The Arabian Nights II (42 page)

In the morning, she sat on the throne and summoned the captain, and when he came and kissed the ground before her, she asked him, “Where did you leave the owner of these olives?” He replied, “O king of the age, we left him in the country of the Magians, where he works as a gardener.” She said to him, “If you do not bring him, you cannot imagine what harm will happen to you and your ship.” Then she gave orders to seal the storehouses of the merchants, saying to them, “The owner of these olives is an offender who owes me money, and if he does not come, I will kill you all and confiscate your merchandise.” The merchants went to the captain and promised to pay him the cost of going and returning a second time, saying, “Deliver us from this tyrant.”

The captain embarked and spread the sails, and God granted him safe passage until he reached the island. He landed at night and went up to the orchard. When he knocked at the gate, Qamar al-Zaman was sitting in the orchard, feeling weary of the tedious night, thinking of his beloved, and weeping over what had happened to him. He opened the gate, and as soon as he went out, the sailors seized him, carried him to the ship, and, spreading the sails, departed. They sailed many days and nights, while Qamar al-Zaman remained ignorant of what had prompted their conduct. When he asked them the cause, they finally said, “You are an offender against the King of the Ebony Islands, the son-in-law of King Armanus. You have stolen money from him, you unlucky one.” He replied, “By God, in all my life I have never entered that country, nor am I familiar with it.”

They continued their voyage until they came to the Ebony Islands and took him up to Princess Budur, who, as soon as she saw him, recognized him and said, “Leave him with the attendants to take him to the bath.” Then she released the merchants and bestowed on the captain a robe of honor worth ten thousand dinars. Then she went in to Hayat al-Nufus and told her what had happened, saying, “Keep this a secret until I accomplish my purpose and do a thing that shall be
recorded and read after us by kings and commoners.” Meanwhile, the attendants took Qamar al-Zaman to the bath and dressed him in the attire of kings, and when he came out of the bath, feeling revived, he looked like a willow wand or a star whose light puts the moon and sun to shame. He went to Princess Budur who, when she saw him, restrained herself until she would accomplish her purpose. Meanwhile, she bestowed on him slaves and servants and camels and mules, as well as a large sum of money, and she kept promoting him from rank to rank until she made him treasurer and put him in charge of all the treasures of the state. She treated him courteously, showed him favor, and informed the princes of his special status, and they all loved him. Every day she raised his allowances, while he remained in the dark as to the cause of these honors. Having acquired so much wealth, he gave liberally, and he served King Armanus so well that the king and all the princes and the people, great and small, loved him and swore by his life.

But all this time, he kept wondering at the cause of the honors showered on him by Princess Budur and said to himself, “By God, there must be a reason behind this affection. This king's excessive generosity toward me may hide some ill purpose. I must therefore ask his permission and leave his country.” Then he went to Princess Budur and said to her, “O King, you have bestowed on me great favors, but your favors will not be complete unless you permit me to depart and take back from me all you have given me.” Princess Budur smiled and said, “What makes you wish to depart and expose yourself to peril, when you are enjoying such great favor and prosperity?” Qamar al-Zaman replied, “O King, if there is no special reason behind these favors, then they are the wonder of wonders, especially since you have conferred on me positions befitting maturer men, while I am only a boy.” Princess Budur said to him, “The reason is that I love you for your surpassing beauty and grace, and if you grant me my desire, I will grant you more favors, make you more prosperous, and appoint you vizier, just as the people made me king, in spite of my young age. Nowadays, there is nothing strange in the primacy of children. Bravo for the poet who said,

Our time and Lot's are both alike,

Advancing boys is what we like.”

When Qamar al-Zaman heard this, he felt embarrassed and blushed until his cheeks seemed on fire, and he said, “I have no need of favors that lead to sin. I will live poor in wealth but rich in virtue and honor.” Princess Budur replied, “I am not deceived by your piety, which arises from your conceit and coquettishness. Bravo for the poet who said,

When I mentioned our vow of love, he said,

‘How long will you wage this painful debate?'

But when I showed him a dinar, he said

‘How can one flee such a decisive fate?' ”

When Qamar al-Zaman heard this and understood its meaning, he said, “O King, I am not used to such doings, nor can I, being young, bear such a burden, which is too heavy even for those older than I to bear.” When she heard this, Princess Budur smiled and said, “It is wonderful how error springs from faulty reasoning. Since you are young, why are you afraid of committing sin and doing forbidden things? You are not of age yet, and the offenses of a child are neither blamed nor punished. You are trying to find excuses, whereas you should give in. Therefore, you should no longer show resistance or distaste for what God has foreordained. I myself have more reason than you to fear falling into error. The poet put it well, when he said,

When my penis got big, the young boy said,

‘Thrust it inside as bravely as you can.'

I said, ‘ 'Tis not lawful,' but when he said,

‘It is for me,' I fucked the little man.

When Qamar al-Zaman heard these words, the light turned to darkness before his eyes, and he said, “O King, you have many beautiful women and slave-girls who are matchless in this age. Will they not suffice you without me? Do whatever you desire with them and leave me alone.” Princess Budur replied, “What you say is true, but they cannot heal the burning desire and torment of one who loves you, and when one's nature and inclination are perverted, they do not listen or follow advice. Stop arguing and listen to what the poet said,

Don't you see the different fruits in the stores?

Some men buy figs, and some buy sycamores.

“And what another said,

Of girls whose anklets are silent, whose girdles ring,

Some claim fulfillment, some of want complain.

You'd have me be a fool and you in them forget,

But I such bad apostasy disdain.

No, by the whiskers that mock all their curls,

All women from you will lure me in vain.

“And another,

Unique in beauty, your love is my faith,

And of all creeds my only creed and way.

I have forsaken women, so much for your sake

That people say I am a monk today.

“And another,

From Zainab and Nawar I'm drawn away

By a rose on the myrtle of a cheek.

Being in love with a tunic-clad fawn,

I no longer the bangles-wearing seek.

In private and public he is my friend,

Unlike a woman, who is seen by none.

You who blame my leaving Hind or Zainab,

When my excuse is as clear as the sun,

Do you wish me to become a slave's thrall,

A cloistered slave, one kept behind a wall?

“And another,

Do not compare a young boy to a girl,

Nor heed the spy who says that you have gone astray.

Far different is the girl whose feet are kissed,

From a deer who kisses the earth, far different, aye.

“And another,

My life your ransom, I have chosen you

Because you neither menstruate, no, nor give birth.

Did I desire with girls to copulate,

I would with my brood overcrowd the earth.

“And another,

When she urged me to do what I could not,

She said to me, in rage and wounded pride,

‘If you fuck me not as a man his wife,

Blame me not if horns on your head you see.

Your penis seems as soft as melting wax,

And when I rub it, it goes limp on me.'

“And another,

She said when I refused to sleep with her,

‘How you persist in your folly, you fool!

If you reject my cunt as Mecca to your cock,

I will then show you a more pleasing tool.'

“And another,

She offered me a tender cunt,

But I replied, “This will not do.”

She drew back, saying, “He who turns

From it is to his faith untrue.

And fucking frontwise nowadays

Is out of fashion, as you see.”

Then turned around and a rump

Like a lump of silver showed me.

‘Bravo!' I said, ‘My lady dear,

You who have made my pain abate,

Bravo! You who are more endowed

And wider than a royal gate.'

“And another,

Men pardon crave with lifted hands,

Women, with their legs lifted high.

O what a pious piece of work

Which God will raise, deep down to lie.”

When Qamar al-Zaman heard these verses, he became convinced that there was no escape from compliance with her will and said, “O King of the age, if you must do it, promise me that you will do it to me only once, although it will not heal your corrupt appetite. After that, never ask me to do this again, so that God may purge me of my corruption.” She replied, “I promise and hope that God will forgive us both and in his mercy blot out our mortal sins, for the sphere of God's forgiveness is not so narrow as not to include us and absolve us of the excess of our transgressions and bring us to the light of righteousness out of the darkness of error. The poet has excellently put it, when he said,

People suspect us of an evil thing

And with their hearts and souls in that persist.

Let us fulfill their thought and free them from their sin.

Against us, then repent and afterwards desist.”

Then she gave him oaths and assurances, swearing by the First Cause, that this thing will take place between them only once, even though her desire for him may drive her to perdition and death. He went with her, on this condition, to her bedroom, in order that she might quench the fire of her lust, saying, “There is no power and no strength save in God the Almighty, the Magnificent.” He opened his trousers, feeling extremely embarrassed and shedding tears in fear. She smiled, took him with her to bed, and said, “After tonight, you will experience nothing offensive again.” Then she bent over him, kissing and embracing him and wrapping her leg around his, and said to him, “Put your hand between my thighs and touch the fellow, so that
it may get up from prostration.” He wept and said, “I am not good at this sort of thing.” But she said, “By my life, if you obey me, there will be something in it for you.” So he put out his hand with trepidation and found her thighs soften than butter and finer than silk and, feeling pleasure in touching them, moved his hand all over until he came to a dome full of blessings and life and said to himself, “Perhaps this king is a hermaphrodite, being neither male nor female.” So he said to her, “O King, you don't seem to have a tool like other men. What then moved you to carry on like this?” When Princess Budur heard this, she laughed until she fell on her back and said, “O my darling, how quickly you have forgotten the nights we spent together!” Then she revealed herself to him, and he recognized her as his wife Princess Budur, the daughter of King Ghaiur, Lord of the Islands and the Seas. So he embraced her, and she embraced him and he kissed her, and she kissed him, and they made love, celebrating with the words of the poet,

When a soft, curving shape led him to my embrace,

As if he were by a thick vine entwined

And with its softness softened his hard heart,

He yielded, though at first he had declined.

Fearing detection by the watchful spies.

He came with caution's armor, the spy to defeat,

His waist complaining of his hips that weighed,

As heavy as a camel's load, upon his feet.

He came, with the sword of his glances girt

And clad with the mail of his dusky hair.

His fragrance brought me news of his approach,

And like a bird uncaged, I flew to meet him there.

I laid my cheeks for his sandals to tread,

And their dust, salve-like, healed my ailing eye.

I hugged him and I raised the banner of our love

And loosed the knot of my luck gone awry

And held festivities, and in reply

Delight came unalloyed and crystalline.

The moon handseled the mouth with star-like teeth,

Like bubbles dancing on the face of wine.

I tasted in the prayer niche of delight

What would make even a sinner repent.

I swear by the signs of his glorious face

That I'll never forget the sign God sent.

Then Princess Budur related to Qamar al-Zaman all that had happened to her from beginning to end, and he did likewise. Then he began to remonstrate with her, asking, “What made you treat me like this tonight?” She replied, “Do not reproach me, for I only did it in jest, to increase the pleasure and joy.”

When it was morning and the sun shone, she sent for King Armanus, the father of Princess Hayat al-Nufus, and acquainted him with the truth of the case and told him that she was the wife of Qamar al-Zaman. She related to him their story and the cause of their separation from each other and informed him that his daughter Hayat al-Nufus was still a virgin. When Armanus, King of the Ebony Islands, heard the story of Princess Budur, the daughter of King Ghaiur, he marveled exceedingly and ordered that it be written in letters of gold. Then he turned to Qamar al-Zaman and said, “O Prince, will you marry my daughter Hayat al-Nufus and be my son-in-law?” Qamar al-Zaman replied, “I must consult Princess Budur first, for I owe her an unlimited debt of gratitude.” When he consulted her, she said, “This is an excellent idea. Marry her, and I will be her maidservant, for I am indebted to her for her kindness and help and favors, especially since we are her guests here, and her father has overwhelmed us with his generosity.” When Qamar al-Zaman saw that Princess Budur favored the proposal and that she was not jealous of Hayat al-Nufus, he agreed with her on this matter and repeated to King Armanus that she favored the idea and that she would become a maidservant to Hayat al-Nufus.