CHAPTER VIII.
COMMENCING WITH PART OF THE HUNDRED AND SEVENTH NIGHT,[1] AND ENDING WITH PART OF THE HUNDRED AND THIRTY-SEVENTH.
THE STORY OF TÁJ-EL-MULOOK AND THE LADY DUNYÀ.
There was, in former times, a city behind the mountains of Iṣpahán, called El-Medeeneh el-Khaḍrà,[2] and in it resided a King called the King Suleymán. He was a person of liberality and beneficence, and justice and integrity, and of a generous and obliging disposition: travellers repaired to him from every quarter, and his fame spread throughout all the regions and countries; and he reigned a long time in glory and security; but he was destitute of children and of wives.
He had a Wezeer who nearly resembled him in his qualities, in liberality and other endowments; and it came to pass that he sent to this Wezeer one day, and having summoned him into his presence, said to him, O Wezeer, my heart is contracted, and my patience is overcome, and my strength is impaired, because I have neither a wife nor a child: this is not the usual way of Kings who rule over lords and poor men; for they rejoice in leaving children, and multiplying by them the number of their posterity; and the Prophet (God bless and save him!) hath said, Intermarry, and beget offspring, that ye may increase in number; for I shall contend for your superiority with the other nations on the day of resurrection.—What, then, is thy counsel, O Wezeer? Point out to me what is advisable.—But when the Wezeer heard these words, tears poured from his eyes, and he replied, Far be it from me, O King of the age, that I should speak of that which belongeth unto the Compassionate to decide![3] Dost thou desire that I should enter the fire of Hell, through the anger of the Almighty King?—Know, O Wezeer, rejoined his sovereign, that, if the King purchase a female slave whose rank and lineage are unknown, he will not be acquainted with her ignoble origin that he may abstain from her, or the nobility of her extraction that he may make her his companion: so, if he do this, she may perhaps bear him a son who may be a hypocrite, a tyrant, a shedder of blood; and she may resemble a marshy land, the produce of which is worthless, and attaineth no excellence: her child may be obnoxious to the indignation of his Lord, not doing what He commandeth him, nor refraining from that which He forbiddeth him to do. I will never, therefore, be the means of such an event by purchasing a female slave. I desire, rather, that thou demand in marriage for me one of the daughters of the Kings, whose lineage is known, and whose loveliness is celebrated. If, then, thou wilt point out to me one of good birth and of religion among the daughters of the Muslim Kings, I will demand her as my wife, and marry her in the presence of witnesses, that I may thereby obtain the approval of the Lord of mankind.—The Wezeer replied, Verily God hath accomplished thy want and given thee thy desire.—How so? asked the King.—Know, O King, answered the Wezeer, that it hath been told me that the King Zahr Sháh, the sovereign of El-Arḍ el-Beyḍà,[4] hath a daughter of astonishing loveliness, whom words cannot describe, whose equal existeth not in this age, for she is endowed with the most perfect beauty and symmetry, with black eye, and long hair, and slender waist, and large hips; when she approacheth she seduceth, and when she turneth her back she killeth, ravishing the heart and the eye. It is my opinion, therefore, O King, that thou shouldst send to her father an intelligent messenger, well-informed, and experienced in the course of events, that he may courteously ask her in marriage for thee of her father; for she hath no equal in the distant parts of the earth, nor in the near; so shalt thou enjoy her lovely face, and the Glorious King shall approve thy conduct; since it hath been handed down from the Prophet (God bless and save him!) that he said, There is no monkery in El-Islám.
Upon this, the King was perfectly delighted, his bosom expanded with joy, and anxiety and grief departed from him; and, addressing his Wezeer, he said to him, Know, O Wezeer, that no one shall go on this business but thou, on account of thy consummate wisdom and politeness: depart, therefore, to thy house, and accomplish what thou hast to do, and prepare thyself by the morrow, and demand for me in marriage this damsel with whom thou hast caused my heart to be engrossed, and return not to me without her. The Wezeer replied, I hear and obey:—and he went to his house, and gave orders to bring presents suitable to Kings, consisting of costly jewels and precious rarities, such as were light to carry and of great value, together with Arab horses, and Davidean coats of mail,[5] and chests of wealth such as language would fail to describe. These they placed upon the mules and camels, and the Wezeer departed, accompanied by a hundred memlooks and a hundred male black slaves and a hundred female slaves, and the flags and banners were unfurled over his head. The King charged him to return soon; and after his departure, the King Suleymán Sháh burned with desire, and became engrossed with love of the damsel night and day. Meanwhile, the Wezeer, by night and by day traversed the deserts and wastes until there remained between him and the city to which he was repairing one day's journey, when he alighted at the bank of a river, and, having summoned one of his chief officers, ordered him to go quickly to the King Zahr Sháh, and to acquaint him with his approach. He answered, I hear and obey:—and went quickly to the city; and when he arrived there, it happened that the King Zahr Sháh was sitting in one of the places of recreation before the gate of the city, and, seeing him as he entered, knew him to be a stranger, and summoned him before him. So when the messenger came to him, he informed him of the approach of the Wezeer of the supreme King Suleymán Sháh, the King of El-Arḍ el-Khaḍrà and of the mountains of Iṣpahán; and the King Zahr Sháh rejoiced, and welcomed the messenger, and, having conducted him to his palace, said to him, Where didst thou part from the Wezeer? He answered, I parted from him in the morning at the bank of such a river, and to-morrow he will arrive and visit thee: may God continue his favours unto thee, and show mercy unto thy parents![6] Zahr Sháh then ordered one of his wezeers to take with him the greater number of his chief officers and chamberlains and lieutenants and the lords of his court, and to go forth with them to meet him, in honour of the King Suleymán Sháh; for his dominion extended through the land.