Tales from the Arabic — Volume 03

by Unknown

When he had made an end of his verses, he folded the letter and delivering it to the nurse, charged her keep the secret. So she took it and carrying it to Mariyeh, gave it to her. The princess broke it open and read it and apprehended its purport. Then said she, "By Allah, O nurse, my heart is burdened with an exceeding chagrin, never knew I a dourer, because of this correspondence and of these verses." And the muse made answer to her, saying, "O my lady, thou art in thy dwelling and thy place and thy heart is void of care; so return him an answer and reck thou not" Accordingly, the princess called for inkhorn and paper and wrote the following verses:

Thou that the dupe of yearning art, how many a melting wight In
waiting for the unkept tryst doth watch the weary night!
If in night's blackness thou hast plunged into the desert's heart
And hast denied thine eyes the taste of sleep and its
delight,
If near and far thy toiling feet have trod the ways and thou
Devils and Marids hast ensued nor wouldst be led aright,
And dar'dst, O dweller in the tents, to lift thine eyes to me,
Hoping by stress to win of me the amorous delight,
Get thee to patience fair, if thou remember thee of that Whose
issues (quoth the Merciful) are ever benedight.[FN#89]
How many a king for my sweet sake with other kings hath vied,
Still craving union with me and suing for my sight!
Whenas En Nebhan strove to win my grace, himself to me With
camel- loads he did commend of musk and camphor white,
And aloes-wood, to boot, he brought and caskets full of pearls
And priceless rubies and the like of costly gems and bright;
Yea, and black slaves he proffered me and slave-girls big with
child And steeds of price, with splendid arms and trappings
rich bedight.
Raiment of silk and sendal, too, he brought to us for gift, And
me in marriage sought therewith; yet, all his pains despite,
Of me he got not what he sought and brideless did return, For
that estrangement and disdain were pleasing in my sight.
Wherefore, O stranger, dare thou not approach me with desire,
Lest ruin quick and pitiless thy hardihood requite.

When she had made an end of her verses, she folded the letter and delivered it to the nurse, who took it and carried it to El Abbas. He broke it open and read it and apprehended its purport; then took inkhorn and paper and wrote the following verses:

Indeed, thou'st told the tale of kings and men of might, Each one
a lion fierce, impetuous in the fight,
Whose wits (like mine, alack!) thou stalest and whose hearts With
shafts from out thine eyes bewitching thou didst smite.
Yea, and how slaves and steeds and good and virgin girls Were
proffered thee to gift, thou hast not failed to cite,
How presents in great store thou didst refuse and eke The givers,
great and small, with flouting didst requite.
Then came I after them, desiring thee, with me No second save my
sword, my falchion keen and bright.
No slaves with me have I nor camels swift of foot, Nor
slave-girls have I brought in curtained litters dight.
Yet, an thou wilt vouchsafe thy favours unto me, My sabre thou
shalt see the foemen put to flight;
Ay, and around Baghdad the horsemen shalt behold, Like clouds
that wall the world, full many a doughty knight,
All hearkening to my word, obeying my command, In whatsoever
thing is pleasing to my sight.
If slaves thou fain wouldst have by thousands every day Or,
kneeling at thy feet, see kings of mickle might,
And horses eke wouldst have led to thee day by day And girls,
high- breasted maids, and damsels black and white,
Lo under my command the land of Yemen is And trenchant is my
sword against the foe in fight.
Whenas the couriers came with news of thee, how fair Thou wast
and sweet and how thy visage shone with light,
All, all, for thy sweet sake, I left; ay, I forsook Aziz, my
sire, and those akin to me that hight
And unto Irak fared, my way to thee to make, And crossed the
stony wastes i' the darkness of the night.
Then sent I speech to thee in verses such as burn The heart;
reproach therein was none nor yet unright;
Yet with perfidiousness (sure Fortune's self as thou Ne'er so
perfidious was) my love thou didst requite
And deemedst me a waif, a homeless good-for-nought, A
slave-begotten brat, a wanton, witless wight.

Then he folded the letter and committed it to the nurse and gave her five hundred dinars, saying, "Accept this from me, for that indeed thou hast wearied thyself between us." "By Allah, O my lord," answered she, "my desire is to bring about union between you, though I lose that which my right hand possesseth." And he said, "May God the Most High requite thee with good!" Then she carried the letter to Mariyeh and said to her, "Take this letter; belike it may be the end of the correspondence." So she took it and breaking it open, read it, and when she had made an end of it, she turned to the nurse and said to her, "This fellow putteth off lies upon me and avoucheth unto me that he hath cities and horsemen and footmen at his command and submitting to his allegiance; and he seeketh of me that which he shall not obtain; for thou knowest, O nurse, that kings' sons have sought me in marriage, with presents and rarities; but I have paid no heed unto aught of this; so how shall I accept of this fellow, who is the fool[FN#90] of his time and possesseth nought but two caskets of rubies, which he gave to my father, and indeed he hath taken up his abode in the house of El Ghitrif and abideth without silver or gold? Wherefore, I conjure thee by Allah, O nurse, return to him and cut off his hope of me."

Accordingly the nurse returned to El Abbas, without letter or answer; and when she came in to him, he saw that she was troubled and noted the marks of chagrin on her face; so he said to her, "What is this plight?" Quoth she, "I cannot set out to thee that which Mariyeh said; for indeed she charged me return to thee without letter or answer." "O nurse of kings," rejoined El Abbas, "I would have thee carry her this letter and return not to her without it." Then he took inkhorn and paper and wrote the following verses:

My secret is disclosed, the which I strove to hide; Of thee and
of thy love enough have I abyed.
My kinsmen and my friends for thee I did forsake And left them
weeping tears that poured as 'twere a tide.
Yea, to Baghdad I came, where rigour gave me chase And I was
overthrown of cruelty and pride.
Repression's draught, by cups, from the beloved's hand I've
quaffed; with colocynth for wine she hath me plied.
Oft as I strove to make her keep the troth of love, Unto
concealment's ways still would she turn aside.
My body is dissolved with sufferance in vain; Relenting, ay, and
grace I hoped should yet betide;
But rigour still hath waxed on me and changed my case And love
hath left me bound, afflicted, weeping-eyed.
How long shall I anights distracted be for love Of thee? How long
th' assaults of grief and woes abide?
Thou, thou enjoy'st repose and comfortable sleep, Nor of the
mis'ries reckst by which my heart is wried.
I watch the stars for wake and pray that the belov'd May yet to
me relent and bid my tears be dried.
The pains of long desire have wasted me away; Estrangement and
disdain my body sore have tried.
"Be thou not hard of heart," quoth I. Had ye but deigned To visit
me in dreams, I had been satisfied.
But when ye saw my writ, the standard ye o'erthrew Of faith, your
favours grudged and aught of grace denied.
Nay, though ye read therein discourse that sure should speak To
heart and soul, no word thereunto ye replied,
But deemed yourself secure from every changing chance Nor recked
the ebb and flow of Fortune's treacherous tide.
Were my affliction thine, love's anguish hadst thou dreed And in
the flaming hell of long estrangement sighed.
Yet shall thou suffer that which I from thee have borne And with
love's woes thy heart shall yet be mortified.
The bitterness of false accusing shall thou taste And eke the
thing reveal that thou art fain to hide;
Yea, he thou lov'st shall be hard-hearted, recking not Of
fortune's turns or fate's caprices, in his pride.
Wherewith farewell, quoth I, and peace be on thee aye, What while
the branches bend, what while the stars abide.

When he had made an end of his verses, he folded the letter and gave it to the nurse, who took it and carried it to Mariyeh. When she came into the princess's presence, she saluted her; but Mariyeh returned not her salutation and she said, "O my lady, how hard is thy heart that thou grudgest to return the salutation! Take this letter, for that it is the last of that which shall come to thee from him." Quoth Mariyeh, "Take my warning and never again enter my palace, or it will be the cause of thy destruction; for I am certified that thou purposest my dishonour. So get thee gone from me." And she commanded to beat the nurse; whereupon the latter went forth fleeing from her presence, changed of colour and absent of wits, and gave not over going till she came to the house of El Abbas.

When the prince saw her in this plight, he was as a sleeper awakened and said to her, "What hath befallen thee? Set out to me thy case." "God on thee," answered she, "nevermore send me to Mariyeh, and do thou protect me, so may God protect thee from the fires of hell!" Then she related to him that which had bedded her with Mariyeh; which when he heard, there took him the shamefastness of the generous and this was grievous unto him. The love of Mariyeh fled forth of his heart and he said to the nurse, "How much hadst thou of Mariyeh every month?" "Ten dinars," answered she, and he said, "Be not concerned." Then he put his hand to his poke and bringing out two hundred dinars, gave them to her and said, "Take this for a whole year's wage and turn not again to serve any one. When the year is out, I will give thee two years' wage, for that thou hast wearied thyself with us and on account of the cutting off of thy dependence upon Mariyeh."

Moreover, he gave her a complete suit of clothes and raising his head to her, said, "When thou toldest me that which Mariyeh had done with thee, God rooted out the love of her from my heart, and never again will she occur to my mind; so extolled be the perfection of Him who turneth hearts and eyes! It was she who was the cause of my coming out from Yemen, and now the time is past for which I engaged with my people and I fear lest my father levy his troops and come forth in quest of me, for that he hath no child other than myself and cannot brook to be parted from me; and on like wise is it with my mother." When the nurse heard his words, she said to him, "O my lord, and which of the kings is thy father?" "My father is El Aziz, lord of Yemen and Nubia and the Islands[FN#91] of the Benou Kehtan and the Two Noble Sanctuaries[FN#92] (God the Most High have them in His keeping!)," answered El Abbas; "and whenas he taketh horse, there mount with him an hundred and twenty and four thousand horsemen, all smiters with the sword, let alone attendants and servants and followers, all of whom give ear unto my word and obey my commandment." "Why, then, O my lord," asked the nurse, "didst thou conceal the secret of thy rank and lineage and passedst thyself off for a wayfarer? Alas for our disgrace before thee by reason of our shortcoming in rendering thee thy due! What shall be our excuse with thee, and thou of the sons of the kings?" But he rejoined, "By Allah, thou hast not fallen short! Nay, it is incumbent on me to requite thee, what while I live, though I be far distant from thee."