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Stories Of The Royal MendicantsThe Story Of The First Royal Mendicant
The Story Of The First Royal Mendicant
Know, O my mistress, that the cause of my having shaved my beard, and of
the loss of my eye, was this: - My father was a king, and he had a brother who
was also a King, and who resided in another capital. It happened that my
mother gave birth to me on the same day on which the son of my uncle was born;
and years and days passed away until we attained to manhood. Now, it was my
custom, some years, to visit my uncle, and to remain with him several months;
and on one of these occasions my cousin paid me great honour; he slaughtered
sheep for me, and strained the wine for me, and we sat down to drink; and when
the wine had affected us, he said to me, O son of my uncle, I have need of
thine assistance in an affair of interest to me, and I beg that thou wilt not
oppose me in that which I desire to do. I replied, I am altogether at thy
service: - and he made me swear to him by great oaths, and, rising
immediately, absented himself for a little while, and then returned, followed
by a woman decked with ornaments, and perfumed, and wearing a dress of
extraordinary value. He looked towards me, while the woman stood behind him,
and said, Take this woman, and go before me to the burial-ground which is in
such a place: and he described it to me, and I knew it. He then added, Enter
the burial-ground, and there wait for me.
I could not oppose him, nor refuse to comply with this request, on
account of the oaths which I had sworn to him; so I took the woman, and went
with her to the burial-ground; and when we had sat there a short time, my
cousin came, bearing a basin of water, and a bag containing some plaster, and
a small adze. Going to a tomb in the midst of the burial-ground, he took the
adze, and dis-united the stones, which he placed on one side; he then dug up
the earth with the adze, and uncovered a flat stone, of the size of a small
door, under which there appeared a vaulted staircase. Having done this, he
made a sign to the woman, and said to her, Do according to thy choice: -
whereupon she descended the stairs. He then looked towards me, and said, O son
of my uncle, complete thy kindness when I have descended into this place, by
replacing the trap-door and the earth above it as they were before: then,
this plaster which is in the bag, and this water which is in the basin, do
thou knead together, and plaster the stones of the tomb as they were, so that
no man may know it, and say, This hath been lately opened, but its interior is
old: - for, during the space of a whole year I have been preparing this, and
no one knew it but God: this is what I would have thee do. He then said to me,
May God never deprive thy friends of thy presence, O son of my uncle - and,
having uttered these words, he descended the stairs.
When he had disappeared from before my eyes, I replaced the trap-door,
and busied myself with doing as he had ordered me, until the tomb was restored
to the state in which it was at first; after which I returned to the palace of
my uncle, who was then absent on a hunting excursion. I slept that night, and
when the morning came, I reflected upon what had occurred between me and my
cousin, and repented of what I had done for him, when repentance was of no
avail. I then went out to the burial-ground, and searched for the tomb; but
could not discover it. I ceased not in my search until the approach of night;
and, not finding the way to it, returned again to the palace; and I neither
ate nor drank; my heart was troubled respecting my cousin, since I knew not
what had become of him; and I fell into excessive grief. I passed the night
sorrowful until the morning, and went again to the burial-ground, reflecting
upon the action of my cousin, and repenting of my compliance with his request;
and I searched among all the tombs; but discovered not that for which I
looked. Thus I persevered in my search seven days without success.
My trouble continued and increased until I was almost mad; and I found no
relief but in departing, and returning to my father; but on my arrival at his
capital, a party at the city-gate sprang upon me and bound me. I was struck
with the utmost astonishment, considering that I was the son of the Sultan of
the city, and that these were the servants of my father and of myself:
excessive fear of them overcame me, and I said within myself, What hath
happened to my father? I asked, of those who had bound me, the cause of this
conduct; but they returned me no answer, till after a while, when one of them,
who had been my servant, said to me, Fortune hath betrayed thy father, the
troops have been false to him, and the Wezir hath killed him; and we were
lying in wait to take thee. - They took me, and I was as one dead, by reason
of this news which I had heard respecting my father; and I stood before the
Wezir who had killed my father.
Now, there was an old enmity subsisting between me and him; and the cause
of it was this: - I was fond of shooting with the crossbow; and it happened,
one day, that as I was standing on the roof of my palace, a bird alighted on
the roof of the palace of the Wezir, who was standing there at the time, and I
aimed at the bird; but the bullet missed it, and struck the eye of the Wezir,
and knocked it out, in accordance with the appointment of fate and destiny, as
the poet hath said: -
We trod the steps appointed for us: and the man whose steps are appointed must
tread them.
He whose death is decreed to take place in one land will not die in any land
but that.
When I had thus put out the eye of the Wezir, he could say nothing, because my
father was King of the city. This was the cause of the enmity between him and
me: and when I stood before him, with my hands bound behind me, he gave the
order to strike off my head. I said to him, Wouldst thou kill me for no
offence? - What offence, he exclaimed, could be greater than this? - and he
pointed to the place of the eye which was put out. I did that, said I,
unintentionally. He replied, If thou didst it unintentionally, I will do the
same to thee purposely: - and immediately he said, Bring him forward to me: -
and, when they had done so, he thrust his finger into my left eye, and pulled
it out. Thus I became deprived of one eye, as ye see me. He then bound me
firmly, and placed me in a chest, and said to the executioner, Take this
fellow, and draw thy sword, and convey him without the city; then put him to
death, and let the wild beasts devour him.
Accordingly, he went forth with me from the city, and, having taken me
out from the chest, bound hand and foot, was about to bandage my eye, and kill
me; whereupon I wept, and exclaimed, -
How many brothers have I taken as armour! and such they were; but to guard
my enemies.
I thought they would be as piercing arrows: and such they were; but to enter
my heart!
The executioner, who had served my father in the same capacity, and to whom I
had shewn kindnesses, said, on hearing these verses, O my master, what can I
do, being a slave under command? - but presently he added, Depart with thy
life, and return not to this country, lest thou perish, and cause me to perish
with thee. The poet saith, -
Flee with thy life if thou fearest oppression, and leave the house to tell its
builder`s fate.
Thou wilt find, for the land that thou quittest, another: but no soul wilt
thou find to replace thine own.
As soon as he had thus said, I kissed his hands, and believed not in my
safety until I had fled from his presence. The loss of my eye appeared light
to me when I considered my escape from death; and I journeyed to my uncle`s
capital, and, presenting myself before him, informed him of what had befallen
my father, and of the manner in which I had lost my eye: upon which he wept
bitterly, and said, Thou hast added to my trouble and my grief; for thy cousin
hath been lost for some days, and I know not what hath happened to him, nor
can any one give me information respecting him. Then he wept again, until he
became insensible; and when he recovered, he said, O my son, the loss of thine
eye is better than the loss of thy life.
Upon this I could no longer keep silence respecting his son, my cousin;
so I informed him of all that happened to him; and on hearing this news he
rejoiced exceedingly, and said, Shew me the tomb. - By Allah, O my uncle, I
replied, I know not where it is; for I went afterwards several times to search
for it, and could not recognize its place. We, however, went together to the
burial-ground, and, looking to the right and left, I discovered it; and both
I and my uncle rejoiced. I then entered the tomb with him, and when we had
removed the earth, and lifted up the trap-door, we descended fifty steps,
and arriving at the bottom of the stairs, there issued forth upon us a smoke
which blinded our eyes; whereupon my uncle pronounced those words which
relieve from fear him who uttereth them, - There is no strength nor power but
in God, the High, the Great! - After this, we proceeded, and found ourselves
in a saloon, filled with flour and grain, and various eatables; and we saw
there a curtain suspended over a couch, upon which my uncle looked, and found
there his son and the woman who had descended with him, lying side by side,
and converted into black charcoal, as if they had been thrown into a pit of
fire. And when he beheld this spectacle, he spat in his son`s face, and
exclaimed, This is what thou deservest, O thou wretch! This is the punishment
of the present world, and there remaineth the punishment of the other world,
which will be more severe and lasting! - and he struck him with his shoes.
Astonished at this action, and grieved for my cousin, seeing him and the
damsel thus converted into charcoal, I said, By Allah, O my uncle, moderate
the trouble of thy heart, for my mind is perplexed by that which hath happened
to thy son, and by thinking how it hath come to pass that he and the damsel
are converted into black charcoal. Dost thou not deem it enough for him to be
in this state, that thou beatest him with thy shoes?
O son of my brother, he replied, this my son was, from his early years,
inflamed with love for his [foster-] sister, and I used to forbid him from
entertaining this passion for her, and to say within myself, They are now
children, but when they grow older a base act will be committed by them: -
and, indeed, I heard that such had been the case, but I believed it not. I,
however, reprimanded him severely, and said to him, Beware of so foul an
action, which none before thee hath committed, nor will any commit after thee:
otherwise we shall suffer disgrace and disparagement among the Kings until we
die, and our history will spread abroad with the caravans: have a care for
thyself that such an action proceed not from thee; for I should be incensed
against thee, and kill thee. I then separated him from her, and her from him:
but the vile woman loved him excessively; the Devil got possession of them
both; and when my son saw that I had separated him, he secretly made this
place beneath the earth, and, having conveyed hither the provisions which thou
seest, took advantage of my inadvertence when I had gone out to hunt, and came
hither; but the Truth (whose perfection be extolled, and whose name be
exalted!) was jealously vigilant over them, and consumed them by fire; and the
punishment of the world to come will be more severe and lasting. - He then
wept, and I wept with him; and he said to me, Thou art my son in his stead. -
I remained a while reflecting upon the world and its vicissitudes, upon the
murder of my father by the Wezir, and his usurping his throne, and the loss of
my eye, and the strange events which had happened to my cousin, and I wept
again.
We then ascended, and, having replaced the trap-door and the earth
above it, and restored the tomb to its former state, returned to our abode;
but scarcely had we seated ourselves when we heard the sounds of drums and
trumpets, warriors galloped about, and the air was filled with dust raised by
the horses` hoofs. Our minds were perplexed, not knowing what had happened,
and the King, asking the news, was answered, The Wezir of thy brother hath
slain him and his soldiers and guards, and come with his army to assault the
city unawares; and the inhabitants, being unable to withstand, have submitted
to him: - whereupon I said within myself. If I fall into his hand, he will
slay me. - Griefs overwhelmed me, and I thought of the calamities which had
befallen my father and my mother, and knew not what to do; for if I appeared,
the people of the city would know me, and the troops of my father would hasten
to kill and destroy me. I knew no way of escape but to shave off my beard; so
I shaved it, and, having changed my clothes, departed from the city, and came
hither, to this abode of peace, in the hope that some person would introduce
me to the Prince of the Faithful, the Khalifeh of the Lord of all creatures,
that I might relate to him my story, and all that had befallen me. I arrived
in this city this night; and as I stood perplexed, not knowing whither to
direct my steps, I saw this mendicant, and saluted him, and said, I am a
stranger. He replied, And I, too, am a stranger: - and while we were thus
addressing each other, our companion, this third person, came up to us, and,
saluting us, said, I am a stranger. We replied, And we, also, are strangers.
So we walked on together, and darkness overtook us, and destiny directed us
unto your abode: - This was the cause of the shaving of my beard, and of the
loss of my eye.
The lady then said to him, Stroke thy head, and depart; - but he replied,
I will not depart until I have heard the stories of the others. And they
wondered at his tale; and the Khalifeh said to Ja`far, Verily I have never
known the like of that which hath happened to this mendicant.
The second mendicant then advanced, and, having kissed the ground,
said, -
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