The Arabian Nights (New Deluxe Edition) (84 page)

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It is related, O happy King, that the king at last turned to the merchant and asked, “Where is the girl whom you consider to be worthy of me?” The merchant replied, “She is beautiful and elegant beyond description, and she is standing at the door with the servants, awaiting your pleasure. With your leave, I will bring her at once.” The king gave him leave, and when she came in, the king looked and saw a tall girl, as slender as a spear, wrapped in a silk cloak embroidered with gold. The king rose from his throne and, entering a private chamber, bade the merchant bring in the girl. The merchant brought her before the king, and when he unveiled her, the king looked on her and saw that she was brighter than a banner and more slender than a reed, for she put even the rising moon to shame, with hair hanging down to her anklets in seven tresses like horses' tails or the veil of the night, and with dark eyes, smooth cheeks, heavy hips, and slender waist. When the king saw her, he was dazzled by her beauty and grace, for she was like her of whom the poet said:

When they unveiled her, I doted at once,

As she stood there with calm and dignity,

Neither too little nor too much, faultlessly formed,

Wrapped tightly in her cloak, in total parity,

Slender her figure and perfect her height,

Her lovely body to perfection bred.

Her hair trailed to the anklets and revealed

The glory and the envy of her head.

But morning overtook Shahrazad, and she lapsed into silence. Then Dinarzad said to her 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 Shahrazad said:

It is related, O happy King, that when the king looked at the girl, he was dazzled by her beauty, captivated by her charm, and overwhelmed by love for her. He turned to the merchant and asked, “Shaikh, what is the price of this girl?” The merchant replied, “O King, I bought her from another merchant for two thousand dinars, and to this date I have traveled for three years and spent one thousand dinars on her to bring her to you, but your slave does not want any money for her; she is a gift to our lord the king.” When the king heard this, he bestowed on him a robe of honor and ordered him ten thousand dinars and one of his choice horses. The merchant kissed the ground before him and departed.

Then the king committed the girl to the care of the nurses and attendants, saying to them, “Prepare her and leave her alone in one of my choice private apartments.” They replied, “We hear and obey.” Then they took care of her and brought her whatever she needed of servants, clothes, and food and drink. Then they took her to the bath and washed her, and when she came out, looking even more charming and beautiful, they dressed her in fine clothes and adorned her with jewelry worthy of her beauty and brought her to an apartment overlooking the sea. For at that time the king resided on the seashore, on an island called the White Island. When in the evening the king went in to her, he saw her standing at the window, looking at the sea, but although she noticed his presence, she neither paid attention to him nor showed him veneration, but continued to look at the sea, without even turning her head toward him. When the king saw this, he surmised that she came from ignorant people who had not taught her manners. But when he looked at her and saw her in her fine clothes and jewelry, which lent her greater beauty and charm and made her look like the twinkling stars or the shining sun, he said to himself, “Glory be to God who created you ‘from a humble drop . . . in a safe haven.'” Then he went up to her, as she stood at the window, and embraced her. Then he sat down on the couch and, seating her on his knees, kissed her and marveled at her beauty and grace. Then he bade the maids bring food, and they set the food before him, in plates of gold and silver, worthy of a king and placed in the middle of the table almond pastry in a platter of white crystal. Then the king ate and fed her with his hand, but, while she ate, she kept her head bowed down, without paying any attention to him or looking at him.

But morning overtook Shahrazad, and she lapsed into silence.

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The following night Shahrazad said:

It is related, O happy King, that the king kept feeding her with his hand, while she kept her head bowed down, without paying any attention to him, looking at him, or speaking to him. He began to talk to her and asked her name, but she kept her head bowed down, without replying, speaking, or uttering a word or a single syllable until the maids removed the table and the king and the girl washed their hands. When the king saw that she did not speak or answer his questions, he said to himself, “Glory be to the Almighty God! How beautiful is this girl but how ignorant! Or else she is dumb, but none save the Exalted and Glorious God is perfect. Were she able to speak, she would be perfect.” He felt very sorry for her, and when he inquired of the attendants about her silence, they replied, “O King, by God, she has never said a word to us or uttered a single syllable, but has remained silent, as you see.”

Then he summoned his concubines, favorites, and other women and bade them entertain her with all kinds of music and songs. But when they played and sang, the king enjoyed it very much, while she, neither speaking nor smiling, kept her head bowed, looked at them silently, and sulked until she made the king depressed. He dismissed the women and remained alone with her. Then he took off his clothes, lay down in bed, and made her lie beside him. When he looked at her body and saw that it was as fair as pure silver, he was enthralled and felt a great love for her, and when he took her virginity, he discovered that she had been a virgin and he rejoiced and said to himself, “By God, it is amazing that a girl of such beauty and grace, who has been bought and sold as a slave, has remained a virgin. This is a mystery.”

Thereafter, he devoted himself totally to her, as she began to assume and occupy a great place in his heart, and he forsook and neglected his favorites, concubines, and all other women and considered her his blessing and his lot in life. He lived with her an entire year as if it were one day, yet she never spoke to him or uttered a single word, and this was very hard on him.

One day he turned to her . . .

But morning overtook Shahrazad, and she lapsed into silence. Then Dinarzad said to her sister Shahrazad, “O 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! It will be even stranger.”

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The following night Shahrazad said:

I heard, O happy King, that at the end of the year, during which the king had grown infatuated and madly in love with the girl, he turned to her one day and said, “O my heart's desire, by God, my whole kingdom is not worth a grain of sand to me when I see you unable to reply or speak to me, for you are dearer to me than my eyes. I have forsaken my concubines, my favorites, and all my other women and made you my lot in life, and I have been patient with you and have been praying to the Almighty God to soften your heart with pity and make you speak one word to me, if you are able to speak. If you are dumb, let me know, in order that I may give up hope. I pray God to bless me with a son from you to bring me joy and inherit the kingdom after me, for I am lonely and forlorn, without relatives or anyone else to help me with the affairs of the kingdom, especially now that I am old and too weak to manage by myself and take care of my people. My lady, if you are able to speak, for God's sake, answer me, for my only wish is to hear one word from you before I die.” When the girl heard the king's words, she bowed her head in thought, and, looking up, smiled in his face and said, “O gallant King and valiant lion, may God exalt you and humble your enemies, and may He give you long life and grant you every wish. The Almighty God has accepted your pleadings and entreaties and has answered your prayers. O King, I am bearing your child and the time of my delivery is near, although I do not know whether the child is a boy or a girl. Had it not been for the child, I would not have answered you or spoken to you.” When the king heard her words, he was extremely happy and he embraced her and kissed her face, saying, “O my lady, O my darling, God has granted me two blessings and relieved me of two sorrows, the first, to hear you my entire kingdom, the second, to hear you say that you are bearing my child,”

Then he left her and sat on his throne and in a fit of happiness bade his vizier distribute a hundred thousand dinars in alms to the widows, the orphans, and the homeless, and to all the poor and needy, and the vizier did as he bade. Then the king returned to the girl and said, “O my lady and my heart's delight, how was it that you spent a whole year, lying with me in the same bed day and night, without speaking to me until today? How could you bear it and what was the cause?” She replied, “O King, I am an exile and a captive in a foreign land, with a broken heart aching for my people, a woman all alone without father or brother.”

But morning overtook Shahrazad, and she lapsed into silence. Then Dinarzad said to her sister, “O 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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