The Arabian Nights, Volume I of IV

by Unknown

“This mountain,” continued the pilot, “is very steep; and on the summit there is a large dome, made of fine bronze, which is supported upon columns of the same metal. Upon the top of the dome there is also a bronze horse with the figure of a man upon it. A plate of lead covers his breast, upon which there are some talismanic characters engraven: and there is a tradition, sire,” added he, “that this statue is the principal cause of the loss of so many vessels and men who have been drowned in this place, and will never cease from being destructive to all who shall have the misfortune to approach it, until it be overthrown.” The pilot, having finished his speech, renewed his tears, which excited those of the whole crew. As for myself, I did not doubt that I was now approaching the end of my days. Every individual began to think of his own preservation, and to try every possible means condusive to that end: and during the uncertainty of the event, they all appointed, by a sort of will, the survivors, if any should be saved, the heirs of the rest.

The next morning we distinctly perceived the black mountain; and the idea we had formed of it made it appear still more dreadful and horrid than it really was. About mid-day we found ourselves so near it, that we began to perceive what the pilot had foretold. We saw the nails, and every other piece of iron belonging to the vessels, fly towards the mountain, against which, by the violence of the magnetic attraction, they struck with a horrible noise. The vessels then immediately fell to pieces and sunk to the bottom of the sea; which was so deep in this place, that we could never discover the bottom by sounding. All my people were lost; but God had pity upon me, and suffered me to save myself by laying hold of a plank which was driven by the wind directly to the foot of the mountain. I did not experience the least harm, and had the good fortune to land in a place where there were steps which led to the summit. I was much rejoiced at sight of these steps, for there was not the least piece of land either to the right or left, upon which I could have set my foot to save myself. I returned thanks to God, and invoking his holy name, began to ascend the mountain. The path was narrow, and so steep and difficult, that had the wind been at all violent, it must have blown me into the sea. I arrived at last at the summit without any accident; and entering the dome, I prostrated myself on the ground, and offered my thanks to God for the favour he had shown me.

I passed the night under this dome; and while I was asleep, a venerable old man appeared to me, and said, “Agib, attend; when you awake, dig up the earth under your feet, and you will find a brazen bow with three leaden arrows, manufactured under certain constellations, in order to deliver mankind from many evils which continually menace them. Shoot these three arrows at the statue; the man will then fall into the sea, and the horse at your feet, which you must bury in the same spot from whence you take the bow and arrows. This being finished, the sea will begin to be agitated, and will rise as high as the foot of the dome at the top of the mountain. When it shall have risen thus high, you will see a small vessel come towards the shore with only one man in it, who holds an oar in each hand. This man will be of brass, but different from the one that was overthrown. Embark with him without pronouncing the name of God, and let him conduct you. In ten days he will have carried you into another sea, where you will find the means of returning to your own country in safety; provided, as I have already told you, you forbear from mentioning the name of God during the whole of your voyage.”

Such was the discourse of the old man. As soon as I was awake, I got up much consoled by this vision, and did not fail doing as the old man had ordered me. I uncovered the bow and the arrows, and shot them at the statue. With the third arrow I overthrew the man, who fell into the sea, while the horse lay at my feet. I buried it in the place where I found the bow and arrows, and while I was doing this, the sea rose by degrees till it reached the foot of the dome on the summit of the mountain. I perceived a vessel at a distance coming towards me. I offered my benedictions to God at thus seeing my dream in every respect proving a reality. The vessel at length approached the land, and I saw in it a man made of brass as had been described. I embarked, and took particular care not to pronounce the name of God. I did not even utter a single word. When I had sat down, the brazen figure began to row from the mountain. He continued doing so without intermission till the ninth day, when I saw some islands, which made me hope I should soon be free from every danger that I dreaded. The excess of my joy made me forget the order that had been given me as a security, “Blessed be God,” I cried out, “God be praised.”

I had hardly finished these words, when both the vessel and brazen man sunk to the bottom. I remained in the water, and swam during the rest of the day towards the nearest island. The night, which came on, was exceedingly dark: and as I no longer knew where I was, I continued swimming at a venture. My strength was at last quite exhausted, and I began to despair of being able to save myself, when the wind having much increased, a wave as large as a mountain, threw me upon a flat shallow place, and on retiring left me there. I immediately made haste to get farther on land for fear another wave should come and carry me back. The first thing I then did, was to undress and wring the water out of my clothes, and spread them upon the sand, which was still warm from the heat of the preceding day.

The next morning, as soon as the sun had quite dried my dress, I put it on, and began to reconnoitre; and tried to discover where I was. I had not walked far, before I found out I was upon a small desert island, very pleasant, and where there were many sorts of fruit-trees as well as others; but I observed, that it was at a considerable distance from the main land, which rather lessened the joy I felt at having escaped from the sea. I nevertheless trusted in God to dispose of my fate according to his will: soon afterwards I discovered a very small vessel, which seemed to come full sail directly from the main land, with her prow towards the island where I was. As I had no doubt they were coming to anchor here, and as I knew not what sort of people they might be, whether friends or enemies, I determined at first not to show myself. I got up therefore, into a very thick tree, from whence I could examine their countenances without danger. The vessel soon sailed up a small creek or bay, where ten slaves landed with a spade and other instruments in their bands, for the purpose of digging the earth. They went towards the middle of the island, where I observed them stop and dig up the earth for some time; and by their actions they appeared to me to lift up a trap-door. They immediately returned to the vessel, from which they landed many sorts of provisions and furniture, and each taking a load, they carried them to the place where they had before dug up the ground. They then seemed to descend, which made me conjecture there was a subterraneous place. I saw them once more go to the vessel, and come back with an old man, who brought with him a youth, seemingly well made, and about fourteen or fifteen years old. They all descended at the spot where the trap-door had been lifted up. After they came out again, they shut down the door and covered it with earth as before; and then returned to the creek where their vessel lay; but I observed that the young man did not come back with them, whence I concluded that he remained in the subterraneous place. This circumstance very much excited my astonishment.

The old man and the slaves then embarked, and hoisting the sails, made way for the main land. When I found the vessel had got so far off that I could not be perceived by the crew, I came down from the tree and went directly to the place where I had seen them dig away the earth. I now did the same thing, and at last discovered a stone, two or three feet square. I lifted it up, and found that it concealed the entrance to a flight of stone stairs. I descended, and at the bottom perceived that I was in a large chamber, the floor of which was covered with a carpet, as was also a sofa and some cushions with a rich stuff, where I saw a young man sitting down with a fan in his hand. I distinguished all these things by the light of two torches, as I did also the fruits and pots of flowers which were near him. At the sight of me the young man was much alarmed; but in order to give him courage, I said to him on entering, “Whoever you are, fear nothing, sir: a king, and the son of a king, as I am, is not capable of doing you any injury. On the contrary, you may esteem it as a most fortunate circumstance that I am come here to deliver you from this tomb, where you seem to me to have been buried alive; but for what reasons I am unable to tell. What, however, most embarrasses me (for I will not conceal that I have been a witness to every thing that has passed since you landed on this island,) and what I cannot understand is, that you seem to have suffered yourself to have been buried here without making any resistance.”

The young man was much encouraged by this speech, and requested in a pleasing manner that I would take a seat near him. As soon as I was seated he said, “I am about, prince, to inform you of a circumstance, the singular nature of which will very much surprise you.

“My father is a jeweller, who has acquired, by his industry and skill in his profession, a very large fortune. He has a great number of slaves and factors, who make many voyages for him in his own vessels. He has also correspondents in many courts, which he supplies with all the precious stones and jewels they have occasion for. He had been married a long time without having any children, when one night he dreamed that he should have a son, whose life, however, would be but short. This dream, when he awoke, gave him great uneasiness. Some time after this, my mother informed him that she was with child and the very time when she thought she had conceived, agreed exactly with my father’s dream. At the end of nine months I was born, to the great joy of all the family. My father having observed with the greatest exactness the moment of my birth, consulted the astrologers, who answered, “Your son shall live without any accident or misfortune till he is fifteen, but he will then run a great risk of losing his life, and will not escape from it without much difficulty. If, however, he should have the good fortune not to perish, his life will continue many years. About this time too,” they added, “the equestrian statue of brass which stands on the top of the loadstone mountain will be overthrown by prince Agib, the son of king Cassib, and fall into the sea; and the stars also discover that fifty days afterwards your son will be killed by that prince.

“As this prediction agreed with my father’s dream, he was very much struck and afflicted by it. He did not, however, omit taking the greatest care of my education till the present moment, which is the fifteenth year of my age. He was yesterday informed that ten days ago the brazen figure was overthrown by the prince whom I mentioned to you: and this intelligence cost him so many tears and alarms, that he hardly looks like the same man.