The Arabian Nights (New Deluxe Edition) (29 page)

By my life, hurry; they have gone away,

And my tears from my eyes profusely flow.

Their resting place is far, O far away;

What shall I say of them, what shall I do?

I wish that I had never seen their sight.

Helpless I stand and no solution know.

Comfort and consolation can I find

When burning sorrow sets my heart aglow?

O luck, off with me to their dwelling place;

Cry out to them about my tears that flow

They died and left my heart with burning pain,

The fire that in the loving breast did glow.

I wish that death would take me to their place;

Forever lasts the bond between us two.

For God's sake, luck, be careful with our fate,

Our pending union, careful be and slow.

How blessed we lived together in one home

A life of bliss that did no hindrance know

Until with parting's arrow we were shot,

And who can of such arrows bear the blow?

By death was felled the noblest of the tribe,

The age's pearl, with beauty on his brow.

I mourned or silently I seemed to say,

“I wish that death had not hastened the blow.

On me and mine did envy fix his eye,

O son, I'd have given my life for you.

How can I meet you soon, my only one,

My son, for whom I would my soul bestow?

Your gifts you lavished like the bounteous moon,

And like the moon your fame did rise and grow.

If moon I call you, no, the moon goes down,

And if I call you sun, the sun sinks low.

O you, whose beauties were on every tongue,

You whom the virtues did with grace endow,

For you I will forever grieve and mourn;

No other love but you I'll ever know.

Longing for you your father has consumed,

But helpless now he stands since death felled you.

Some evil eyes on you have had their feast,

Would they were pierced or black and blind did grow.”

Then the old man took a breath, and with a deep sigh his soul left his body. The black servants shrieked and, throwing dust on their heads and faces, wailed and cried bitterly. Then they carried the old man and his son to the ship and laid them down side by side. Soon they set sail and vanished from my sight. Then I descended from the tree and went back to the underground dwelling. When I entered, I saw some of the young man's belongings, which reminded me of him, I and I repeated the following verses:

I see their traces and with longing pine

In their empty dwelling, and my tears flow.

And Him who has their loss decreed I beg,

That He may on me their return bestow.

But morning overtook Shahrazad, and she lapsed into silence. Then her sister said, “Sister, what a strange and entertaining story!” Shahrazad replied, “What is this compared with what I shall tell you tomorrow night if I stay alive!”

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The following night Dinarzad said to her sister Shahrazad, “If you are not sleepy, tell us the rest of the dervish's story.” Shahrazad said:

I heard, O King, that the third dervish said to the girl:

My lady, for a month I lived on the island, spending my day in the open and my night in the underground hall, until one day I noticed that the water on the west side of the island was receding little by little. By the end of the month dry land appeared on the east side, and I felt happy and certain of my safety. I waded through the shallow water, and when I reached permanent dry land, I saw nothing but sand as far as the eye can see. Then I noticed a great fire raging in the distance, and I gathered my energy and braved the sand toward the fire, saying to myself, “Someone must surely have kindled such a fire, and there perhaps is where I can find help,” and I repeated the following verses:

Perhaps my fate will his own bridle turn

And bring good fortune, O my fickle fate,

Replacing past ills with present good deeds,

My needs to answer and my hopes elate.

When I drew near, I found out that the fire was in reality a palace overlaid with copper plates that, as the sun shone on them, glowed and from a distance appeared like a fire. I was glad to see the palace and sat down to rest, but hardly had I done so when I was approached by ten neatly dressed young men accompanied by an old man, and I was astonished to see that each young man was blind in the right eye, and marveled at this coincidence. When they saw me, they greeted me, delighted to see me, and when they asked me about myself, I told them about my misfortunes. Marveling at my tale, they took me into the palace, where I saw ranged around the hall ten couches, each with blue bedding and blue coverlet, with a smaller couch in the middle, covered likewise in blue. We entered and each young man took his seat on a couch, and the old man seated himself on the smaller couch in the middle, saying to me, “Young man, sit down on the floor and do not inquire about our situation or the loss of our eyes.” Then he rose and one by one set before each of them his own food and did the same for me. After we ate, he offered us wine, each in his own cup, and they sat to carouse and ask me about my extraordinary case and strange adventures, and I told them my tale until most of the night was gone. Then the young men said to the old man, “Old man, will you give us our due, for it is time to go to bed?” The old man rose, entered a chamber, and came back, carrying on his head ten trays, each covered with a blue cover. He set a tray before each young man and, lighting ten candles, stuck one on each tray. Then he drew off the covers, and there appeared on each tray nothing but ashes, powdered charcoal, and kettle soot. Then, rolling up their sleeves, every young man blackened his face and smeared his clothes with soot and ashes, beat his breast and face, and wept and wailed, crying out again and again, “‘We would be sitting pretty but for our curiosity.'” They carried on like this until it was close to sunrise. Then the old man rose and heated some water for them, and the young men ran, washed themselves, and put on clean clothes.

My lady, when I saw what the young men had done and how they had blackened their faces, I was filled with bewilderment and curiosity and forgot my own misfortunes. Unable to remain silent, I asked them, “What brought this on, after we frolicked and enjoyed ourselves? You seem, God be praised, perfectly sane, and such actions befit only madmen. I ask you by all that is dearest to you to tell me your tale and the cause of losing your eyes and smearing your faces with soot and ashes.” They turned to me and said, “Young man, don't let our youth and our behavior deceive you. It is better for you not to ask.” Then they laid out some food, and we began to eat, but my heart was still on fire and I burned with curiosity to find out the cause of their action, especially after having eaten and drunk with them. Then we sat to converse until late afternoon, and when it got dark, the old man offered us wine, and we sat drinking till past midnight. Then the young men said, “Give us our due, old man, for it is time to go to bed.” The old man rose, disappeared, then came back a while later with the same trays, and the young men repeated what they had done the previous night.

My lady, to make a long story short, I stayed with them for a full month, and every night they did the same thing and washed themselves early in the morning, while I watched, marveling at their action, until my curiosity and my anxiety increased to the point that I was no longer able to eat or drink. At last I said to them, “Young men, if you don't relieve me and tell me why you blacken your faces and repeat, ‘We would be sitting pretty but for our curiosity,' let me relieve myself of such sights by leaving you and going home, for as the saying goes, ‘Better for me and meet to see you not, for if the eye sees nought, the heart grieves not.'” When they heard my words, they came up to me and said, “Young man, we have kept our secret from you only out of pity for you, so that you would not suffer what we have suffered.” I replied, “You must tell me.” They said, “Young man, listen to our advice and don't ask, lest you become one-eyed like us.” I repeated, “I must know the secret.” They replied, “Young man, when you find out the secret, remember that we will no longer harbor you nor let you stay with us again.”

Then they fetched a ram, slaughtered it, skinned it, and made the skin into a sack. Then they said, “Take this knife and get into the sack, and we shall sew you up in it. Then we shall go away and leave you alone. Soon a bird called Rukh
⁸
will pick you up with his talons, fly with you high in the air for a while; then you will feel that he has set you down on a mountain and moved away from you. When you feel that the bird has done so, rip the skin open with this knife and come out, and when the bird sees you, he will fly away. Proceed immediately and walk for half a day, and you will see before you a towering palace, built with sandal- and aloewood and covered with plates of red gold, studded with emeralds and all kinds of precious stones. Enter the palace, and you will have your wish, for we have all entered that palace, and that was the cause of losing our eyes and blackening our faces. It would be too tedious to tell you the whole story, for each of us has his own tale for losing his right eye.”

But morning overtook Shahrazad, and she lapsed into silence. Then Dinarzad said, “Sister, what a strange and entertaining story!” Shahrazad replied, “What is this compared with what I shall tell you tomorrow night if I stay alive!”

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The following night Dinarzad said to her sister Shahrazad, “Please, sister, if you are not sleepy, tell us the rest of the story of the third dervish.” Shahrazad replied, “With the greatest pleasure”:

It is related, O King, that King ‘Ajib, the third dervish, said:

When the young men finished their explanation, they let me into the skin sack, sewed me up, and returned to the palace. Soon I felt the white bird approach, and snatching me up with his talons, he flew away with me for a while and set me down on the mountain. I ripped the skin open and came out, and when the bird saw me, he flew away. I proceeded immediately to walk until I reached the palace and found it to be exactly as they had described it. The door stood open, and when I entered, I found myself in a spacious and lovely hall as vast as a playground. It was surrounded by forty chambers with doors of sandal- and aloewood, covered with plates of red gold and graced with silver handles. At the far end of the hall, I saw forty girls, sumptuously dressed and lavishly adorned. They looked like moons, so lovely that none could tire of gazing on them. When they saw me, they said in one voice, “O lord, welcome, O master, welcome! and good cheer to you, lord! We have been expecting one like you for months. Praised be God who has sent us one who is as worthy of us as we are of him.” Then they raced toward me and made me sit on a high couch, saying, “This day, you are our lord and master, and we are your maids and servants, at your beck and call.” Then while I sat marveling at their behavior, they rose, and some of them set food before me; others warmed water and washed my hands and feet and changed my clothes; others mixed juice and gave me to drink; and they all gathered around me, joyful at my coming. Then they sat down to converse with me and question me till nightfall.

But morning overtook Shahrazad, and she lapsed into silence. Then Dinarzad said, “Sister, what a strange and entertaining story!” Shahrazad replied, “What is this compared with what I shall tell you tomorrow night if the king spares me and lets me live!”