On hearing this the female said, “How is Hatim to find his way to the sea of Kahrman? For the coast is infested by the demons who inhabit those regions, and the perils which await him are insuperable.”—“His safety,” replied the male, “depends on heaven alone; for if his days are not yet at an end, he may encounter every danger, and return in safety. Meanwhile he must proceed to the south, and it will be necessary that he take with him several of our feathers. When he arrives at the confines of the mountain Kaf, he will see before him a wide desert, and ere he enter that wilderness, he must use the following precaution: let him burn the green feathers and strew the ashes in water, with which he must wash his whole body. This will have so strong a scent that no wild beast of the desert can come near him. Moreover, his appearance will be altogether that of a demon; his color will be black as night, and his hands and feet will assume an unnatural size, and he will be able to speak the language of the demons.
“After he shall have passed through the wilderness, and arrived at the island of Barzakh, he must burn the white feathers, and having mingled the ashes with water as before, wash his body with the same. He will then resume his original shape. When he enters the dominions of Mahyar Sulaimani, the fairies of those realms will seize him, and take him before their monarch. Then let Hatim boldly state the object of his journey; when the king, as a matter of course, will ask of him to give an account of the pearl, whereupon he shall have both the pearl and the daughter. Then let Hatim tell all that I have stated, and Mahyar being of most honorable conduct and of strict integrity, will assuredly give him his daughter and the pearl.”
Having thus spoken, the male natika flapped his wings, when a shower of feathers fell around Hatim, who immediately arose and carefully collected them. When the female bird saw this, she said to her partner, “He gathers the feathers as if he had understood what you said; how do you know that Hatim is destined for such important services, and how have you recollected all the circumstances of the pearls?”—“The whole history of the two pearls,” replied the male, “has been preserved by our race from one generation to another; but you females attend not to such grave subjects, nor are you good for anything but talking. The time will come, too, when our race shall be extinct, with the exception of a solitary bird, which is destined to perish only with the world. But these days are still remote; and at present let us enjoy the bounty of Providence, of which we have a greater share than any animal except man. We, like him, are endowed with the faculty of speech, and the ordinary term of our life is longer than his; even we two are destined to live together in this world for the next hundred years.”
By this time the portals of the dawn flew open in the east, and the two birds took their flight from the tree. Hatim at the same time arose, and began his journey towards the south. One night, as he lay down to repose underneath a tree, he heard the cry of some animal in pain, exclaiming, “Alas! is there no creature at hand who will, for the sake of God, assist me?” Hatim, ever ready to aid the distressed, arose and ran towards the spot whence the sound issued. There he saw a female fox stretched on the ground, beating her head upon the stones. “Tell me,” said Hatim, “who has caused thy sorrow?”—“A huntsman,” replied the fox, “has caught in his snares both my husband and children, and has carried them off to be murdered. This heartrending separation is the cause of my grief.”—“Knowest thou where the huntsman resides?” asked Hatim. “His house,” she replied, “is distant from hence two farasangs.”—“Show me the way thither,” said Hatim, “and I will endeavor to save thy kindred.”
The fox hesitated, and said, “O man, how can I trust thee? Art thou not one of the bloodthirsty race of him that has torn my heart asunder, and will it not be thy delight to lead me also into the snare? Truly my fate would be like that of the monkey, whose mishap has become a proverb.”—“Tell me,” said Hatim, “what happened to the monkey?” The fox began as follows: “Once upon a time a monkey with his mate took up their abode in a sequestered spot in the desert of Dāmaghan, where they soon had a family. A huntsman happened to pass that way, and succeeded in catching all the monkeys except the mother, who effected her escape. Meanwhile the huntsman conveyed the male with the young ones to a nobleman’s house, where he disposed of them for a high price, while the poor mother wandered through the desert in the agonies of despair. Regardless of her life, she at last ventured among the haunts of men, and going to the chief of the province, stated the cause of her woe and implored redress, saying, ‘Noble sir, as you hope for mercy from God, have pity on my sorrows. A huntsman belonging to this place has cruelly deprived me of my husband and family.’
“Now it happened that the chief was the very man to whom the huntsman had sold the monkeys, though he was not then aware of it. He, therefore, said to the monkey, ‘Go, conduct my attendants to that huntsman’s house, and bring the parties concerned to my presence.’ The female monkey accordingly led the way to the house of the huntsman, who instantly obeyed the order of the chief. When they returned, the chief said, ‘Is it true, huntsman, that you have deprived this poor monkey of her partner and young ones; and if so, what have you done with them?’
“‘It is most true, noble sir,’ replied he, ‘and the very day I caught them I sold them all to your Highness. If, however, you are disposed to pity her distress, and restore to her those that are so dear to her, I am most willing to return to your Highness the price that was paid for them.’ On hearing this the chief said, in reply to the huntsman, ‘What you propose seems very fair; yet I do not conceive it to be the best plan. Now that I have considered the matter seriously, I think the best thing we can do is to detain the female in the same cage with her kindred, for I would not give away for any money the monkeys you sold to me.’
“But the miseries of the monkey did not cease here. After being for some time confined in the same cage with her young, the prince of Damaghan having heard that the chief had some young monkeys, expressed his wish to have them in his palace. Thus the hapless monkey was doomed to suffer another separation from her young, while her own liberty was lost at the same time. The male had previously died, and now being left solitary, she rejected food and drink, and in a few days escaped from sorrow by death.”
When the fox had finished the story of the monkey, she said to Hatim, “In like manner, it is natural for me to suppose that you will involve me in greater misery.”—“Fear not,” said Hatim; “all men are not so treacherous as those you have mentioned.” At length the fox led the way in the dark, while Hatim followed to the huntsman’s house, where they arrived about the third watch[3] of the night. He there reposed beneath a tree till the approach of day, while the fox concealed herself in the adjacent forest. When the sun arose, Hatim went to the huntsman’s door, knocked, and requested to be admitted. The huntsman opened the door, and was surprised on seeing a handsome stranger of noble and ingenuous countenance standing before him. “Tell me,” said he, “sir, who and whence are you? I see you are a stranger; pray what is your business with me?”—“Worthy sir,” replied Hatim, “I am by birth an Arab; and the cause of my troubling you so early is this: I am afflicted with a pain through all my joints; and the physician has advised me to wash my body all over with the warm blood of a fox, whereby my recovery will be complete. Now I have been informed that you have some live foxes, which you lately caught when hunting. I pray you, then, let me have them all, and I will pay you any price you may name for them.”—“Truly, sir,” replied the huntsman, “I am glad that I can supply you with foxes; for here have I not fewer than seven of them, the old one and six cubs, all alive; take them, then, at your own price, and I wish you joy of your purchase.”
The huntsman produced the foxes, the male tied by the four feet, and the cubs enclosed in a basket; and Hatim having paid him a price beyond his expectation, returned to the desert. There he opened the basket, and let out the cubs; but when he loosened the strings that tied the old fox, he found that the wretched animal had not the power of moving. In fact, it had been strongly fettered by the huntsman, and confined all the time without food or drink, so that the spark of life had almost become extinct. Hatim was about to leave the fox to his fate, saying, “Thy life is at an end, God’s will be done,” when the female approached him, and said, “Generous Hatim, there is yet one remedy that will restore him to life.”—“Name it,” replied Hatim, “and, if possible, I will procure it.”—“A cupful of human blood,” rejoined the fox, “warm and newly drawn, will be the means of his complete recovery.” On hearing this, Hatim instantly opened a vein in his left arm; and having drawn a cupful of his own blood, he administered the same to the perishing fox, whereby a perfect cure ensued. He then tied up his wound, while the animals prostrated themselves at his feet in gratitude for his beneficence.