|
Story Of The Envious Wezir And The Prince And The GhulehStory Of The Envious Wezir And The Prince And The Ghuleh
Story Of The Envious Wezir And The Prince And The Ghuleh
The King above mentioned had a son who was ardently fond of the chase;
and he had a Wezir whom he charged to be always with his son wherever he went.
One day the son went forth to hunt, and his father`s Wezir was with him; and
as they rode together, they saw a great wild beast; upon which the Wezir
exclaimed to the Prince, Away after this wild beast! The King`s son pursued it
until he was out of the sight of his attendants, and the beast also escaped
from before his eyes in the desert; and while the Prince wandered in
perplexity, not knowing whether to direct his course, he met in his way a
damsel, who was weeping. He said to her, Who art thou? - and she answered, I
am a daughter of one of the kings of India; I was in the desert, and slumber
overtook me, and I fell from my horse in a state of insensibility, and being
thus separated from my attendants, I lost my way. The Prince, on hearing this,
pitied her forlorn state, and placed her behind him on his horse; and as they
proceeded, they passed by a ruin, and the damsel said to him, O my master, I
would alight here for a little while. The Prince therefore lifted her from his
horse at this ruin; but she delayed so long to return, that he wondered
wherefore she had loitered so, and entering after her, without her knowledge,
perceived that she was a Ghuleh,^5 and heard her say, My children, I have
brought you to-day a fat young man: - on which they exclaimed, Bring him in
to us, O mother! that we may fill our stomachs with his flesh. When the Prince
heard their words, he felt assured of destruction; the muscles of his sides
quivered, and fear overcame him, and he retreated. The Ghuleh then came forth,
and, seeing that he appeared alarmed and fearful, and that he was trembling,
said to him, Wherefore dost thou fear? He answered, I have an enemy of whom I
am in fear. The Ghuleh said, Thou assertest thyself to be the son of the King.
He replied, Yes. - Then, said she, wherefore dost thou not give some money to
thine enemy, and so conciliate him? He answered, He will not be appeased with
money, nor with anything but life; and therefore do I fear him: I am an
injured man. She then said to him, if thou be an injured man, as thou
affirmest, beg aid of God against thine oppressor, and He will avert from thee
his mischievous design, and that of every other person whom thou fearest. Upon
this, therefore, the Prince raised his head towards heaven, and said, O Thou
who answerest the distressed when he prayeth to Thee, and dispellest evil,
assist me, and cause mine enemy to depart from me; for Thou art able to do
whatsoever Thou wilt! - and the Ghuleh no sooner heard his prayer, than she
departed from him. The Prince then returned to his father, and informed him of
the conduct of the Wezir; upon which the King gave orders that the minister
should be put to death. -
[Footnote 5: A female Ghul that eats men.]
And thou, O King, continued the Wezir of King Yunan, if thou trust in
this sage, he will kill thee in the foulest manner. If thou continue to bestow
favours upon him, and to make him thine intimate companion, he will plot thy
destruction. Dost thou not see that he hath cured thee of the disease by
external means, by a thing that thou heldest in thy hand? Therefore thou art
not secure against his killing thee by a thing that thou shalt hold in the
same manner. - King Yunan answered, Thou hast spoken truth: the case is as
thou hast said, O faithful Wezir: it is probable that this sage came as a spy
to accomplish my death; and if he cured me by a thing I held in my hand, he
may destroy me by a thing that I may smell: what then, O Wezir, shall be done
respecting him? The Wezir answered, Send to him immediately, and desire him to
come hither; and when he is come, strike off his head, and so shalt thou avert
from thee his evil design, and be secure from him. Betray him before he betray
thee. - The King said, Thou hast spoken right.
Immediately, therefore, he sent for the sage, who came, full of joy, not
knowing what the Compassionate had decreed against him, and addressed the King
with these words of the poet -
If I fail any day to render thee due thanks, tell me for whom I have composed
my verse and prose.
Thou hast loaded me with favours unsolicited, bestowed without delay on thy
part, or excuse.
How then should I abstain from praising thee as thou deservest, and lauding
thee both with my heart and voice?
Nay, I will thank thee for they benefits conferred upon me: they are light
upon my tongue, though weighty to my back.
Knowest thou, said the King, wherefore I have summoned thee? The sage
answered, None knoweth what is secret but god, whose name be exalted! Then
said the King, I have summoned thee that I may take away thy life. The sage,
in the utmost astonishment at this announcement, said, O King, wherefore
wouldst thou kill me, and what offence hath been committed by me? The King
answered, It hath been told me that thou art a spy, and that thou hast come
hither to kill me: but I will prevent thee by killing thee first: - and so
saying, he called out to the executioner, Strike off the head of this traitor,
and relieve me from his wickedness. - Spare me, said the sage, and so may God
spare thee; and destroy me not, lest God destroy thee. - And he repeated these
words several times, like as I did, O `Efrit; but thou wouldst not let me go,
desiring to destroy me.
King Yunan then said to the sage Duban, I shall not be secure unless I
kill thee; for thou curedst me by a thing that I held in my hand, and I have
no security against thy killing me by a thing that I may smell, or by some
other means. - O King, said the sage, is this my recompense from thee? Dost
thou return evil for good? - The King answered, Thou must be slain without
delay. When the sage, therefore, was convinced that the King intended to put
him to death, and that his fate was inevitable, he lamented the benefit that
he had done to the undeserving. The executioner then advanced, and bandaged
his eyes, and, having drawn his sword, said, Give permission. Upon this the
sage wept, and said again, Spare me, and so may God spare thee; and destroy me
not, lest God destroy thee! Wouldst thou return me the recompense of the
crocodile? - What, said the king, is the story of the crocodile? The sage
answered, I cannot relate it while in this condition; but I conjure thee by
Allah to spare me, and so may He spare thee. And he wept bitterly. Then one of
the chief officers of the King arose, and said, O King, give up to me the
blood of this sage; for we have not seen him commit any offense against thee;
nor have we seen him do aught but cure thee of they disease, which wearied the
other physicians and sages. The King answered, Ye know not the reason
wherefore I would kill the sage: it is this, that if I suffered him to live, I
should myself inevitably perish; for he who cured me of the disease under
which I suffered by a thing that I held in my hand, may kill me by a thing
that I may smell; and I fear that he would do so, and would receive an
appointment on account of it; seeing that it is probable he is a spy who hath
come hither to kill me; I must therefore kill him, and then shall I feel
myself safe. - The sage then said again, Spare me, and so may God spare thee;
and destroy me not, lest God destroy thee.
But he now felt certain, O `Efrit, that the King would put him to death,
and that there was no escape for him; so he said, O King, if my death is
indispensable, grant me some respite, that I may return to my house, and
acquit myself of my duties, and give directions to my family and neighbours to
bury me, and dispose of my medical books; and among my books is one of the
most special value, which I offer as a present to thee, that thou mayest
treasure it in thy library. - And what, said the King, is this book? He
answered, It contains things not to be enumerated; and the smallest of the
secret virtues that it possesses is this; that, when thou hast cut off my
head, if thou open this book, and count three leaves, and then read three
lines on the page to the left, the head will speak to thee, and answer
whatever thou shalt ask. At this the King was excessively astonished, and
shook with delight, and said to him, O Sage, when I have cut off thy head will
it speak? He answered, Yes, O King; and this is a wonderful thing.
The King then sent him in the custody of guards; and the sage descended
to his house, and settled all his affairs on that day; and on the following
day he went up to the court: and the Emirs and Wezirs, and Chamberlains and
Deputies, and all the great officers of the state, went thither also: and the
court resembled a flower-garden. And when the sage had entered, he presented
himself before the King, bearing an old book, and a small pot containing a
powder: and he sat down, and said, Bring me a tray. So they brought him one;
and he poured out the powder into it, and spread it. He then said, O King,
take this book, and do nothing with it until thou hast cut off my head; and
when thou hast done so, place it upon this tray, and order some one to press
it down upon the powder; and when this is done, the blood will be stanched:
then open the book. As soon as the sage had said this, the King gave orders to
strike off his head; and it was done. The King then opened the book, and found
that its leaves were stuck together; so he put his finger to his mouth, and
moistened it with his spittle, and opened the first leaf, and the second, and
the third; but the leaves were not opened without difficulty. He opened six
leaves, and looked at them; but found upon them no writing. So he said, O
Sage, there is nothing written in it. The head of the sage answered, Turn over
more leaves. The King did so; and in a little while, the poison penetrated
into his system; for the book was poisoned; and the King fell back, and cried
out, The poison hath penetrated into me! - and upon this, the head of the sage
Duban repeated these verses: -
They made use of their power, and used it tyrannically; and soon it became as
though it never had existed. -
Had they acted equitably, they had experienced equity; but they oppressed;
wherefore fortune oppressed them with calamities and trials.
Then did the case itself announce to them, This is the reward of your conduct,
and fortune is blameless.
And when the head of the sage Duban had uttered these words, the King
immediately fell down dead. -
Now, O `Efrit, continued the fisherman, know that if King Yunan had
spared the sage, Duban, God had spared him; but he refused, and desired his
destruction; therefore God destroyed him; and thou, O `Efrit, if thou hadst
spared me, God had spared thee, and I had spared thee; but thou desiredst my
death; therefore will I put thee to death imprisoned in this bottle, and will
throw thee here into the sea. The Marid, upon this, cried out, and said, I
conjure thee by Allah, O fisherman, that thou do it not: spare me in
generosity, and be not angry with me for what I did; but if I have done evil,
do thou good, according to the proverb, - O thou benefactor of him who hath
done evil, the action that he hath done is sufficient for him: - do not
therefore as Umameh did to `Atikeh. - And what, said the fisherman, was their
case? The `Efrit answered, This is not a time for telling stories, when I am
in this prison; but when thou liberatest me, I will relate to thee their case.
The fisherman said, Thou must be thrown into the sea, and there shall be no
way of escape for thee from it; for I endeavoured to propitiate thee, and
humbled myself before thee, yet thou wouldest nothing but my destruction,
though I had committed no offence to deserve it, and had done no evil to thee
whatever, but only good, delivering thee from thy confinement; and when thou
didst thus unto me, I perceived that thou wast radically corrupt: and I would
have thee know, that my motive for throwing thee into this sea, is that I may
acquaint with thy story every one that shall take thee out, and caution him
against thee, that he may cast thee in again: thus shalt thou remain in this
sea to the end of time, and experience varieties of torment. The `Efrit then
said, Liberate me, for this is an opportunity for thee to display humanity;
and I vow to thee that I will never do thee harm; but, on the contrary, will
do thee a service that shall enrich thee for ever.
Upon this the fisherman accepted his covenant that he would not hurt him,
but that he would do him good; and when he had bound him by oaths and vows,
and made him swear by the Most Great Name of God, he opened to him; and the
smoke ascended until it had all come forth, and then collected together, and
became, as before, an `Efrit of hideous form. The `Efrit then kicked the
bottle into the sea. When the fisherman saw him do this, he made sure of
destruction, and said, This is no sign of good: - but afterwards he fortified
his heart, and said, O `Efrit, God, whose name be exalted, hath said, Perform
the covenant, for the covenant shall be inquired into:^6 - and thou hast
covenanted with me, and sworn that thou wilt not act treacherously towards me;
therefore, if thou so act, God will recompense thee; for He is jealous; He
respiteth, but suffereth not to escape; and remember that I said to thee as
said the sage Duban to King Yunan, Spare me, and so may God spare thee.
[Footnote 6: Kur`an, xvii. 36.]
The `Efrit laughed, and walking on before him, said, O fisherman, follow
me. The fisherman did so, not believing in his escape, until they had quitted
the neighbourhood of the city, and ascended a mountain, and descended into a
wide desert tract, in the midst of which was a lake of water. Here the `Efrit
stopped, and ordered the fisherman to cast his net and take some fish; and the
fisherman, looking into the lake, saw in it fish of different colours, white
and red and blue and yellow; at which he was astonished; and he cast his net,
and drew it in, and found in it four fish, each fish of a different colour
from the others, at the sight of which he rejoiced. The `Efrit then said to
him, Take them to the Sultan, and present them to him, and he will give thee
what will enrich thee; and for the sake of God accept my excuse, for, at
present, I know no other way of rewarding thee, having been in the sea a
thousand and eight hundred years, and not seen the surface of the earth until
now; but take not fish from the lake more than once each day: and now I
commend thee to the care of God. - Having thus said, he struck the earth with
his feet, and it clove asunder, and swallowed him.
The fisherman then went back to the city, wondering at all that had
befallen him with the `Efrit, and carried the fish to his house; and he took
an earthen bowl, and, having filled it with water, put the fish into it; and
they struggled in the water: and when he had done this, he placed the bowl
upon his head, and repaired to the King`s palace, as the `Efrit had commanded
him, and, going up unto the King, presented to him the fish; and the King was
excessively astonished at them, for he had never seen any like them in the
course of his life; and he said, Give these fish to the slave cookmaid. This
maid had been sent as a present to him by the King of the Greeks, three days
before; and he had not yet tried her skill. The Wezir, therefore, ordered her
to fry the fish, and said to her, O maid, the King saith unto thee, I have not
reserved my tear but for the time of my difficulty: - to-day, then, gratify
us by a specimen of thy excellent cookery, for a person hath brought these
fish as a present to the Sultan. After having thus charged her, the Wezir
returned, and the King ordered him to give the fisherman four hundred pieces
of gold: so the Wezir gave them to him; and he took them in his lap, and
returned to his home and his wife, joyful and happy, and bought what was
needful for his family.
Such were the events that befell the fisherman: now we must relate what
happened to the maid. - She took the fish, and cleaned them, and arranged them
in the frying-pan, and left them until one side was cooked, when she turned
them upon the other side; and lo, the wall of the kitchen clove asunder, and
there came forth from it a damsel of tall stature, smooth-cheeked, of
perfect form, with eyes adorned with kohl, beautiful in countenance, and with
heavy, swelling hips; wearing a kufiyeh interwoven with blue silk; with rings
in her ears, and bracelets on her wrists, and rings set with precious jewels
on her fingers; and in her hand was a rod of Indian cane: and she dipped the
end of the rod in the frying-pan, and said, O fish, are ye remaining
faithful to your covenant? At the sight of this, the cook-maid fainted. The
damsel then repeated the same words a second and a third time; after which the
fish raised their heads from the frying-pan, and answered, Yes, yes. They
then repeated the following verse: -
If thou return, we return; and if thou come, we come; and if thou sake, we
verily do the same.
And upon this the damsel overturned the frying-pan, and departed by the
way she had entered, and the wall of the kitchen closed up again. The
cook-maid then arose, and beheld the four fish burnt like charcoal; and she
exclaimed, In his first encounter his staff broke! - and as she sat
reproaching herself, she beheld the Wezir standing at her head; and he said to
her, Bring the fish to the Sultan: - and she wept, and informed him of what
had happened.
The Wezir was astonished at her words, and exclaimed, This is indeed a
wonderful, event; - and he sent for the fisherman, and when he was brought, he
said to him, O fisherman, thou must bring to us four fish like those which
thou broughtest before. The fisherman accordingly went forth to the lake, and
threw his net, and when he had drawn it in he found in it four fish as before;
and he took them to the Wezir, who went with them to the maid, and said to
her, Rise, and fry them in my presence, that I may witness this occurrence.
The maid, therefore, prepared the fish, and put them in the frying-pan, and
they had remained but a little while, when the wall clove asunder, and the
damsel appeared, clad as before, and holding the rod; and she dipped the end
of the rod in the frying-pan, and said, O fish, O fish, are ye remaining
faithful to your old covenant? Upon which they raised their heads, and
answered as before; and the damsel overturned the frying-pan with the rod,
and returned by the way she had entered, and the wall closed up again.
The Wezir then said, This is an event which cannot be concealed from the
King: - so he went to him, and informed him of what had happened in his
presence; and the King said, I must see this with my own eyes. He sent,
therefore, to the fisherman, and commanded him to bring four fish like the
former, granting him a delay of three days. And the fisherman repaired to the
lake, and brought the fish thence to the King, who ordered again that four
hundred pieces of gold should be given to him; and then, turning to the Wezir,
said to him, Cook the fish thyself here before me. The Wezir answered, I hear
and obey. He brought the frying-pan, and after he had cleaned the fish,
threw them into it; and as soon as he had turned them, the wall clove asunder,
and there came forth from it a negro, in size like a bull, or like one of the
tribe of `Ad,^7 having in his hand a branch of a green tree; and he said, with
a clear but terrifying voice, O fish, O fish, are ye remaining faithful to
your old covenant? Upon which they raised their heads, and answered as before,
Yes, yes:
[Footnote 7: The smallest of the ancient Arab tribe of `Ad is said to have
been sixty cubits high.]
If thou return, we return; and if thou come, we come; and if thou forsake, we
verily do the same.
The black then approached the frying-pan, and overturned it with the branch,
and the fish became like charcoal, and he went away as he had come.
When he had thus disappeared from before their eyes, the King said, This
is an event respecting which it is impossible to keep silence, and there must,
undoubtedly, be some strange circumstance connected with these fish. He then
ordered that the fisherman should be brought before him, and when he had come,
he said to him, Whence came these fish? The fisherman answered, From a lake
between four mountains behind this mountain which is without thy city. The
King said to him, How many days` journey distant? He answered, O our lord the
Sultan, a journey of half-an-hour. And the Sultan was astonished, and
ordered his troops to go out immediately with him and the fisherman, who began
to curse the `Efrit. They proceeded until they had ascended the mountain, and
descended into a wide desert tract which they had never before seen in their
whole lives; and the Sultan and all the troops wondered at the sight of this
desert, which was between four mountains, and at the fish, which were of four
colors, red and white and yellow and blue. The King paused in astonishment,
and said to the troops, and to the other attendants who were with him, Hath
any one of you before seen this lake in this place? They all answered, No.
Then said the King, By Allah, I will not enter my city, nor will I sit upon my
throne, until I know the true history of this lake, and of its fish. And upon
this he ordered his people to encamp around these mountains; and they did so.
He then called for the Wezir, who was a well-informed, sensible, prudent,
and learned man; and when he had presented himself before him, he said to him,
I desire to do a thing with which I will acquaint thee; and it is this: - I
have resolved to depart alone this night, to seek for information respecting
this lake and its fish: therefore, sit thou at the door of my pavilion, and
say to the Emirs and Wezirs and Chamberlains, The Sultan is sick, and hath
commanded me not to allow any person to go in unto him: - and acquaint no one
with my intention.
The Wezir was unable to oppose his design; so the King disguised himself,
and slung on his sword, and withdrew himself from the midst of his troops. He
journeyed the whole of the night, until the morning, and proceeded until the
heat became oppressive to him: he then paused to rest; after which he again
proceeded the remainder of the day and the second night until the morning,
when there appeared before him, in the distance, something black, at the sight
of which he rejoiced, and said, Perhaps I shall there find some person who
will inform me of the history of the lake and its fish. And when he approached
this black object, he found it to be a palace built of black stones, and
overlaid with iron; and one of the leaves of its door was open, and the other
shut. The King was glad, and he stood at the door, and knocked gently, but
heard no answer; he knocked a second and a third time, but again heard no
answer: then he knocked a fourth time, and with violence; but no one answered.
So he said, It is doubtless empty: - and he took courage, and entered from the
door into the passage, and cried out, saying, O inhabitants of the palace, I
am a stranger and a traveller! have ye any provision? And he repeated these
words a second and a third time; but heard no answer. And upon this he
fortified his heart, and emboldened himself, and proceeded from the passage
into the midst of the palace; but he found no one there, and only saw that it
was furnished, and that there was, in the centre of it, a fountain with four
lions of red gold, which poured forth the water from their mouths, like pearls
and jewels: around this were birds; and over the top of the palace was
extended a net which prevented their flying out. At the sight of these objects
he was astonished, and he was grieved that he saw no person there whom he
could ask for information respecting the lake, and the fish, and the
mountains, and the palace. He then sat down between the doors, reflecting upon
these things; and as he thus sat, he heard a voice of lamentation from a
sorrowful heart, chanting these verses: -
O fortune, thou pitiest me not, nor releasest me! See my heart is straitened
between affliction and peril!
Will not you [O my wife] have compassion on the mighty whom love hath abased,
and the wealthy who is reduced to indigence?
We were jealous even of the zephyr which passed over you: but when the divine
decree is issued, the eye becometh blind!
What resource hath the archer when, in the hour of conflict, he desireth to
discharge the arrow, but findeth his bow-string broken?
And when troubles are multiplied upon the noble-minded, where shall he find
refuge from fate and from destiny?
When the Sultan heard this lamentation, he sprang upon his feet, and,
seeking the direction whence it proceeded, found a curtain suspended before
the door of a chamber; and he raised it, and beheld behind it a young man
sitting on a couch raised to the height of a cubit from the floor. He was a
handsome youth, well-shaped, and of eloquent speech, with shining forehead,
and rosy cheek, marked with a mole resembling ambergris. The King was rejoiced
at seeing him, and saluted him; and the young man (who remained sitting, and
was clad with a vest of silk, embroidered with gold, but who exhibited traces
of grief) returned his salutation, and said to him, O my master, excuse my not
rising. - O youth! said the King, inform me respecting the lake, and its fish
of various colours, and respecting this palace, and the reason of thy being
alone in it, and of thy lamentation. When the young man heard these words,
tears trickled down his cheeks, and he wept bitterly. And the King was
astonished, and said to him, What causeth thee to weep, O youth? He answered,
How can I refrain from weeping, when this is my state? - and so saying, he
stretched forth his hand, and lifted up the skirts of his clothing; and lo,
half of him, from his waist to the soles of his feet, was stone; and from his
waist to the hair of his head, he was like other men. He then said, Know, O
King, that the story of the fish is extraordinary; if it were engraved upon
the intellect, it would be a lesson to him who would be admonished: - and he
related as follows: -
|
