out with his officers of state to meet the newly arrived prince. When he approached the tents, Princess Budur and he dismounted and saluted each other. Then he led her into the city and took her to his palace, where he ordered that the tables be spread. Then he ordered that she be transferred to the guest-house, where she stayed for three days, after which he came to see her. That day she had gone to the bath, and her face shone like the full moon, enchanting and ravishing all beholders. She was wearing a robe of silk, embroidered with gold and adorned with jewels. When he came in, he said to her, “O my son, I have become an old man, and I am no longer able to govern. I have not been blessed with a son, but I have one daughter, whose face and body resemble yours in beauty and grace. Will you be willing to live in my country? I will marry you to my daughter and give you my kingdom.” Princess Budur bowed her head, and her forehead perspired in embarrassment, and she said to herself, “What shall I do, being a woman? If I refuse and depart, he may send after me troops to kill me, and if I consent, I may be compromised. I have lost my beloved Qamar al-Zaman, and I don't know what is become of him; therefore, I see no solution, save to consent and stay here until God accomplishes what must be.” Then she raised her head and said to the king submissively, “I hear and obey.” The king rejoiced and sent out a proclamation throughout the Ebony Islands to hold a festival and decorate the houses. Then he assembled the chamberlains, and deputies and princes and viziers and officers of state and judges of the city and abdicated, naming Princess Budur in his place and investing her with the royal robes. Then all the princes came in to pay her homage, without doubting that she was a young man, and all who looked on her almost wetted their pants when they saw her surpassing beauty and grace.

After Princess Budur was made king, and the drums were beaten to announce the happy event, King Armanus proceeded to equip his daughter Hayat al-Nufus for the wedding, and a few days later, they brought Princess Budur in to her, and the two looked like two moons joined together or two suns shining at the same time. The attendants closed the doors and let the curtains down, after they had lighted the candles and prepared the bed for them. When Princess Budur found herself with Princess Hayat al-Nufus, she recalled her beloved Qamar al-Zaman and, feeling very sad, wept and recited the following verses,

You who have left me with a pining heart,

No life is left in me, consumed with care.

My smarting eyes of sleeplessness complained

Till with tears wasted; would that they sleepless were.

When you parted, your lover did abide,

But ask her how she did your absence bear.

Were it not for my ceaseless tears, my fire

Would have consumed the earth and left naught there.

To God I do complain about a lover lost,

One who pities not my love and despair.

My only sin against him is my love,

And in love, some men joy, some sorrow share.

When Princess Budur finished reciting these verses, she sat beside Princess Hayat al-Nufus and, kissing her on the mouth, rose immediately to make her ablutions and perform her prayer, and she prayed until Princess Hayat al-Nufus fell asleep. Then Princess Budur joined her in bed, turning her back to her till the morning, then she got up and went out. Soon the king and his wife came in to their daughter and asked her how she did, and she told them what had passed and the verses she had heard.

In the meantime, Princess Budur sat on the throne, and all the princes and officers of state and captains and troops came in to her to congratulate her on ascending the throne, kissing the ground before her and calling down blessings on her. She responded courteously, smiled to them, bestowed robes of honor, and augmented the fiefs of the princes, and all the people and troops loved her and prayed for the continuation of her reign, thinking all the while that she was a man. She sat in the audience hall, ordering and interdicting, dispensing justice, releasing those who were in prison, and repealing customs duties, till nightfall.

Then she withdrew to her apartment and found Princess Hayat al-Nufus seated. Princess Budur sat down beside her, patted her on the back, caressed her, kissed her between the eyes, and recited the following verses,

My ceaseless tears do my secret reveal;

My wasting body does my love betray.

I labor to hide it, but parting's pains

My soul's sorry plight to the spies display.

You have departed and have left behind

A frail body and soul about to die.

You have made your dwelling place in my heart,

While my tears flow and lacerate my eye,

My sore eye that suffers the pain of love,

Rejecting sleep and shedding ceaseless tears.

My life is ransom for the distant one,

And my yearning for him always appears.

My foes think I have his absence foreborn,

Such notion I'll ne'er entertain or heed,

Spoiling their expectation and surmise,

For Qamar al-Zaman is my only need.

His are the virtues, all gathered in one,

As none beside him, past and present, none.

In clemency and in largesse he has surpassed

E'en Mu'awiya and Za'ida's son.

Were not verse limited, boring in time,

I would, to praise his beauties, spare no rhyme.

Then Princess Budur rose and, wiping her tears, made her ablution and kept praying until sleep overcame Princess Hayat al-Nufus. Then Princess Budur came and lay beside her till the morning. Then she arose, and after performing the morning prayer, she sat on the throne, ordering and interdicting and judging and dispensing justice. Meanwhile, King Armanus came in to his daughter and asked her how she did, and she told him all that had passed and repeated to him the verses Princess Budur had recited, adding, “O father, I have never seen anyone more sensible and more bashful than my husband, but he only weeps and sighs.” Her father replied, “Daughter, have patience with him for this third night, and if he does not take your virginity and consummate the marriage, I know what course to pursue with him. I will depose him and banish him from our country.” He resolved with his daughter to follow this course of action and was determined to carry it out.

At nightfall, Princess Budur rose from the throne and, returning to her chamber in the palace, saw the candles lighted and Princess Hayat al-Nufus sitting there, and she recalled her husband and what had happened to them in such a short time and wept and sighed, again and again, and recited the following verses,

I swear my tidings spreads and fills the sky,

Just as on Nejad's hills the shining sun.

His gesture speaks, but what, no one can tell

And thus my yearning grows and of respite has none.

I hate fair patience since I fell in love;

Have you a lover who hates his love seen?

He has afflicted me with deadly looks,

Which have, of all afflictions the most lethal been.

He shook his ringlets down, as he removed the veil,

And thus his charms I saw both white and black.

My sickness and my health are in his hands;

To the lovesick only the cause can bring health back.

His girdle madly loves his slender waist,

And his hips in envy refuse to rise.

His forelock o'er his brow is like the night,

Illumined through and through by the sunrise.

When Princess Budur finished reciting these verses and was about to get up to perform her prayer, Hayat al-Nufus clung to the hem of her robe and said, “O my lord, aren't you embarrassed toward my father, to neglect me after all the favors he has done you?” When Princess Budur heard these words, she sat down again and asked, “O my dear, what do you mean?” Hayat al-Nufus replied, “What I mean to say is that I have never seen anyone as conceited as you. Is every beautiful person so conceited? I am not saying this to make you desire me, but I am saying it out of fear for you from King Armanus, for he has resolved that if you don't take my virginity and consummate the marriage tonight, he will depose you and banish you from his country; he may even become more enraged and kill you. I am advising you out of compassion for you, my lord, and it is up to you to decide.” When Princess Budur heard this, she bowed her head, puzzling over what to do, and said to herself, “If I disobey him, I will perish, and if I obey him, I will be exposed. But I am now king of all the Ebony Islands, and they are under my rule, and I will never be reunited with Qamar al-Zaman, except in this place, for there is no way by which he can return to his country but by the Ebony Islands. Therefore, I will commit my case to God, for He knows best what to do.” Then she said to Hayat al-Nufus, “O my dear, my neglect of you and abstaining from you have not been voluntary.” Then she told her all that had happened to her from beginning to end, revealed herself to her, and said, “For God's sake, keep my secret until God reunites me with my beloved Qamar al-Zaman, and after that let whatever happens happen.”