Princess Badoura: A tale from the Arabian Nights

by Laurence Housman

Thus he stood before his father humbly as a stranger; for never before had the King so received him, and he wondered why he had been summoned, and in his heart there was a fear.

The King perceiving his reserve said to him, 'My son, can you now guess for what reason I have sent for you?' But the Prince answered, 'My lord, I would not so presume; for it is not in the power of one so young as I am to fathom the thoughts of the hearts of Kings. Only when I hear the true reason from your Majesty's lips will my brain become enlightened.'

So he spoke, with all the decorum, and deference, and virtue, and prudent modesty which had been instilled in him by the preceptors of his youth; and Shahzaman, his father, loved him for it, and said in his heart, 'Never was King blessed with such a son as I.'

Then he said to the Prince, 'What thou lackest in years of man's estate thou hast already gained in wisdom and understanding; therefore as a man I speak to thee. Know, then, it is my wish that thou shouldst marry, so that before my days are ended I may rejoice in the assurance of my posterity.'

When Camaralzaman heard these words he no longer hung his head, but stood up straight; and as he made answer to the King his face flushed and his eyes grew bright; and said he, 'O my father, is it into bondage you would deliver me ere I become a man? Lo, here am I, the son of Kings, and all my life till now have I been free, and my soul has been free within me, because I have not gone in the way of women nor inclined my heart toward them; but if I marry, then by their cunning and guile will my soul and my freedom be taken from me. Far rather would I drink the cup of death.'

When King Shahzaman heard that, the light of day darkened before him, for never until now had his son gone against his wish or disobeyed his word. But, because he loved the youth very tenderly, he forgave him and thought not at this time to punish him; for he said to himself, 'At present he is full young, and excess of virtue hath caused his manhood to slumber.' So he forbore, and waited till another year should have passed, and withdrew not from his son the light and favour of his countenance.

So Camaralzaman continued in undisturbed life to receive the instructions of his preceptors, and every day he increased in beauty and comeliness of form, in modesty of mind, and in grace of manner and in elegance of deportment. Added to which, he became accomplished in verse, and eloquence, and rhetoric and the divine sciences, so that the flower of his form and the honey of his understanding made together a thing of inconceivable loveliness and attraction. Even as a magical willow-branch bearing peach-blossom and fruit at one season, so was he.

Now when another year was completed, his father having once more consulted with the Grand Vizier, sent for him again, and said, 'This time, O my son, listen to my word, and obey; for now have thy years touched manhood, and unless thou beget children thy virtue and wisdom are wasted. Therefore if thou wilt marry her whom I shall now choose for thee, I will also make thee ruler over all my dominions; so with mine eyes shall I see my kingdom and my posterity established, and rejoice in thee before I die.'

But the Prince had listened so well to the preceptors set over him to guard his virtue, and had pondered so deeply the books which wise men had written in their old age, when delight had fled from them and when all that they had done in the past seemed only to be vanity, that his mind, even though his heart softened to his father's request, remained as aforetime. Therefore, abasing himself in fear and reverence at the King's feet, he said, 'O my father, not so can I find happiness, or strength, or wisdom wherewith to rule others, seeing that if I marry I cease to be ruler of myself. In all things outward it is Allah's will that I should obey you; but in this which comes from within and concerns myself alone, I can obey the voice of no man, however wise he may be. Yet, by all the seers and poets and soothsayers is the same thing told, that woman is a calamity, and that from her spring all the weaknesses and afflictions of men.' And so saying with sweetness and modulation of tone, and grace of gesture, Camaralzaman began to recite to his father all the words of the poets; and there was not a poet who had written poetry in his old age whose verses did not bear out the contention.

So when the King had heard the verses of the poets and the words of the ancients arrayed against him, he returned no answer; for he said to himself: 'I doubt not but that before another year shall have run that voice within will have spoken differently to my son than it speaks now, and the words of the sages will have far less weight with him then than the glance of some woman's eye.' Once more, therefore, letting his tenderness extinguish his resentment, he forgave the Prince's disobedience and received him back into his favour.