Fairy Tales from the Arabian Nights

by E. Dixon

The two parts of the lion vanished, and the head only was left, which changed itself into a large scorpion. Immediately the princess turned herself into a serpent, and fought the scorpion, who finding himself worsted, took the shape of an eagle, and flew away; but the serpent at the same time took also the shape of an eagle that was black and much stronger, and pursued him, so that we lost sight of them both.

Some time after they had disappeared, the ground opened before us, and out of it came forth a cat, black and white, with her hair standing upright, and mewing in a frightful manner; a black wolf followed her close, and gave her no time to rest. The cat, being thus hard beset, changed herself into a worm, and being nigh to a pomegranate that had accidentally fallen from a tree that grew on the side of a canal which was deep but not broad, the worm pierced the pomegranate in an instant, and hid itself. The pomegranate swelled immediately, and became as big as a gourd, which, mounting up to the roof of the gallery, rolled there for some space backwards and forwards, fell down again into the court, and broke into several pieces.

The wolf, which had in the meanwhile transformed itself into a cock, fell to picking up the seeds of the pomegranate one after another, but finding no more, he came towards us with his wings spread, making a great noise, as if he would ask us whether there were any more seeds. There was one lying on the brink of the canal, which the cock perceived as he went back, and ran speedily thither, but just as he was going to pick it up, the seed rolled into the river, and turned into a little fish.

The cock jumped into the river and was turned into a pike that pursued the small fish; they continued both under water for over two hours, and we knew not what had become of them. All of a sudden we heard terrible cries, which made us tremble, and a little while after we saw the genie and princess all in flames. They threw flashes of fire out of their mouths at each other, till they came to close quarters; then the two fires increased, with a thick burning smoke, which mounted so high that we had reason to fear it would set the palace on fire. But we very soon had a more urgent reason for fear, for the genie, having got loose from the princess, came to the gallery where we stood, and blew flames of fire upon us. We should all have perished if the princess, running to our assistance, had not by her cries forced him to retire, and defend himself against her; yet, notwithstanding all her exertions, she could not hinder the sultan's beard from being burnt, and his face spoiled, nor the chief of the chamberlains from being stifled and burnt on the spot. The sultan and I expected nothing but death, when we heard a cry of 'Victory, victory!' and on a sudden the princess appeared in her natural shape, but the genie was reduced to a heap of ashes.

The princess came near to us that she might not lose time, called for a cupful of water, which the young slave, who had received no damage, brought her. She took it, and after pronouncing some words over it, threw it upon me, saying, 'If thou art become an ape by enchantment, change thy shape, and take that of a man, which thou hadst before.' These words were hardly uttered when I became a man as I was before.

I was preparing to give thanks to the princess, but she prevented me by addressing herself to her father, thus: 'Sir, I have gained the victory over the genie, as your majesty may see; but it is a victory that costs me dear. I have but a few minutes to live, and you will not have the satisfaction of making the match you intended; the fire has pierced me during the terrible combat, and I find it is consuming me by degrees. This would not have happened had I perceived the last of the pomegranate seeds, and swallowed it as I did the others, when I was changed into a cock; the genie had fled thither as to his last entrenchment, and upon that the success of the combat depended, without danger to me. This slip obliged me to have recourse to fire, and to fight with those mighty arms as I did between heaven and earth, in your presence; for, in spite of all his redoubtable art and experience, I made the genie know that I understood more than he. I have conquered and reduced him to ashes, but I cannot escape death, which is approaching.'

The sultan suffered the princess, the Lady Or Beauty, to go on with the recital of her combat, and when she had done he spoke to her in a tone that sufficiently testified his grief: 'My daughter,' said he, 'you see in what condition your father is; alas! I wonder that I am yet alive!' He could speak no more, for his tears, sighs and sobs made him speechless; his daughter and I wept with him.

In the meantime, while we were vieing with each other in grief the princess cried, 'I burn! I burn!' She found that the fire which consumed her had at last seized upon her whole body, which made her still cry 'I burn,' until death had made an end of her intolerable pains. The effect of that fire was so extraordinary that in a few moments she was wholly reduced to ashes, like the genie.

How grieved I was at so dismal a spectacle! I had rather all my life have continued an ape or a dog than to have seen my benefactress thus miserably perish. The sultan, being afflicted beyond all that can be imagined, cried out piteously, and beat himself on his head, until being quite overcome with grief, he fainted away, which made me fear for his life. In the meantime the officers came running at the sultan's cries, and with very much ado brought him to himself again. There was no need for him and me to give them a long narrative of this adventure, in order to convince them of their great loss. The two heaps of ashes, into which the princess and the genie had been reduced, were sufficient demonstration. The sultan was hardly able to stand, but had to be supported till he could get to his apartment.

When the news of the tragical event had spread through the palace and the city, all the people bewailed the misfortune of the princess, the Lady of Beauty, and were much affected by the sultan's affliction. Every one was in deep mourning for seven days, and many ceremonies were performed. The ashes of the genie were thrown into the air, but those of the princess were gathered into a precious urn to be kept, and the urn was set in a stately tomb which was built for that purpose on the same place where the ashes had lain.