The Arabian Nights II (45 page)

The old man took As'ad by the hand, smiling in his face and saying to him, “Glory be to Him who has saved you from the people of this city.” Then he walked with him through a narrow alley until they came to a spacious house. When they entered, As'ad found himself in a hall in which were forty very old men seated in a ring around a lighted fire, to which they were doing worship and prostrating themselves. When he saw this, he shuddered, though he did not know what they were. Then the old man said to the company, “O Elders of the Fire, what a blessed day this is.” And called out, “O Ghadban!” And in came a black slave, with a grim face, flat nose, stooping figure, and hideous shape. The old man signaled to the slave, who bound As'ad immediately. Then he said to him, “Take him to the underground chamber, and leave him there, and tell that slave-girl so and so to torture him day and night and to give him a loaf of bread and a cup of brackish water morning and evening.” The slave took him to the underground chamber, while the old men said to each other, “When the day of the Fire Festival comes, we will sacrifice him on the mountain as an offering to propitiate the Fire.” Soon the slave-girl went
down to him and beat him severely until he bled from every limb and fainted. Then she set at his head a loaf of bread and a cup of brackish water and left.

In the middle of the night, As'ad came to himself, and found himself bound and smarting from the beating, and he wept bitterly, and when he recalled his former state of power and dominion and privilege and happiness, he lamented, sighed, and recited the following verses,

Stop by the ruins of our former home,

And ask them to inform you of your fate.

Fortune, the separator, has severed our loves,

Yet the spite of our foes does not abate.

A mean woman has tortured me with whips,

Feeling against me full of spite and hate.

May our good Lord unite us two again,

Protect us and our foes annihilate.

Then he groped behind his head and, finding a loaf of bread and a cup of brackish water, ate a piece to stay his hunger and drank a little of the water, and he remained sleepless all night because of the swarms of bugs and lice. When it was morning, the slave-girl came down to him again and took off his clothes, which were drenched with blood and stuck to him, so that his skin came off with them. He screamed and moaned and cried out, “O Lord, if this is your pleasure, increase it upon me. You are not unmindful of him who has oppressed me; avenge me on him!” Then he groaned and recited the following verses,

O take your mind off your present affairs,

And place your trust in the Almighty's will

For a hardship may ease or may get worse,

And an ultimate good may come from present ill.

God does what He pleases; gainsay Him not,

And good fortune will be yours, and your pain, forgot.

As soon as As'ad finished reciting these verses, the slave-girl fell on him with blows until he fainted, and, throwing him a loaf of bread and a cup of brackish water, departed and left him alone, bleeding from every limb. He lay bound in chains, far from his friends, feeling sad and lonely, and yearning for his brother and his former privileged life. He lamented, groaned, wept, and recited the following verses,

Slow down, o fate, how long will you oppress

Me wrongly and trample upon my friends!

Is it not time that your hard heart of stone

Pities me and my long estrangement ends?

You have brought ruin on my friends and me

And made my foes exult over my plight,

My sad estrangement and my loneliness.

And my longing, rejoicing at the sight.

My loss of friends was not enough for them,

Nor my sore eyes, nor my torment and grief,

But I must languish in a narrow cell,

Where gnawing my hands is my sole relief

And tears that fall as if from rain-charged clouds

And ardent passion like a raging fire

And memories and yearnings and sad thoughts

And sobs and sighs and groans and galled desire.

I suffer longing and destroying grief,

Fallen to raging passion a weak prey,

Without a soul that, pitying my plight,

To ease my pain visits of mercy pay.

Is there a true friend with a tender heart

To pity my torments and lack of sleep

And share my grief and with me the long vigil keep?

My endless torments make endless my night,

As I burn with anxiety and care.

The bugs and flies enjoy my blood like wine,

Poured by a sweet-mouthed, slender-waisted fair.

The crawling lice play with my body now,

As with an orphan's goods a godless judge does play.

My house is but a cell three cubits wide,

Wherein in chains I suffer night and day,

My tears my wine, chains music, thoughts dessert,

And cares the bed on which myself I lay.

When he finished reciting his poem, he lamented, groaned, and wept, longing for his brother and former life.

Meanwhile, his brother Amjad waited for him till noon, and when he failed to return, he felt the pangs of separation, his heart fluttered, and he wept bitterly, exclaiming, “Ah, my grief! I was terribly worried that we would be separated.” Then he descended from the mountain, with the tears running down his cheeks, entered the city, and went to the market. There, he asked the people the name of the city, and they told him that it was called the City of the Magians and that its inhabitants worship the Fire, instead of the Omnipotent King. Then he inquired about the City of Ebony, and they told him that it was a year's journey by land and six months by sea and that its former king was Armanus who married his daughter to a man called Qamar al-Zaman and made him king in his place, adding that the new king
was just, loyal, munificent, and generous. When Amjad heard his father's name, he yearned for him, and he lamented and groaned and wept. Not knowing where to go, he bought something to eat and sat in a secluded place, but when he was about to eat, he recalled his brother and began to weep and ate only a little morsel to stay his stomach. Then he got up and walked in the city, seeking news of his brother, until he saw a Muslim tailor sitting in his shop. He sat down with him and told him his story, and the tailor said, “If he has fallen into the hands of one of the Magians, you are not likely to see him again. Yet God may reunite you with him. In the meantime, brother, will you stay in my house?” Amjad replied, “Yes,” and the tailor was very pleased. So Amjad stayed with him for some time, while the tailor consoled him, encouraged him, and taught him his craft until he became expert at it.

One day, he went to the seashore and washed his clothes. Then he entered the bath and, putting on clean clothes, went out and walked in the streets to enjoy the sights of the city. Soon, he found himself face to face with a girl of unequaled beauty, elegance, and grace. When she saw him, she lifted her veil and, winking to him flirtatiously, recited the following verses:

I saw you coming and cast down my eyes,

O slender one, as if you were the sun.

You are the fairest of all living men

And fairer still as time goes by, o paragon!

If beauty were divided into fifths,

One part would be Joseph's, or less than one;

The rest would be your very own. May all

Men be your ransom, yes, all, saving none.

When he heard that, he was pleased and felt attracted to her, for love stirred within him. So he winked back to her and recited the following verses:

Above the cheek-rose are the deadly thorns

Of her lashes; who will then touch it dare?

Since the mere look unleashed a deadly war,

To touch that rose I tremble and forebear.

Tell her the tyrant, who tempts with her charms,

She would have been fairer, had she been fair.

The lifting of the veil is safer for her charms,

For she provokes the more when she the veil does wear.

The eye looks at the sun, when veiled with mist,

But cannot look at it when it is bare.

The honey is protected by the bees themselves;

So ask the camp guards why they guard her there.

If killing me is what they wish, let them

Withdraw and leave us to our own affair.

Their swords are not deadlier than the fair with the mole,

When she with her looks does my heart ensnare.

When she heard this, she sighed deeply and, winking to him, recited the following verses,

'Tis you who have resorted to disdain,

Not I. Then give me love, for fulfillment is near.

O you, whose shining brow is the daylight,

Whose black locks made therein the night inhere,

You have seduced me as an idol does,

And have ensnared me as you did of yore.

No wonder then that my heart with passion should burn,

For fire is the due of those whom idols adore.

You sell someone like me for nothing, without price;

If you must sell, exact a price and more.

When Amjad heard this, he said to her, “Will you come to my place, or shall I go with you to yours?” She bowed her head bashfully and repeated the words of the Almighty, “Men shall have the preeminence over women, for God has preferred these over those.” Amjad understood that she wished to go with him, and felt obliged to find a place, for he was too embarrassed to take her to the tailor's house. He walked ahead of her, while she followed him from street to street and from place to place until she got tired and asked, “O my lord, where is your house?” He replied, “Not very far from here.” Then he turned aside with her into a nice street and walked until he came to the end of it and found that it was a dead end. He said to himself, “There is no power and no strength save in God the Almighty, the Magnificent.” He looked up toward the upper end of the street and saw a large closed door with two benches in front. So he sat on one bench, and she sat on the other and asked him, “My lord, what are you waiting for?” He bowed his head for a while, then he raised it and said, “I am waiting for my Mamluk who has the key, for I asked him to prepare for me food and drink and the wine accoutrements by the time I come out of the bath.” Then he said to himself, “Maybe she will get tired of waiting and go on her way, leaving me here.”

But she waited a while and said, “My lord, your Mamluk is taking a long time, while we are waiting here in the street.” So saying, she took a stone and went up to the lock. He said to her, “Don't be hasty; be patient until he comes.” But she paid no attention to him and, striking the lock with the stone, broke it in half, and the door opened. He said to
her, “What possessed you to do this?” She replied, “My lord, what harm is done? Is not this your house?” He said, “Yes, but there was no need to break the lock.” Then she entered the house, leaving Amjad confounded, not knowing what to do for fear of the people of the house. She said to him, “Why don't you come in, o my lord, o light of my eyes and darling of my heart?” He replied, “I hear and obey. It is just that my Mamluk is already late, and I don't know whether he has done what I asked him to do or not.” He followed her, in a state of extreme anxiety, fearing the people of the house, and found himself in a handsome hall furnished with cupboards and benches covered with silk and brocade. It was surrounded by four recessed rooms with raised floors, and in the middle stood a costly fountain, by which were arranged dishes set with precious stones and filled with fruits and aromatic flowers, as well as wine cups and a candlestick holding a candle. The place was full of chests and precious stuffs. There were chairs set in it, and on every chair there was a wrapping cloth, and on each cloth there was a purse full of pieces of gold. The house attested to the prosperity of its owner, for its floor was paved with marble.

When Amjad saw all this, he was confounded and said to himself, “I am a lost man. We are God's and to God we return.” As for the girl, when she saw the place, she was overjoyed and said to him, “By God, my lord, your Mamluk has not failed you, for he has swept the place, cooked the food, and prepared the fruits. Indeed, I come at the best of times.” But he paid no attention to her, for he was absentminded from worry, fearing the people of the house. She said to him, “My lord, why are you standing like this?” Then she sighed and, giving him a kiss that resounded like the cracking of a walnut, said, “My lord, if you have a rendezvous with another woman, I will gird myself and serve her.” Amjad laughed in anger and sat down, panting and saying to himself, “What a wretched death I will face when the owner of the house returns!” The girl sat beside him, jesting and laughing, while he sat anxious and frowning, thinking a thousand thoughts and saying to himself, “The owner of this house will certainly come, and what shall I say to him? He will kill me without a doubt.” Soon she rose and, tucking up her sleeves, took a table, set on it some food, and began to eat, saying to Amjad, “Eat, my lord.” He approached the table to eat, but he had no appetite and kept looking toward the door until the girl ate her fill. Then she removed the table and, setting on the dessert, began to eat of the dried fruits. Then she brought the wine service and, opening the jar, filled a cup and gave it to Amjad, who took it, saying to himself, “Alas, what will happen to me if the owner of the house comes and sees me?”

He sat with the cup in his hand and his eyes fixed on the door when suddenly the owner of the house came in. He was a Mamluk, one of
the prominent men of the city, for he was Master of the Horse to the king. He had that hall prepared for his private pleasure, ready to entertain whomever he wished. That day, he had invited a boy friend with whom he was in love and had prepared the entertainment for him. The name of this Mamluk was Bahadir. He was generous, beneficent, charitable, and obliging.

When he came in and saw the hall door open, he approached it slowly and quietly and, sticking his head in, saw Amjad and the girl with the dish of fruits and the wine service before them. At that moment, Amjad was holding the wine cup, with his eyes fixed on the door, and when his eyes met Bahadir's, he turned pale and began to tremble. Bahadir, seeing him pale and shaken, put his finger on his lip and signaled, meaning, “Keep silent and come to me.” Amjad put the wine cup down and got up. The girl asked him, “Where are you going?” And he motioned with his head that he wished to urinate and went into the corridor, barefooted. When he saw Bahadir, he knew that he was the owner of the house; so he hurried to him and, kissing his hands, said to him, “For God's sake, my lord, before you hurt me, listen to what I have to say.” Then he told him his story from beginning to end, from the time he was forced to leave his home and country to the time he was obliged to enter the house, saying that it was the girl who had broken the lock, entered the house, and done all these deeds.