{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_51219/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_51219","id":"gutenberg_51219","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/51219","summary":null,"tags":["Adventure and adventurers -- Fiction","Arabs -- Folklore","Category: Adventure","Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Category: Novels","Fairy tales -- Arab countries","Islam -- Fiction","Kings and rulers -- Fiction","Magic -- Fiction","Marriage -- Fiction","Princesses -- Fiction","Tales -- Arab countries"],"text":"[Illustration: Princess Badoura]\n\n\n\nPRINCESS BADOURA\n\nA tale from the Arabian Nights\n\nRetold by Laurence Housman\n\nillustrated by\n\nEdmund Dulac\n\n\nHodder and Stoughton\n\n\n\nList of Illustrations\n\n\nPrincess Badoura\n\nDahnash and Meymooneh\n\n  'As she rose up through clouds there passed one she knew by his tail\n  to be Dahnash.'\n\nThe King of China and Badoura\n\n  'The King came in haste, and found that which till now he had only\n  pretended, concerning his daughter, apparently come true.'\n\nCamaralzaman as an Astrologer\n\n  'At last the King heard him, and said to the Vizier, \"Go down and\n  bring the Astrologer in.\"'\n\nCamaralzaman Cures Badoura\n\n  'She ran forth, and threw herself into the arms of Camaralzaman.'\n\nCamaralzaman Finds the Talisman\n\n  'The Prince saw the girdle, and knotted within its folds, a large\n  stone.'\n\nPrince Camaralzaman and the Birds\n\n  'In the leaves overhead he saw one furiously attacking another with\n  beak and claw.'\n\nBadoura Watching the Ship\n\n  'It so happened as the ship came into the harbour, Badoura was\n  looking out towards the sea.'\n\nCapture of Camaralzaman\n\n  'The captain of the ship goes to capture Camaralzaman at the command\n  of Badoura.'\n\nThe Final Marriage Procession\n\n\n\n\nA Tale from The Arabian Nights Retold by Laurence Housman\n\n\nThe Sultan Shahriar stands out to fame as the greatest monogamist in\nall history. Having been deceived by his first wife, he caused her to\nbe put to death, and then proceeded to avenge himself upon a thousand\nothers. Faithful to his monogamic instincts, he married a fresh wife\nevery day, and on the morning of the next became a widower. Having\nthus achieved faith to a thousand dead maidens--all equally beloved\nin turn--he may, in his heart of hearts, have found that change, so\ndoggedly insisted on, did but mean boredom, and so may readily have\nwelcomed any excuse to relax a performance to which he had bound\nhimself by many religious oaths.\n\nBut, if he had a heart, the old Eastern chronicler has neglected\nto tell us what was in it; and at the point where his sacrificial\nbridals have become monotonous, the interest of the story shifts from\nbridegroom to bride, and Scheherazade, daughter of the Grand Vizier,\nwitty, courageous, resourceful, and most prolix of all delightful\ntale-tellers, adventurously enters the royal menage, and becomes his\nonly surviving wife.\n\nFor Scheherazade, intent on saving the lives of others, brings her\nbridesmaid with her, a younger sister named Dinarzade; and when the\nmorning light comes to tell her that death is near, Dinarzade--prompted\nthereto beforehand--stirs in her attendant place at the foot of the\ncouch, and asks for the sake of old times that one last tale may be\ntold.\n\nShahriar, at the bride's humble request, grants permission, and from\nthat moment is in the toils of the plot which has made his name so\nsecondary in importance to hers. Scheherazade, 'to do a great right,\ndoes a little wrong': by her entrancing powers of narrative, always\ninterrupted when the interest of each story is at its height, she\nbreeds in her tyrant lord infirmity of will, and destroys the only\nprinciple of conduct wherewith he set out to teach woman her place. For\nthe thousand and one nights which have given their name to the world's\nmost famous collection of stories, he lives blissfully forsworn,\npostponing the execution of his wife to another day; and at the end,\nrepenting him of his vows, does what we still make our kings do in\nEngland when justice has gone astray, and bestows his 'free pardon'\nupon innocence.\n\nThe story which is here retold, with many of its life-saving\nprolixities omitted, has the distinction of being, according to some\nversions, the last of all: it witnesses the accomplishment of the task\nwhich Scheherazade set out to perform. [Pg 4]With the story of Badoura,\nthe woman of beauty and brain, who, personating her husband, ruled a\nKingdom, and without jealousy provided him at the end of his wanderings\nwith a second wife--in this story Scheherazade, her great act of\nstatesmanship concluded, adumbrates what woman set free to use her own\nresources can do. And in this reflection of her own great adventurous\nself the series concludes. Through a thousand dim dawns, with the\nissue still in doubt, she has led the forlorn hope for all the other\nwomen whose lives she would save; and when her tyrant relents, and in\nhis promise to spare her life spares theirs as well, she kneels and\ngratefully kisses his feet.\n\n\n\nThe History of Badoura, Princess of China, and of Camaralzaman, The\nIsland Prince\n\n\nThe story of Aboulhassan, the Prince of Persia, had come to an end and\nthe light of morning was full. Then said Dinarzade, 'Another story,\nO sister, another story!' Scheherazade made answer, 'If my Lord will\nsuffer me to live for another day, there is yet one more tale that I\ncould tell. The history of Prince Camaralzaman and of his bride Badoura\nis far more entrancing than that which I have just given; but it is too\nlong to be told now.'\n\nThen she was silent; and Shahriar could not bring himself to order her\ndeath till he had heard that story also. So once more he let his oath\nstay unfulfilled and deferred sentence; and the next night, wakened\nin the small hours towards dawn, Scheherazade, opening a mouth of\nloveliness and filling it with wise and sweet words, took up the thread\nof her tale and began:\n\nO King, live for ever! About twenty days' sail from the coast of\nPersia there lies in the open sea an island which is called Khaledan,\na country wealthy and prosperous and containing many large and\nwell-inhabited towns. Its ruler in ancient times was a king named\nShahzaman. As a reward for his many virtues, he had gathered about him\na large and well-proportioned household, four wives, the daughters of\nkings, and sixty concubines; but, in spite of so generous a provision\nfor that which only Heaven can bestow, he had no son; and as time went\non, and he grew old, his bones wasted, and his heart became filled with\naffliction; and he said to his Vizier, 'Now in a little while I shall\ndie; then will my name perish, and my Kingdom pass to others, for I\nhave not a son to come after me. Tell me, is there anything I can do to\navert so great a calamity?'\n\nHis Vizier answered, 'When human means fail, it is then that we must\nrely on Heaven, for often these evils are sent to remind us of our\ndependence on Him who alone holds power. Fast, therefore, and pray, and\nperform ablutions, and when that is done make a great banquet, and call\nto it the poor and needy; it may be that among them will be found one\npure and righteous soul whose blessing will thus descend on thee, for\nthe fulfilment of thy desire.'\n\nThe King did as his Vizier advised: he made a great feast, and called\nto it all whose poverty might give virtue to their petition: and\nbidding them pray that he might have a son, caused meat to be set\nbefore them; so they did eat and were filled.\n\nThis holy act had the desired effect; one of the King's four Queens\nimmediately conceived, and in course of time presented him with a son\nas fair as a full moon on a cloudless night. When the midwives and\nnurses carried him to his father, the King, seeing his beauty and\ntransported with joy at the event, named him Camaralzaman, that is to\nsay Moon of the Age; and he sent out orders, on pain of death to any\nwho disobeyed, that for seven days the drums were to beat and every\nhouse in the city to be decorated in sign of thanksgiving. Never were\nsuch rejoicings heard.\n\nThe Prince was reared and educated with all care and magnificence until\nhe attained the age of fifteen. For the polish of his manners and the\nenlightenment of his brain the wisest and most accomplished men in the\nKingdom were chosen; and since from the first he displayed a modest and\ndocile disposition, combined with a fine understanding, he became, as\nhe approached the years of manhood, the most virtuous and eligible heir\nto a throne that monarch or people could find it in their hearts to\ndesire.\n\nHe was of surpassing comeliness and grace, perfect in form and stature;\nand his father loved him so tenderly that he could scarcely bear to be\naway from him either by night or day. This devotion to his son was,\nindeed, so excessive, that the King himself was perturbed by it, for\nalways accompanying it was a terror lest the Prince might die.\n\nOne day he said to his Grand Vizier, 'How came it that my happiness in\nthe possession of such a son gives me anxiety rather than rest? When I\nwas childless I was miserable, and now that the desire of my heart has\nbeen satisfied, I am full of dread lest he also should die childless\nand my hope of posterity fail? Calamities and accidents come when we\nleast expect them, and so it seems to me now that the Prince being\nvigorous and strong is in greater danger of death than I who am near\nthe grave. For him a thousand perils are waiting, while I have nothing\nto fear but old age. If, therefore, I may not see my son married in my\nown lifetime I shall die in a state more miserable than that which I\nendured before he was born.'\n\nHis Vizier said, 'The Prince is still full young, but nothing forbids\nthat he should marry if, by the will of Allah, we can find one worthy\nof him.'\n\n'As for that,' said the King, 'Heaven cannot have willed to send into\nthe world a form of beauty and of virtue so pre-eminent without also\nproviding a fitting match for it. Doubt not, if the Prince himself is\nwilling, that some maiden not too far beneath him will be found capable\nof sustaining the honour.'\n\nSo Shahzaman sent for his son, and Camaralzaman came and stood before\nhim, and when he saw the King seated in state upon his throne, though\nnot having his lords round him, the Prince bade reverence take the\nplace of love, and with his head bowed down toward the ground waited in\nsubmission for the royal word to be spoken.\n\nThus he stood before his father humbly as a stranger; for never before\nhad the King so received him, and he wondered why he had been summoned,\nand in his heart there was a fear.\n\nThe King perceiving his reserve said to him, 'My son, can you now\nguess for what reason I have sent for you?' But the Prince answered,\n'My lord, I would not so presume; for it is not in the power of one so\nyoung as I am to fathom the thoughts of the hearts of Kings. Only when\nI hear the true reason from your Majesty's lips will my brain become\nenlightened.'\n\nSo he spoke, with all the decorum, and deference, and virtue, and\nprudent modesty which had been instilled in him by the preceptors of\nhis youth; and Shahzaman, his father, loved him for it, and said in his\nheart, 'Never was King blessed with such a son as I.'\n\nThen he said to the Prince, 'What thou lackest in years of man's estate\nthou hast already gained in wisdom and understanding; therefore as\na man I speak to thee. Know, then, it is my wish that thou shouldst\nmarry, so that before my days are ended I may rejoice in the assurance\nof my posterity.'\n\nWhen Camaralzaman heard these words he no longer hung his head, but\nstood up straight; and as he made answer to the King his face flushed\nand his eyes grew bright; and said he, 'O my father, is it into bondage\nyou would deliver me ere I become a man? Lo, here am I, the son of\nKings, and all my life till now have I been free, and my soul has\nbeen free within me, because I have not gone in the way of women nor\ninclined my heart toward them; but if I marry, then by their cunning\nand guile will my soul and my freedom be taken from me. Far rather\nwould I drink the cup of death.'\n\nWhen King Shahzaman heard that, the light of day darkened before him,\nfor never until now had his son gone against his wish or disobeyed his\nword. But, because he loved the youth very tenderly, he forgave him\nand thought not at this time to punish him; for he said to himself,\n'At present he is full young, and excess of virtue hath caused his\nmanhood to slumber.' So he forbore, and waited till another year should\nhave passed, and withdrew not from his son the light and favour of his\ncountenance.\n\nSo Camaralzaman continued in undisturbed life to receive the\ninstructions of his preceptors, and every day he increased in beauty\nand comeliness of form, in modesty of mind, and in grace of manner and\nin elegance of deportment. Added to which, he became accomplished in\nverse, and eloquence, and rhetoric and the divine sciences, so that the\nflower of his form and the honey of his understanding made together a\nthing of inconceivable loveliness and attraction. Even as a magical\nwillow-branch bearing peach-blossom and fruit at one season, so was he.\n\nNow when another year was completed, his father having once more\nconsulted with the Grand Vizier, sent for him again, and said, 'This\ntime, O my son, listen to my word, and obey; for now have thy years\ntouched manhood, and unless thou beget children thy virtue and wisdom\nare wasted. Therefore if thou wilt marry her whom I shall now choose\nfor thee, I will also make thee ruler over all my dominions; so with\nmine eyes shall I see my kingdom and my posterity established, and\nrejoice in thee before I die.'\n\nBut the Prince had listened so well to the preceptors set over him to\nguard his virtue, and had pondered so deeply the books which wise men\nhad written in their old age, when delight had fled from them and when\nall that they had done in the past seemed only to be vanity, that his\nmind, even though his heart softened to his father's request, remained\nas aforetime. Therefore, abasing himself in fear and reverence at the\nKing's feet, he said, 'O my father, not so can I find happiness, or\nstrength, or wisdom wherewith to rule others, seeing that if I marry\nI cease to be ruler of myself. In all things outward it is Allah's\nwill that I should obey you; but in this which comes from within and\nconcerns myself alone, I can obey the voice of no man, however wise he\nmay be. Yet, by all the seers and poets and soothsayers is the same\nthing told, that woman is a calamity, and that from her spring all the\nweaknesses and afflictions of men.' And so saying with sweetness and\nmodulation of tone, and grace of gesture, Camaralzaman began to recite\nto his father all the words of the poets; and there was not a poet who\nhad written poetry in his old age whose verses did not bear out the\ncontention.\n\nSo when the King had heard the verses of the poets and the words of\nthe ancients arrayed against him, he returned no answer; for he said\nto himself: 'I doubt not but that before another year shall have run\nthat voice within will have spoken differently to my son than it speaks\nnow, and the words of the sages will have far less weight with him then\nthan the glance of some woman's eye.' Once more, therefore, letting\nhis tenderness extinguish his resentment, he forgave the Prince's\ndisobedience and received him back into his favour.\n\nBut to his Grand Vizier Shahzaman said, 'Now twice, O Vizier, have I\ncome to thee for advice, and what profit has it been? When I consulted\nthee first as to marrying my son thy word was for it; yet no sooner did\nI mention it to him than his mind rebelled. This time also, it was on\nthy advice that I sought to bribe him by the offer of power; but when I\noffered him the Crown, so little did he care that he seemed almost not\nto have heard me. What better advice, then, wilt thou give me now so\nthat my patience may be rewarded and my heart obtain its desire?'\n\n[Illustration: Dahnash and Meymooneh.\n\n'As she rose up through clouds there passed one she knew by his tail to\nbe Dahnash.' (p. 27)]\n\nThe Vizier answered, 'O King, thy son hath presumed on thy forbearance,\nknowing well thy tenderness, and when thou hast spoken with him it hath\nbeen privately and as a father. But when a year hence the time comes to\nspeak with him again on this matter, then speak not to him privately\nany more, but before all the people, with the emirs and the viziers\nand the troops standing by. Then he will no longer dare to oppose\nthee, since to do so before all those witnesses would be an offence\ntreasonable and worthy of death.'\n\nSo the King accepted the advice of his Vizier, and when another\nyear had gone by he summoned the Prince to his presence on a day of\nfestival, when all about him were the dignitaries and chamberlains of\nhis court, the viziers of the provinces, and the emirs of neighbouring\nstates who paid tribute to Shahzaman as their Sultan. Thus he sat in\nall his power and splendour, and Camaralzaman came in and drew near,\nand stood before him, being then in his eighteenth year, with the early\nbloom of manhood beginning to show upon his cheek. Allah, who loves to\ngive beauty to virtue, had clothed him in comeliness and crowned his\nfeatures with joy; his eyes were like pools of deep water and their\nglances flashed like a fountain in the sun; and from head to foot\nwhether he moved or stood he was perfect in dignity and grace.\n\nAs he approached, thrice he bent and kissed the ground in sign of\nobedience and reverence, and thereafter stood upright, with hands\nfolded behind his back, waiting to hear the King's pleasure.\n\nShahzaman spoke. 'Once more, O my son, I have sent for thee to declare\nmy will. Twice ere this have I been tender and patient, not forcing an\ninclination that was not ripe. But now thou art come to man's estate,\nand the season of waiting is ended. Therefore my command is that thou\nmarry a daughter of kings, whom presently I shall choose for thee; so\nshall I have joy in thee before I die, seeing the establishment of my\nposterity.'\n\nWhen Camaralzaman heard these words he shut fast his lips and stood\nspeechless for a while. But as his eye fell on all those lords\nassembled as witnesses as to what he should say, wrath kindled in his\nblood and the fire of youth mounted to his brain and he spoke swiftly\nand unadvisedly.\n\n'Surely,' he said, 'thou art a man of great age and little sense thus\nto talk, having already been answered! Twice before hast thou asked\nme, and twice have I refused. Thinkest thou with all these cooks to\nmake a better broth of me, having thyself failed? I swear now that\nrather than marry I will drink the cup of perdition and die: for no\nman shall possess himself of my body to give it to another while my\nwill is contrary!' And so saying Camaralzaman unclasped his hands from\nbehind his back, and rolling up his sleeves stood before his father all\nquivering with anger.\n\nGreatly was Shahzaman, the King, disturbed at receiving so public an\naffront from the son whom he loved so tenderly. For a moment he sat\nspeechless, seeing in the eyes of those around him the reflection of\nhis humiliation and shame; then his energy returned to him, and rising\nfrom his throne he uttered so terrible a cry of wrath that at once\nCamaralzaman became conscious of the enormity of his offence, and his\nhasty anger departed leaving only contrition and fear.\n\nThen, at the King's command, the memlooks came and seized him, and\nhaving first bound his hands, dragged him before the throne.\n\nThe extremity of Shahzaman's wrath now broke into words, and while the\nPrince stood speechless before him, his head bowed down and with drops\nof anguish upon his brow, he loaded him with a volume of abuse which\ndid not spare even the Queen's unblemished reputation. 'Woe to thee,'\nhe cried, 'baseborn child of iniquity and deceit! Is it thus that a\nKing is to be answered in the presence of his people? Is it thus that a\nson nurtured in the tenderest affection casts insult on the head of his\nfather. Had such language been uttered by one of the common people, it\nhad been less disgraceful and more pardonable than coming from thee.'\n\nThen he commanded the memlooks to take him away and imprison him in the\ndeepest dungeon of the castle, which had long stood neglected and empty.\n\nServants of the Prince hearing of that order went in haste and prepared\nthe chamber for his reception; they swept the walls of its cobwebs, and\nwiped the damp from the floors; they placed in it a bedstead, and on it\nlaid a mattress and a leather covering and cushions; they also provided\na large lantern and a candle, for even in the daytime the place was\ndark. To this dungeon came Camaralzaman escorted by his guard, and when\nall had been made secure and a eunuch set outside to keep watch, there\nthey left him.\n\nCamaralzaman threw himself upon the couch weeping, for bitterly now\ndid he repent of his injurious conduct to his father; yet even in his\naffliction he ceased not to inveigh against marriage. 'Malediction upon\nwomen!' he cried, 'alas, why were they invented to give sting to the\naffections and divide father and son! Had Allah refrained from creating\nwomen, certainly I should not have been here!'\n\nThus in his misfortune did Camaralzaman find truths to comfort him.\nMeanwhile the King, his father, was suffering an equal affliction, and\nlacking the philosophy of youth he sought to find comfort in laying the\nblame for all that had happened upon the Grand Vizier. 'See, O Vizier!'\nhe cried, 'what comes of taking counsel with thee! Thou alone hast\nbeen the cause of my son's undoing; for had I spoken to him privately\non this matter as aforetime, he would not have answered me otherwise\nthan as a son should and in such manner as would have made forgiveness\npossible. Now, therefore, since we are brought to this pass by the\nfoolishness of thy wisdom, it is for thee to devise means by which we\nmay find a remedy.'\n\nThe Vizier replied: 'O King, let the Prince stay where he is for\nanother fifteen days, so shall he have time to cool himself. I doubt\nnot that thereafter his mind toward marriage will be all that your\nheart can desire. Better to him then will seem the bride's chamber than\nthe stone walls of his prison.'\n\nShahzaman took the Vizier's advice and slept on it, or rather slept not\nat all, for the loss of his son so troubled him that he lay awake all\nnight tossing restlessly from side to side and longing for the light of\nday.\n\nFar better did Camaralzaman fare; for when night came the eunuch\nbrought lantern and candle, and having prepared a table set food before\nhim. The Prince ate little and thought much, sorrow for his ill-conduct\nhaving severed his appetite in half, and when he had finished he\ncalled for water and washed his hands from all taint of food; then he\nperformed the ablution preparatory to prayer, and recited with his\naccustomed regularity the prayers of sunset and nightfall. After that\nhe sat upon the couch reciting extracts from the Koran: he recited\nthe chapters from 'The Cow' and 'The Family of Emran' and 'The Two\nPreventives'; and having done all these things he commended his soul to\nAllah and laid himself down upon the couch, whereon was a mattress of\nfigured satin showing its pattern on both sides and stuffed abundantly\nwith ostrich plumes. And when sleep drew near he took off his outer\nraiment and clothed himself in a fine shirt of waxed linen, and wrapped\nabout his head a kerchief of blue muslin so that he seemed like the\nmoon on its fourteenth night. Then with the lantern at his feet and the\ncandle at his head, he covered himself with the sheet and fell into the\nsleep of the just from which he awakened not till after the third hour,\nknowing nought of the hidden event which then awaited him, or what\nAllah, who knoweth all secrets, had decreed should befell.\n\n[Illustration: The King of China and Badoura.\n\n'The King came in haste, and found that which till now he had only\npretended, concerning his daughter, apparently come true.' (p. 51)]\n\nNow in the floor of this dungeon was an old well malodorous and foul\nthrough long disuse; and in this well dwelt a female Genie or Efreet,\nnamed Meymooneh, a monster of bad ancestry and of tremendous power to\nset evil above good. Toward midnight, when the hour for her nightly\nwanderings had come, Meymooneh rose up like a bubble from the bottom of\nthe well and lifting her head over the brim saw a light which had not\nbeen there formerly and under it a couch whereon lay some one asleep.\n\nFull of wonder, she drew up her feet to earth, and advancing,\ncautiously turned back the coverlet from the sleeper's face. Thereafter\nshe stood for a whole hour lost in wonder and astonishment at the\nbeauty which she found there: perfect in all its lines and colour and\ntexture was the loveliness of the sleeping youth, and there arose from\nhis body an odour like fragrant musk. Meymooneh snuffed at it, and her\nheart became enlarged, lifting her thoughts toward Heaven. 'Blessed be\nAllah!' she cried, 'surely He must be good to have created this thing.'\nAnd as she continued to gaze, her mind acquired a benevolence which had\nlong since been strange to it. 'By Allah,' she said, 'in no way will\nI injure him; rather will I watch over and protect him from any that\nmay seek to do him harm.' And so saying she stooped over the youth and\nkissed him between the eyes.\n\nThen elated of heart she spread her wings and smiting the earth with\nher heel sprang upward and floated away into space, till the heavens\nabout her were clear. As she rose up through clouds she heard above her\nhead a flapping of wings, and there passed one she knew by his tail to\nbe Dahnash, an Efreet greatly inferior in power to herself. After him\nshe went like a hawk, pounced and caught him by the scruff.\n\nDahnash, perceiving into whose clutches he had fallen, quivered through\nall his members, and imploring pardon for his existence cried, 'I\nconjure thee by the Most High Name and the sign on the Seal of Solomon\nthat this time and for the present thou shouldst release me. So will I\ngo upon my errand and return presently.'\n\nThen said Meymooneh, 'By the high oath which thou hast sworn, what\nerrand art thou after?'\n\nDahnash answered, 'I have seen once with mine eyes that which should\nmake the wicked virtuous, and the foul-minded clean; therefore I am in\nhaste to make known the story of it to others less virtuous than thou\nart; so that they too may see it and find reward.'\n\n'Though I am more virtuous than thou art,' replied Meymooneh, 'yet\nshalt thou tell me thy story, else I will pluck off every scale from\nthy body and every feather from thy wings and throw thee to the\nbottomless pit. And if what thou tellest be not true then also shalt\nthou fare as I have said.'\n\nThen said Dahnash,' O Meymooneh, if my word be not true, invent for\nme what tortures thou wilt and I will accept them. I am come to-night\nfrom the farthest isles of China, which are the dominions of King\nGaiour, who is lord also of the Seas and of the Seven Palaces. There\nhave I seen the Princess, his daughter, for whom also these palaces\nwere built; surely there is none like her in all the world! Her hair\nis as dark as the night of separation and exile, and her face is like\nthe dawn when lovers meet to embrace; her nose hath both point and\nedge, and her cheeks are like petals of anemone filled with wine. When\nshe speaks, wisdom flows from her tongue; and when she moves, her feet\nfaint with delight under the burden of the loveliness laid on them.\nThe King's love for her is so great that there is no limit to what he\nwill bestow on her if only it may add to her happiness; therefore in\nher honour hath he built the seven palaces: the first is of crystal,\nthe second of marble, the third of steel, the fourth of onyx, the fifth\nsilver, the sixth is of inlaid gold, and the seventh of all manner of\njewels. Also these palaces are most sumptuously furnished, and around\nthem lie gardens embellished with everything that can soothe the senses\nand delight the eye. Yet all this is but as a shade when the beauty\nof the Princess shines in the midst of it. Because the fame of her\nincomparable loveliness has gone far and wide, many kings and powerful\nprinces come to demand her hand in marriage. But so tender is the\nKing's love for her, that in all these years without her free consent\nhe has married her to none. Many a time has he sought to persuade her,\nbut it is all in vain. 'For where,' says the Princess, 'shall I have\nhonour and freedom such as I enjoy now? Here I sit at thy side in\ncouncil and am a ruler over men; but if I marry then will my husband\nrule me.' And now there has come to the court of King Gaiour, another\nmonarch, so dreaded and so powerful that his suit cannot be refused.\nNevertheless the Princess, whose name is Badoura, will not consent;\nand having threatened to kill herself rather than submit, the King now\ntreats her as insane in order to excuse himself, and hath shut her\nup in one of her palaces with ten old women to look after her. There\nshe has been confined for a whole year, but the imprisonment has done\nnothing either to change her will or diminish the enchantment of her\nbeauty. So to-night when I saw her lying asleep every evil thought and\npassion died within me, for so holy is her beauty that I respected her\neven as I respect myself. Come, Meymooneh, and you shall see what is\nindeed a miracle and a wonder!'\n\nSo far had Dahnash proceeded, when Meymooneh impatiently interrupted\nhim. First, she cuffed him over the head, and then spitting in his face\ncried with laughter, 'O fool, what eyes have you to behold beauty, or\nwhat tongue to tell of it? This Princess that you speak of is, I doubt\nnot, a poor insignificant creature not worth looking at. What would you\nsay, then, if I shewed you my own beloved? Little talk would there be\nthen of this fine Princess of yours; you would have but to look at him\nonce and you would go crazy with jealousy.'\n\nDahnash replied humbly, 'O Mistress of language and of facts, far be it\nfrom me to deny beauty that you yourself have verified; but neither can\nI deny that which I, in turn, have beheld and think to be incomparable.\nAll I can ask, therefore, is that you should accompany me to the\nbedchamber of this adorable Princess, where she now lies sleeping, and\njudge for yourself.'\n\n'Not so,' answered Meymooneh, 'wherefore should I travel to the far\nends of China merely to prove thy folly and thy falsehood? Here close\nat hand is the tower wherein my beloved lies prisoner; come, then, and\nsee for yourself the face of him whose loveliness even in sleep puts\nall other beauty to scorn.'\n\nSo they descended, and passing through the roof and floors of the tower\ncame to the dungeon below, where Camaralzaman lay sleeping. There by\nthe bedside Meymooneh put forth her hand and drew back the sheet; and\nDahnash gazed with awe and remained silent, for doubt swayed him.\nNevertheless after a while he said, 'O Meymooneh, though my word may\nseem hard to believe, yet do I still say that she whom I saw is fairer\nthan this youth; and needs must it be so, since the fairest woman is by\nher sex made fairer than the fairest man. But for that, these two whom\nwe contend over might be twin flowers from the same stem, so like are\nthey.'\n\nWhen Meymooneh heard that she struck him a hard blow over the head with\nher wing, crying, 'Go, accursed one, fly back to China, lift up thy\nbeloved and bring her quickly to this place; so when we see them side\nby side shall it be manifest which one is the more beautiful. Then if\nI am right thou shalt pay forfeit to me, and if thou art right I will\npay.'\n\nThen with inconceivable swiftness Dahnash departed; and within an hour\nreturned bearing the Princess in his arms. She was clad in a gown of\nfinest silk with two borders of gold, and when the Efreet laid her upon\nthe bed beside Camaralzaman, the two proved to be so alike that they\nmight have been twin brother and sister. Nevertheless Meymooneh and\nDahnash continued to say each to each, 'My beloved is more beautiful\nthan thine.' Nor was agreement possible between them.\n\nTherefore after much strife, wherein Dahnash, though physically\nworsted, stuck to his opinion, they determined to refer the matter to\nan arbitrator, and by his sentence to abide.\n\nThen Meymooneh struck the ground with her foot and cried 'Kashkash!'\nInstantly the earth opened and there arose from it an Efreet hideous\nto look upon; he was blind of an eye, and lame of a leg, and upon his\nback he carried a hump bigger than the rest of his body; and when he\nsaw Meymooneh he prostrated himself before her, saying, 'O Mistress and\ndaughter of Kings, what dost thou require of me?'\n\nMeymooneh told him of the contention that had arisen between them, and\nshowing him the Prince and Princess lying side by side called on him to\nsay which was the more beautiful of the two.\n\nBut Kashkash, having considered them for a while with great attention,\nreplied, 'When mortals are endowed with such beauty as these, then only\nthemselves can decide. Let us, then, awake them each in turn, and the\none that draws from the other the most violent protestations of love\nand admiration shall be esteemed the more beautiful.'\n\nThis proposal was approved both by Meymooneh and Dahnash.\n\nThereupon Meymooneh transformed herself into a flea, and leaping upon\nCamaralzaman's neck bit him in a soft place. The youth put up his hand\nand rubbed to allay the smarting; then moving sideways he touched\nsomething that stirred, and starting up saw by his side a maiden of\nmost marvellous beauty.\n\nNo sooner had he beheld her than all his reasons against marriage were\nconfounded and put to flight; and he said within his heart, 'What God\ndesireth will come to pass, and what He desireth not will not happen.'\nThen taking the Princess by the hand, he endeavoured gently to rouse\nher, and ceasing not to invoke her with words and kisses of tenderness,\nhe would infallibly have awakened her had not Dahnash bound her by a\nspell.\n\nThen, seeing how fast she slept, 'What!' cried the Prince, 'must\nthe love of Camaralzaman admit an impediment such as this? Awake, O\nbeloved!' Carried away by his words he was tempted for a moment to\nassail her rudely, but then the nobility of his nature reasserted\nitself and respect for her beauty and innocence constrained him. Then\nhe bethought himself, and said, 'Doubtless this is the honourable\nmaiden to whom the King, my father, intended to marry me. Oh why,\ninstead of argument, did he not show me her face? So would none of this\ntrouble have come about!'\n\nThen perceiving upon the Princess's finger a ring, he drew it off and\nexchanged it for his own, saying, 'Since I may not yet possess myself\nof the owner I will take this.' And having so done, he turned his back\nto her and slept.\n\nThen Meymooneh, jealous of the testimony which Camaralzaman had given\nto the Princess's beauty, transformed herself again into a flea, and\nentering beneath the clothes of Badoura, the beloved of Dahnash, bit\nher sharply; whereupon she opened her eyes and sat up; and there at\nher side beheld a youth snoring in his sleep, with eyelashes shading\nroseate cheeks and a mouth like the seal of Solomon. No sooner had she\nseen him than her heart was filled with contending emotions. 'Oh me!'\nshe cried, 'what disgrace is this that has come upon me to be lying\nin the same bed with a stranger? But, by Allah, he is so beautiful\nthat I have much ado not to love him to distraction. Nay, if this be\nthe Prince who came demanding my hand in marriage of my father, I\nwould have been willing to marry him ten times over had I but known\nbeforehand.'\n\nSo saying she seized Camaralzaman by the arm and shook him so violently\nthat, saving for the enchantment, he must surely have awakened.\n\nThereat she lost patience. 'Self-satisfied youth,' she cried, 'is this\nthe way to behave to a Princess upon the night of her bridal? What?\nhas so much beauty made thee proud?' Then as love began to devour her\nheart, 'O my lord,' she cried, 'light of mine eyes, and moon of my\nexistence, arise, awake out of sleep!' And forthwith seizing his hand\nshe began kissing it. While she was doing so she saw her ring upon his\nlittle finger, and uttered a cry of astonishment; while even greater\nbecame her amaze when she found upon her own hand a strange ring. This,\nshe thought, must surely mean that she had become wedded to him in her\nsleep, so putting away all false modesty and fear she lay down again by\nhis side, and fell fast asleep.\n\nThen Meymooneh and Dahnash, seeing how evenly between the pair the\nbalance of love and admiration was divided, composed their difference;\nand Dahnash, taking the sleeping Princess upon his shoulder, carried\nher back to China.\n\n\nWhen Camaralzaman awoke the next morning to find no maiden at his side,\nhe supposed that the King, his father, had caused her to be carried\naway secretly, in order that thereby his desire for her might be\nincreased. So he called to the slave who guarded him and said, 'Tell me\nof the lady who slept with me last night: how came she, and who brought\nher?'\n\nThe slave replied, 'O Prince, there was no lady; how could any lady get\nin while I slept all night across the doorway, and had the key?'\n\nThis answer so infuriated the Prince that he fetched the slave a buffet\nwhich knocked him over; then tying him to the well rope he let him\ndown into the well, though it was the middle of winter; and this he\ncontinued to do, now up, now down, saying as he did so, 'When thou hast\ntold me the truth I will let thee go.'\n\nAfter a while the unfortunate slave, at the last gasp for wretchedness,\ncried, 'O Prince, restore to me my life and I will tell thee all.'\n\nSo Camaralzaman drew him up and laid him to drain upon the floor.\n\nThen the eunuch, with shiverings and chattering of teeth, said, 'Alas,\nMaster, in my present plight I have not tongue nor wits to tell thee\nthe whole story. Suffer me to go hence and get dry, then will I\nreturn.' So Camaralzaman let him go.\n\n[Illustration: Camaralzaman as an Astrologer.\n\n'At last the King heard him, and said to the Vizier, \"Go down and bring\nthe Astrologer in.\"' (p. 67)]\n\nOff ran the eunuch, and without stopping came even as he was into the\npresence of Shahzaman, the King. Shahzaman was complaining to the Grand\nVizier of the misery he had endured and the restless night he had\npassed, when the slave entered all a-drench with wetness and forthwith\nuttered his tidings. 'O King,' he cried, 'insanity hath seized on thy\nson, and thus hath he done to me! He saith there hath been a lady in\nhis bed, when there hath been no lady; and because I cannot tell him\nhow she came or how she went, or where now he can find her, see from\nwhat a drowning I have escaped!'\n\nWhen the King heard these words his sorrow for his son and his wrath\nagainst the Vizier knew no bounds. 'Go, accursed,' he cried, 'this is\nthy doing. Go to the Prince and discover the true cause of his malady;\nthen come again and tell me.'\n\nSo the Vizier hastened, treading upon his skirts as he went forth in\nfear of the King's anger, and coming to the tower found the Prince not\nmad at all, but seated upon the couch reciting verses from the Koran\nwith the utmost composure.\n\n'O Prince,' cried the Vizier, 'the mere sight of thee relieves me of\naffliction; but so have I the more reason to complain of that vile\nslave who attends on thee, and hath said shameful things concerning\nthee to thy father, the King.'\n\n'I also,' answered the Prince, 'have great reason to complain of him;\nbut let that be for a while, and tell me now what has become of the\nlady who slept with me last night? For I know my father must have sent\nher to me for a just purpose, and to cure me of my folly: which indeed\nshe hath done. So let that sweet remedy return to me and you shall find\nme sane.'\n\n'Of a truth, Prince,' replied the Vizier, 'the King, thy father, sent\nno lady to thee, and all that thou sayest now is mystery. Bethink thee,\nshut in here a prisoner, how canst thou have seen any lady with thine\neyes except in a dream?'\n\n'O ill-omened old man,' cried the Prince, 'thou wilt be saying next\nthat I saw her only with my ears!' And approaching the Vizier he seized\nhim by the beard, which was long, and twisting it this way and that,\ncried, 'Tell me the truth, or I will treat thee as I did the slave!'\n\nThen the Vizier, to save himself from further ill-treatment, replied\neven as the slave had done, and said, 'O Prince, I am not free to\nreveal the secrets of my master, but I will take to him any message\nwherewith you may be pleased to entrust me.'\n\n'Go, then,' answered the Prince, 'and tell my father that I repent of\nmy former words and will marry the lady he sent to me last night, but\nno other, though he should put me to a thousand deaths!'\n\nSo the Vizier, as soon as Camaralzaman had let go of his beard,\nreturned in haste to the King and said to him, 'O my lord, what the\nslave says is true; the Prince hath been seized with insanity of the\nmost violent kind; yea, he heareth with his eyes, and seeth with his\nears, and declareth a lady hath slept with him, whom he will marry and\nno other.'\n\nThen Shahzaman went himself to see the Prince and to learn the truth\nof this matter, for he doubted the Vizier's word. And when he came to\nthe prison, his son received him with so much respect, and contrition\nand devotion, that he turned upon the Vizier with eyes of anger and\nreproach, crying, 'O wretch, why hast thou afflicted me with lies?' But\nthe Vizier only shook his head sorrowfully, waiting for the truth to\nreveal itself.\n\nThen said the King, 'O my son, what day of the week is it?'\nCamaralzaman answered, 'To-day is Saturday, to-morrow is Sunday, the\nnext day is Monday, then comes Tuesday, then Wednesday, then Thursday\nand then Friday.'\n\n'Praise be to Allah!' cried the King, 'my son is not mad, for he knows\nthe days of the week.' Then he said to Camaralzaman, 'Tell me, my son,\nwho is this lady who, you say, slept with you last night; for truly I\nknow nothing about her.'\n\n'O my lord,' replied the Prince, 'I pray that you cease to mock me,\nfor though I have deserved it through my folly, yet now am I ready and\neager to marry this lady whom you have chosen for me, since her beauty\ndelights me, and her manners, even in her sleep, fascinate me.'\n\nOn hearing these words the King was as much astonished as the Vizier\nhad been; but the countenance of his son was so full of ingenuousness\nand truth that he was not as incredulous as the others had been before\nhim. 'I swear to you, my son,' said he, 'that I know nothing of this\nmatter. What my Vizier has told you, he invented to appease your anger.\nBut now tell me everything, just as it happened, for whether it be true\nor no, this event has given me cause for rejoicing.'\n\nThen the Prince sat down by his father's side and told him everything,\nand when he had finished he showed him the ring for proof that his tale\nwas true; and the King was so convinced by his son's manner and by all\nthe incidents of the story, that he had not a word to say against it.\n\nTherefore was his heart uplifted, and he said to Camaralzaman, 'Though\nall these things be mysteries in the hands of Allah, so deep that we\nmay not fathom them, yet now hast thou convinced me that thou art not\nas was said of thee. Keep, therefore, that precious mind to which\nHeaven hath given light, and possess thyself in patience till the\nmystery hath resolved itself.'\n\nBut Camaralzaman replied, 'Alas, O my father, to what term of\nimprisonment dost thou now condemn me? for if thou canst not find\nfor me this maiden who hath ravished my heart, surely I shall die of\nanguish. So great is my love and my distraction that I cannot wait for\nher even an hour.'\n\nUpon this the King smote his palms together, and cried, 'Now are we in\nthe hands of Allah, where no mortal power can avail!' Then he took his\nson gently by the hand and led him back to the palace: and there the\nPrince threw himself down upon a bed of sickness, too weak to rise or\nlook up: and Shahzaman seated himself at his side, mourning and weeping\nfor his grief, and leaving him neither by day or night.\n\nBut after a while his Vizier came to him and said, 'O King of the Age,\nhow long shall thy people seek for thee, and not find thee? Thy troops\nmurmur that they have none to lead them to the field, and in the city\ncorruption grows rife because the seat of judgment stays empty. This\nsickness into which the Prince has fallen comes only from grief; and\nas his grief increases thine, so does thine give nourishment to his.\nTherefore I entreat your Majesty to provide some better relief for the\ncomplaint both of the Prince and of the people. Here in the city his\nspirits languish and his strength returns not; but take him to the\npalace which is upon the shore looking toward the islands; there shall\nhis soul, on the days when thou art absent, find peace and refreshment.\nAnd do thou, O King, on two days in each week return to the affairs of\nstate, which need thy presence, to give audiences and to hold councils,\nelse out of these two evils which are upon us there may grow a greater.'\n\n[Illustration: Camaralzaman Cures Badoura.\n\n'She ran forth, and threw herself into the arms of Camaralzaman.' (p.\n71)]\n\nSo Shahzaman did as his Vizier advised him, and caused the Prince to be\ncarried, all wasted as he was with grief, to a pavilion which was upon\nthe shore, and there on the days when affairs of state caused the King\nto be absent Camaralzaman lay and looked out over the sea.\n\n\nWhile these things were happening in the land of Khaledan, Dahnash\nhad conveyed the Princess of China safely back to her own bed. There\nthe next morning she awoke, unstained by travel and with her raiment\nundisturbed; nor was she conscious that she had been anywhere but where\nshe now was. No sooner, therefore, did she perceive on looking to left\nand right that the youth who had lain in her bosom was no longer near\nher than her heart became agitated and her reason confounded, and she\nuttered a loud cry.\n\nAll her women came running; and her nurse, who was the chief, inquired\nwhat misfortune had befallen her. The Princess, who continued to search\namong the bedclothes, said, 'Vexatious and contrary old woman, what\nhave you done with the beautiful youth who slept last night in my\nbosom, or how comes it that I have mislaid him?'\n\nAt these words the nurse was shocked in her morals and confounded in\nher understanding, and she answered, 'O mistress, what mean these\ndisgraceful words! Surely thy bosom is guiltless of any such deed, and\nno youth, whether beautiful or otherwise, has been near thee.'\n\nBadoura answered, 'He had black eyes and a lovely face, and a mouth\nlike the seal of Solomon, and his eyebrows were joined where I kissed\nthem; and he was here sleeping at my side from nightfall to nigh upon\ndaybreak.'\n\n'Princess,' answered her nurse, 'thou hast had an unpermissible dream\nand art talking non-sense. No such young man hath been near thee, nor\nwould I have permitted it.'\n\nThen the Princess lifting her hand in anger saw upon it the ring which\nCamaralzaman had given her in exchange for her own, and cried to her\nnurse, 'Woe to thee, O deceitful! Have I also dreamed this ring which\nis not mine and lost that which belonged to me?' And so saying she\nstarted to belabour her nurse so unmercifully, that she would assuredly\nhave killed her had not all the other women and the eunuchs lifted\nup their voices in lamentation; whereupon the Princess, who greatly\ndisliked loud noises, desisted.\n\nSo the nurse, escaping from her vengeance, fled and acquainted the King\nwith all that had happened and with the story which the Princess had\ntold her.\n\nThe King came in haste and found that which till now he had only\npretended concerning his daughter apparently come true. For excess of\nreason had fled to her brain, and rushing this way and that she was\nsearching for her beloved in every cupboard, and under every article of\nfurniture, crying, 'Where is the beautiful youth who slept in my bosom\nlast night? He belongs to me; he is mine. If I do not find him I shall\ndie.'\n\nWhen her father saw and heard this he inquired no further, but ordered\nthe slaves and eunuchs to seize her, and bind her with chains lest she\nshould do herself or others an injury.\n\nSo they put a chain about her neck and fastened her to a window of\nthe palace looking toward the sea, that so by the will of Allah her\nthoughts might have rest and her reason be restored. And the King,\nloving her tenderly and greatly distressed at the condition she\nhad fallen into, caused a proclamation to be issued to all sages,\nastrologers, and men skilled in such matters saying, 'Whosoever shall\ncure my daughter of her present malady, to him will I give her hand\nin marriage together with the half of my kingdom; and whoso fails to\ncure her, having offered, his head will I strike off and set it above\nthe gates of my palace as a warning to others.' This he continued to\ndo till forty of the wisest physicians and astrologers had lost their\nheads. Then the supply foiled; and the Princess, whom the offer of\nany husband other than the one she sighed for threw into paroxysms of\nwrath, was as far from a cure at the end as at the beginning. Thus she\nremained for the space of three years, sitting at a window with a chain\nabout her neck and looking out over the sea.\n\n\nNow the nurse of the Princess Badoura had a son named Marzavan, who was\na great traveller. He was foster-brother to the Princess; when they\nwere children she had been to him as his own sister; and the two loved\neach other tenderly. So on the day when he returned from his travels he\nwent to the palace to get tidings of the Princess, and there over the\ngates were ranged the heads of the forty wise men. This surprised him\ngreatly, and when on inquiring into the matter he learned the cause,\nhe heard also of the unhappy state into which the Princess had fallen.\nThe news troubled him far more deeply than the death of forty wise men\nwho had been found foolish, but, unwilling to trust to the judgment of\nothers in such a case, being himself also well skilled in medicine, he\nbesought his mother to obtain for him an interview with the Princess.\n\nThis was a difficult matter, for the door of the chamber was strictly\nguarded, and no one had access to it except the nurse herself. So\nurgent, however, was her son's entreaty, that at last she consented and\nset about finding the means. To this end she said to the eunuch who was\non guard at the door, 'You know well my devotion to the Princess, and\nmy desire to do anything that may alleviate her affliction, therefore\nI am come to ask you for a favour. I have a daughter whom my mistress\nfrom her earliest childhood, when I nursed them together, has ever\nregarded with the tenderest affection. She has lately married, and\nthe Princess, hearing of this event, has expressed a wish to see her.\nAllow this to be; and do not doubt that Heaven will reward you for your\ngoodness.'\n\nThe eunuch readily consented in spite of the strictness of his orders.\n'Let her come at night,' he said, 'or bring her yourself, after the\nKing has retired: then the door shall be open and no one need know of\nit.'\n\nAccordingly, the next night, the nurse disguised Marzavan in woman's\nattire, and taking his hand in hers led him to the palace. The eunuch\nlet them pass without suspicion; but as soon as they were in the\nPrincess's presence, and the door shut behind them, the nurse said,\n'O mistress, I have brought gladness to you to-night; for this is no\nwoman but my son Marzavan, who, having returned from his travels,\nwished greatly to see you.' No sooner did the Princess hear the name\nof Marzavan than she sprang joyfully forward, the full length of her\nchain, and being held back by it, she stretched her hands toward him,\ncrying, 'O brother, come to me!' When Marzavan beheld her in that\nunhappy plight, then for weeping he could not look at her, but turned\naway his head and covered his eyes. Then said Badoura, 'Dost thou also\nthink that I am mad like the rest of them? Nay, hear my story and be\nundeceived, for it is true.'\n\nThen she told Marzavan everything; and he, perceiving that she was\nin love, doubted no longer, for he knew that such passion and such a\ndesire for beauty could arise neither out of madness nor of a dream.\nSo when she besought his aid, he pondered deeply what he might do, and\nthen said, 'O sister, have patience yet a little while, and I will go\nsearch through the world for thy missing friend. Be assured that if he\nlives I will find him.' Then they embraced as brother and sister in\nfull affection; and Marzavan departed.\n\nThe next day he set out once more upon his travels, and continued\nto journey from city to city, and island to island for the space of\nsome months. At first, wherever he went, he heard men speaking of the\nbeauty of the Princess Badoura and of the strange malady that afflicted\nher; but presently, as he changed from country to country, her name\nceased to be upon men's lips, and he heard instead of one by name\nCamaralzaman, a prince of the Islands of Khaledan, who for three years\nhad suffered from a grievous affliction of body and a desolation of\nspirit to which there seemed no remedy.\n\nMarzavan did not delay when he heard that story; but inquiring for the\nnearest route he took ship and sailed from the city of Torf, where\nthese tidings had first reached him, to the islands of Khaledan, a\nwhole month's voyage; and all the way he was glad so that his heart\nsang. But on the day when the ship approached the dominions of\nShahzaman, there arose a great storm which broke the mast and carried\naway the sail and capsized the vessel.\n\nMarzavan, thrown overboard with the rest, was caught by a strong\ncurrent and carried shorewards; and as fate would have it, since the\ndestiny of all are in the hands of the Most High, the current bore\nhim toward that part of the coast where stood the palace of the King;\nand there at that time, in the pavilion looking toward the sea, sat\nShahzaman attended by his Vizier; and the head of Camaralzaman lay upon\nhis lap; and a eunuch was whisking the flies from him.\n\nThe Vizier, looking out from the terrace, saw in the water below him\nthe shipwrecked Marzavan, tossed this way and that and unable to land;\nso his heart was moved with pity and he came running to the King and\ncrying, 'Permit me, O my lord, to open the gates of the court and put\nforth my hand to save yonder man who is now drowning. For since a just\naction is never without reward, it may be he shall bring us good.'\n\nShahzaman replied, 'Thou art the cause of all our trouble, and I doubt\nnot that coming by thy hand this drowning man will bring us more. Yet\nI cannot forbid thee to save his life: only be sure that he comes not\nnear us to spy upon my son in his affliction and report it to others.\nIf he do, his head and thine shall be forfeit.'\n\nSo the Vizier ran, and opening the gates of the court leaned down, and\ncaught Marzavan by the hair and drew him up to dry land. And Marzavan\ncame forth from the sea all lost to consciousness, his stomach filled\nwith water and his eyes protruding. The Vizier waited till his spirit\nhad returned to him; then he took from him his clothes and clad him in\nothers and put on his head the turban of an attendant and said to him,\n'Now, as I have saved thy life, do my bidding and save mine also. Cast\ndown thine eyes, speak not, look not into any chamber as we go, but\nfollow closely where I lead lest worse befall thee.'\n\nThen said Marzavan, 'What is this peril that I am not to see?'\n\nThe Vizier answered, 'It is the King's son, who is sorely afflicted for\nthe loss of a fair damsel that came to him but once and is gone again,\nnone knows where. That is the story, and on pain of death all who hear\nit must believe it.' And the Vizier sighed heavily, for at this time\nlife was hard to him and belief difficult.\n\nWhen the half-drowned Marzavan heard that, his heart went up like a\nsinging bird, and he skipt at the Vizier's heels like a squirrel. And\nwhen they came by the chamber where Camaralzaman was lying, with the\nKing seated beside him, then Marzavan turned swiftly and went in and\nstood before him; and no sooner had he seen the Prince than, with an\nexclamation of joy, he cried: 'Extolled be the perfection of him who\nhath given beauty its pair! Lo, the eyes are hers, the complexion is\nhers, the lips and the cheeks are hers!'\n\nAt these words the knees of the Vizier went from under him, and he\nprayed succour of death: but on the heart of Camaralzaman there\ndescended a coolness and a refreshment, and turning his tongue in his\nmouth, he signalled with his hand to Shahzaman to make the young man\nsit down.\n\nThe King seeing the look of joy upon his son's face easily forgave the\nintrusion which had earned death; and having placed Marzavan in the\nseat at the Prince's side, he bade him recount his history and whence\nand why he came.\n\nSo Marzavan told of the country from which he had come and of its King\nand people, and of all the events of his journey, but of the real\ncause which had brought him he said nothing. And the Prince listened\nand waited, for he saw that something was concealed: and all the\nwhile, since hope had returned to him, his countenance grew bright and\nhis strength of body increased. So presently he made a sign for his\nfather to raise him to a sitting posture; and the King, full of joy,\nlifted him, and placed cushions behind him and under him. Thus after\nthree years of lying down did Camaralzaman sit up. So after a while\nShahzaman, seeing how by the conversation of Marzavan the Prince was\nrestored to health, went away and left them; and the Vizier departed\nalso.\n\nThen, seeing that they were alone, Marzavan spoke low in the ear of\nCamaralzaman saying, 'O Prince, thy sorrow is at an end; for she whom\nthou lovest is the Princess Badoura, daughter of the King of China and\nmy own foster-sister: and I am come through the world seeking thee\nbecause of my devotion to her, who, for love of thee, now lieth in\nchains. All that hath happened unto thee with thy father hath happened\nto her also with her father, yea, and worse things also.' So he went on\nand told him all.\n\nNow when Camaralzaman had heard the story of the Princess, and of her\nsufferings and constancy, and of all the useless cures for her malady\nthat had been tried, his heart was divided in its joy by an overflowing\nof sorrow, even as a rich country is divided and broken by a stream\nwhen it floods its banks; and he said to Marzavan, 'Alas! how may I\nbring her the true cure, seeing that we dwell in such different parts\nof the world, and my father will not suffer me to be out of his sight\neven for one day?'\n\nMarzavan answered, 'For thy health's sake he will allow thee that\none, and it shall suffice. For to-morrow thou shalt say to him, \"Let\nme go out into the hills for a day and a night, that I may hunt and\nrecover my strength,\" and surely he shall not deny it to thee. And\nwhen thou hast found that for which thou art in search, I know that\nthou wilt return to him. But we will take with us two spare horses and\nsaddlebags, with money sufficient for our journey, and when we have\nstarted upon our way I will provide, so that we may not be pursued and\novertaken.'\n\nAt these words the Prince rejoiced greatly, and it all came about even\nas Marzavan had planned. For on the morrow the King, rejoicing that his\nson's health was so quickly restored, granted him the permission he\nsought, saying only, 'Be not absent, my son, longer than one night, for\nwhile thou art away from me I have no joy left.' Camaralzaman answered,\n'The night of sorrow will end, then shall I return.' So he took leave\nof his father and departed.\n\n[Illustration: Camaralzaman Finds the Talisman.\n\n'The Prince sow the girdle, and knotted within its folds, a large\nstone.' (p. 75)]\n\nFor the whole of that day until the evening Camaralzaman and Marzavan\nwent in the direction they had chosen, setting their laces for the\nopen country and the seaport lying beyond. And when it was night they\nate and drank, fed their beasts, and rested for a while; then they\nremounted and journeyed on. At daybreak they came to a spacious tract\nof forest; there Marzavan took one of the led horses and killed it,\nstripping the flesh from its bones; next he took the garments which\nCamaralzaman had worn on the previous day, and after tearing them this\nway and that daubed them with blood.\n\nCamaralzaman inquired why he did this: and Marzavan answered, 'When we\nreturn not great search will be made for thee, and I doubt not, if it\nwent far enough, we should be overtaken. But when the searchers come\nupon this they will suppose that a wild beast has fallen upon thee and\ndevoured thee; and that I, fearing the King's wrath, have fled away.\nDoubtless the news will bring great sorrow to thy father's heart; but\nwhen thou returnest with thine errand safely accomplished, he shall be\nrecompensed with joy.'\n\nThe Prince sorrowfully commended the plan which Marzavan had devised\nfor the safety of their enterprise; and so they continued upon their\nway unmolested, and after much travelling by land and water, and many\nadventures not to be told of here, they arrived at the capital of the\ndominions of King Gaiour, where the Princess Badoura lay in captivity.\n\nMarzavan did not take Camaralzaman to his own house, but to a public\nkhan, where for three days they remained recovering from the fatigues\nof their journey. Then, having clothed the Prince in the garb of a\nmerchant-doctor with all the signs and instruments of his calling,\nhe conducted him to the gates of the palace; standing before which\nCamaralzaman began, on the instructions of Marzavan, to cry in a loud\nvoice, 'Look at me, for I am learned! Marvel at me, for I am wise! I\nam the healer, the calculator, the astrologer; I know the cause of\nall maladies and their cure. If any one, be he king or peasant, is in\naffliction, let him come to me!'\n\nThe people were greatly astonished to hear once more an astrologer so\nbold of tongue; and pitying him for his youth and wondering at the\nbeauty of his form, they pointed to the heads which were over the\npalace gates, saying, 'While there is time save thyself; for if the\nKing hear thee thy head will be joined to those.'\n\nNevertheless Camaralzaman continued to cry with a loud voice; till at\nlast the King heard him, and said to his Vizier, 'Go down, and bring\nthis astrologer in.'\n\nSo the Vizier went out and fetched him, and Camaralzaman came and\nbowed himself before the King. And when the King looked at him, his\nheart also was moved with pity toward the stranger, as the heart of\nthe people had been, because of his youth and the beauty of his form.\nAnd he said to him, 'My son, comply not with my conditions; for I have\nbound myself with an oath, and whoso goes in to visit my daughter but\ncannot cure her, his head must I strike off; and of a truth you have\nbut to look over my palace gate to see that her malady is obstinate.\nNevertheless if you can cure her she is yours, and the half of my\nkingdom is yours also.'\n\nCamaralzaman said, 'To those conditions, O King, I am agreed!' Then the\nKing, sighing heavily, sent for the eunuch and bade him conduct the\nastrologer to the apartment of the Princess.\n\nThe eunuch led the way; but when they were come to the corridor wherein\nBadoura's chamber was situated, so great was the joy of the Prince that\nhe hastened and went before; and the eunuch called after him, 'Tarry,\ngood sir, and be not so hasty before the event, for I alone have the\nkey that shall bring thee to thy death! Never was any other astrologer\nin such haste to depart from life as thou.'\n\n'Friend,' answered Camaralzaman, 'they had not such science as I have\nto make them glad: for they could not tell what the end would be, but\nI know it already, nay, even without entering that door of which thou\nhast the key I can cure the Princess of her malady.'\n\nThe eunuch, astonished to be met with so much confidence, ceased from\nhis taunts, and admitted the Prince to the ante-chamber. 'If thou canst\ndo that,' he said, 'thou art indeed the wonder of the world. Truly were\nI only permitted to see such a marvel accomplished, I should account\nmyself rich.'\n\nThereupon Camaralzaman seated himself against the curtain which divided\nthe outer from the inner chamber and wrote the following prescription:\n\n'He whom estrangement hath afflicted is cured when the vow of the\nbeloved is accomplished; and the heart of exile findeth restoration in\nunion with that which was lost. Love alone can heal those whom love\nhath persecuted.'\n\nUnderneath this prescription he added the following words:\n\n'From the distracted, the passionate, the perplexed, the famished with\nlonging, the captive of transport and ardent desire, Camaralzaman, son\nof Shahzaman, King of Khaledan, to the peerless one of her age, the\npre-eminent among Hooris, the Princess Badoura, daughter of Gaiour,\nKing of the Isles of China and lord of the seven Palaces. Behold the\nslave of the ring who, sleepless and inflamed by love, now awaits the\ncall of his Beloved.'\n\nThen, having enclosed the ring which at their first meeting he had\nexchanged for his own, he sealed the missive, and putting it into the\nhands of the eunuch bade him carry it to his mistress.\n\nNo sooner had the Princess Badoura received the missive and the ring\nthan she knew at once from whom it came. Whereupon joy overthrew her\nreason, and leaping up in a transport of exultation she pressed her\nfeet against the wall, and breaking the chains which bound her ran\nforth and threw herself into the arms of Camaralzaman.\n\nSpeechless with joy she kissed him without ceasing; even as a pigeon\nwhen it feeds its young, so upon the lips of Camaralzaman fell the\nkisses of the Princess Badoura. Then came the nurse, crying aloud for\ngladness to behold the joy of her mistress and the healing of her\nmalady accomplished; and presently after her came the King. For to him\nhad run the eunuch in swift haste bringing tidings of the event--how\nthat without entering her chamber the astrologer had cured her. 'What?'\ncried the King, 'can such news be true?' 'O my lord,' answered the\neunuch, 'let thine own eyes look upon her and be blest; for she hath\nbroken her chains of iron, and coming forth to the astrologer she\nfalleth upon him and kisseth him, and never will she let him go.'\n\nSo Gaiour the King came and found it even as the eunuch had said. Full\nof joy to behold so sweet a sight, he embraced first the Princess\nand then the Prince, thanking him with tears of gratitude for the\ndebt which he owed him. And when he inquired further and learned of\nCamaralzaman his name, and his true rank, and of the country from which\nhe came, with all the strange story of his love and the grief of his\nseparation, then his satisfaction and delight knew no bounds. And so on\nthat very day the nuptials were celebrated, and word of rejoicing went\nforth through the whole of the King's dominions.\n\n[Illustration: Prince Camaralzaman and the Birds.\n\n'In the leaves overhead he saw one furiously attacking another with\nbeak and claw.' (p. 90)]\n\nThe hearts of Prince Camaralzaman and his bride were now so full of\nhappiness that for many months they wist not the passing of time, and\nwaking or sleeping it seemed to them as one day. But while their joy\nthus decked itself in the colours of immortality, the Prince one night\nhad a dream, wherein he beheld his father, Shahzaman, lying as at the\npoint of death. And in his dream it seemed that he heard him say, 'O\nmy son, whom in thy grief I so tenderly cherished, wherefore hast thou\nacted thus, leaving me in my old age to die alone?'\n\nSo sharp was the sting of that dream upon his conscience that, sighing,\nthe Prince woke; and his wife hearing him made inquiry as to his\ngrief. 'Alas!' answered Camaralzaman, 'in my happiness with thee I had\nforgotten my father.' And thereupon he recounted his dream. So the next\nday the Princess Badoura went to her father, and having told him all,\nbesought leave for Camaralzaman to return for a while to his own land\nso that he might comfort his father in his old age.\n\nThe King readily granted his daughter's request. Then said Badoura,\n'If my husband goes I must go too.' 'Why so?' inquired her father.\n'Because,' said she, 'if you separate us there is no power in the world\nthat shall keep me alive.'\n\nNow the King had learned during the years of his daughter's captivity,\nthat anything which she said she meant. Therefore with much grief\nand reluctance at being so compelled, he granted her request; and\nhaving accorded them permission to be absent for a whole year, he made\npreparation for their departure. In order that they might appear at\nthe court of Shahzaman in the splendour that became their rank, he\npresented them with many changes of costly apparel, and having provided\na large train of horses, dromedaries, and attendants, he bade them an\naffectionate farewell, and with many tears watched them depart.\n\nFor a whole month Camaralzaman and his bride travelled in comfort and\nluxury by the route that they had chosen, and greatly was the Prince's\nheart rejoiced by the thought of seeing his father once more and\npresenting to his eyes the lovely and innocent cause of all their past\naffliction. Therefore, early and late they journeyed on, only stopping\nto rest at night and during the heat of each day.\n\nAnd so it chanced that one day, about noon, they came to a spacious\nmeadow shaded by trees, and there at the Prince's command the tents\nwere pitched; and the Princess went into her pavilion and lay down to\nsleep.\n\nNow when she lay down, the heat being very great, she took off her\nouter robe and her girdle. And the Prince, coming in later, saw the\ngirdle lying, and knotted within its folds a large stone, red as\nblood, inscribed with strange characters which, in the darkness of the\ntent, he could not read. Being curious, therefore, to see what words\nwere upon this talisman which the Princess carried so secretly in her\napparel, he unfastened the knot, and taking the knot went forth from\nthe tent to examine it.\n\nScarcely had he done so when, with a strange cry, a bird swooped down\nfrom the tree above his head, caught up the stone in its beak, and flew\naway with it. Camaralzaman, fearing to lose what, for all he knew,\nmight be a precious talisman, ran after the bird, throwing up his\narms, shouting and endeavouring in all possible ways to make it let go\nthe stone. But the bird flew on from tree to tree, and from valley to\nvalley, never so fast that Camaralzaman could not keep pace with it,\nbut never coming within his reach, or letting go of the talisman. So\nthe flight went on and so the chase continued, till several hours had\npassed and it began to grow dark. Then the bird, uttering once more its\nstrange cry, went up to the topmost branch of a high tree and settled\nitself to roost.\n\nThe pursuit had now led Camaralzaman so far and in so many directions,\nthat he no longer knew which way to turn. So, commending himself to\nAllah, he lay down at the foot of the tree and slept.\n\nIn the morning, with a loud rustling of feathers, the bird awakened\nhim, and still carrying the stone in its beak, sprang out of the tree\nand continued its flight. And as Camaralzaman rose and followed, it\npresently became apparent that at whatever rate he went, the bird went\ntoo; so when he ran the bird flew fast, and when he could run no more\nit waited for him, flying from point to point and never disappearing\nfrom view.\n\n'By Allah!' cried Camaralzaman, 'this is wonderful! This chase will\nlead me either to great fortune or to death.' So without giving up he\nwent on; and thus he followed the bird for ten days, living upon roots\nand drinking of the streams that he crossed; and every night he slept\nat the foot of some tree while the bird perched in its topmost branches.\n\nThus on the tenth day he was brought to the outskirts of a large\ncity. Then, like a flash, the bird flew over it and disappeared; and\nCamaralzaman following, footsore and weary, came to the city gates and\npassed through. Here for some time he wandered, solitary and without\nhope, not knowing what to do nor of whom to seek aid; and coming\npresently to the other side of the city, he found there a harbour\nwith much shipping and merchandise, and people plying their trade and\ntalking in many languages. And as he walked along the shore, still\nuncertain what course to pursue, he came upon an old man working in a\ngarden of flowers; and when he halted the old man looked up.\n\nThe gardener, seeing a stranger at his gate, came forward, and saluting\nhim in the name of Allah, bade him come in. 'I see by your dress,'\nsaid he, 'that you are a Mussulman, as I also am; and great is your\ngood fortune to have escaped until now the wrath of the inhabitants,\nfor they are unbelievers and idolaters, and fierce is their hatred for\nthose who are of the true faith. Therefore come quickly into my house,\nand disguise yourself; else is your life not safe.'\n\nCamaralzaman was thankful to have found a friend in such a moment of\nneed; and after his host had supplied him with food and drink and made\nhim rest for a while, then without concealment he confided to him the\nwhole of his story. Greater than ever had now become his longing to\nreach the island of Khaledan, for there not only did he hope to find\nhis father still alive, but to be re-united with his wife, the Princess\nBadoura. Inquiring therefore of the old gardener, he learned that there\nwere two routes; the longer being for the greater part of the way by\nland--a year's journey, and the shorter by sea. 'But if,' said the\ngardener, 'you would go by sea, then you must wait for the merchant\nship which sails every year to the Island of Ebony, for through that\ncountry lies your way. Had you but come a few days earlier, you would\nhave been in time; but now the ship has left the harbour and will not\nreturn for another year. If you decide upon this course, then while you\nwait my house is open to you, and if you are willing to share my work\nand be my assistant, you shall also have a fair share of the profits.'\n\nCamaralzaman gladly accepted the proposition, for better by far is\nwork, however hard or humble it may be, than the idleness of unavailing\nregret. So for a whole year he lived with the old gardener as if he\nhad been his son, wearing a blue smock down to his knees, working with\na hoe, tending plants, tilling the soil, and carrying its produce\nfor sale to the market. And every day he looked out over the sea for\nthe merchant vessel which was to arrive and bear him back to his own\ncountry and to the arms of his beloved.\n\n\nNow turn we to the Princess Badoura, whom we left lying asleep in her\ntent. When she awoke she inquired after her husband, the Prince, but\nhe was not to be found; some had seen him go into the tent, but no\none had seen him come out. Then, as she put on her dress, she noticed\nthat the knot in her girdle had been untied and that the stone was\nmissing. 'Alas, O Beloved, what hast thou done?' she cried. 'Ignorant\nof its virtues thou hast taken from me the talisman which unites us;\nnow surely if thou hast lost it we shall be separated for ever.' And\nas time went on her distress and her certainty of misfortune became\ngreater; for she knew that had not the Prince already lost the talisman\nits infallible virtues would by now have brought him back to her.\nKnowing therefore that if the talisman were indeed lost, he also was\nlost to her, and that when found, he would return to her again, she\nmade no useless delay in proceeding to her destination. Yet was there\nnow great peril if the absence of the Prince were discovered, lest she\nand her women and all the wealth which her father had bestowed on her\nmight fall a prey to the men who formed their escort. For this reason\nshe concealed the matter from all but her women, and having dressed\nherself in some of her husband's clothes, and put into her litter a\ngirl-slave wearing the royal veil, she went forth from her tent and\ngave orders for the camp to be struck and their journey resumed.\nSo, for many days she continued to travel by land and sea, till she\ncame before a city set on a height with a great harbour lying below;\nand when she inquired its name of the inhabitants they said to her,\n'This is the city of Ebony, wherein dwells King Amanos, and he has a\nbeautiful daughter whose name is Hayatelnefoos.'\n\nPresently word went to the palace that a stranger prince of very noble\nappearance, accompanied by a large retinue, had arrived in the harbour\nand was seeking admission to the city. Whereupon the King sent in haste\ncertain high dignitaries of his court to give welcome and to conduct\nthe supposed Prince into his presence. And no sooner had he beheld the\nnoble appearance of his guest and the graciousness of her bearing than\nhe gave orders for a great banquet to be prepared, appointed that she\nshould be lodged in the palace, and extended to her for three days an\nentertainment of the most royal magnificence.\n\nDuring the whole of these festivities the Princess bore herself exactly\nas Camaralzaman would have done, doing honour to that rank and name\nwhich for her own protection she had assumed. Therefore the heart of\nKing Amanos was drawn greatly towards her, and when she began to speak\nof departure, he said, 'Wherefore, O Prince, shouldst thou seek to\nleave a country where happiness and power can be thine? For behold, I\nam an old man and childless, save for one daughter, whose beauty and\nperfection resemble thine. But, for me, the cares of state have become\ntoo heavy a burden, and I sigh to be released from them. Remain with\nus, therefore, and I will give to thee even now the hand of my daughter\nand the sceptre and rule of my kingdom.'\n\nAt this proposal, so generously expressed, the face of Badoura became\ncovered with bashfulness, for strange indeed to a woman was this offer\nof a kingdom and a bride. Yet at her father's court she had long since\nbecome learned in the affairs of state, and to rule a kingdom had ever\nbeen her desire; moreover, since by the loss of the talisman she and\nher husband seemed destined to eternal separation, there was no cause\nthat she could see why her life should not thus be dedicated; there was\nalso some peril in a refusal, which the King would be certain to take\nas an affront both to himself and his daughter. So after pondering the\nmatter for a while she lifted her head and spoke to the King as follows:\n\n'O King, if I delayed for one moment my acceptance of so splendid an\noffer, it was only a knowledge of unworthiness which held me back. Yet\nto delay longer might seem to throw a doubt on the discretion of your\nroyal mind. Beset by these two dangers I place myself entirely in your\nMajesty's hands; and if I may have your promise of the guidance and\ncounsel which I shall constantly need, then I will unreservedly accept\nyour Majesty's proposal. To hear is to obey.'\n\nThe marriage being thus agreed on, the nuptial ceremony was fixed for\nthe following day. The pretended Prince, putting a bold face upon the\nmatter, informed the officers of her escort of the coming event, saying\nalso that the Princess Badoura had given it her approval. As for her\nwomen, their silence was already assured since, as partners to the\ndeception, their very lives depended on it.\n\nSo on the morrow King Amanos gathered together his emirs, viziers,\nand captains, and having presented to them the Princess Badoura as\nhis destined son-in-law and heir, he placed her upon the throne and\ngave orders for the nuptial ceremony to commence. And when the day of\nrejoicings was ended, the Princess Badoura was conducted to the bridal\nchamber.\n\nBut no sooner did Badoura find herself by the side of the beautiful\nPrincess Hayatelnefoos than the thought of her beloved Camaralzaman\noverwhelmed her with grief, and committing herself to prayer and\nrecitation, she continued at her devotions till the bride lay fast\nasleep. And thus she did the next night and on the night following.\n\nFinding herself thus neglected by the husband of whom she had received\nsuch glowing reports, the Princess Hayatelnefoos was filled with a\ndepression of spirit which immediately became visible in her looks; and\nwhen her father, King Amanos, discerning his daughter's grief, inquired\nwhat was amiss, she informed him that her husband, whom she already\nloved most tenderly, had conceived for her an aversion so intense that\nto avoid all intimacy of conversation he committed himself to prayer,\nand thus continued till weariness and sleep overcame her.\n\nAt this news the countenance of King Amanos was darkened, and he said\nto his daughter, 'If the Prince does not treat thee with the respect\ndue from a husband to a wife, he shall be divested of his royal dignity\nand banished from my kingdom.'\n\nThis threat so afflicted the heart of Hayatelnefoos, to whom the\nthought of separation from her husband was already unbearable, that on\ntheir next meeting she confided to Badoura her grief, informing her\nalso of the King's words and of the danger that threatened her.\n\nThen said Badoura, 'O amiable and charming Princess, though thou canst\nnot be my wife thou canst be my friend. Hear first my story, and\nthen, if thou art unable to pardon me thou canst at least have the\nsatisfaction of depriving me of life.' And forthwith she proceeded to\ngive the full story of her adventures.\n\nWhen she had finished, Hayatelnefoos replied, 'O Princess, I should\nindeed be unworthy of your confidence, if such a tale of misfortune\nhad failed to win not only my pity, but my devotion. Henceforth we two\nare of one mind, and will have between us but one heart and one desire\nfor the preservation of thy life and honour and the restoration of thy\nhusband.'\n\n[Illustration: Badoura Watching the Ship.\n\n'It so happened as the ship came into the harbour, Badoura was looking\nout towards the sea.' (p. 96)]\n\nThereupon the two Princesses embraced with the tenderest affection, and\nfrom that day on, concealing from all others the true facts, they lived\ntogether in the greatest amity and concord; while the Princess Badoura\ncontinued in her husband's name to rule over the city of Ebony, giving\nlaw and justice to all.\n\n\nPrince Camaralzaman, meanwhile, was living with the old gardener,\ntilling the soil, and carrying each day fruit and vegetables to the\nmarket. The time was now near for the merchant vessel which he was\nawaiting to return; but having lost the talisman of which he had come\nin quest, he had little hope of a successful issue to the adventure. So\none day, when the inhabitants of the city were making holiday and all\nthe markets were closed, the Prince, released from labour, sat in deep\ndejection of spirit under the trees of the garden away from the sound\nof festival, when suddenly he heard a strange cry of birds and in the\nleaves overhead he saw one furiously attacking another with beak and\nclaw. So desperate was the fight, that before many minutes were over\none of the birds fell dead at his feet, and the conqueror, uttering a\nloud cry of triumph, flew swiftly away.\n\nBut hardly had it disappeared, when two other birds of larger size\ncame flying into the garden, and making straight for the murdered body\nthey bowed their heads over it, crying lamentably and seeking with the\nwarmth of their breasts to restore it to life. Presently, when all\ntheir efforts proved vain, they scooped a grave with their claws, and\nhaving laid therein the slaughtered bird, they covered it with earth\nand immediately soared upward and disappeared.\n\nCamaralzaman sat weeping; for the mourning of these birds reminded him\nin some way of the grief and separation he himself had endured, and as\nlittle could he hope for the return of his lost happiness as they for\nthe revival of their dead comrade. As he was thus thinking, once again\ncame the strange cry he had heard before, and looking up he saw the\ntwo birds flying back carrying the murderer in their claws. No sooner\nhad they alighted above the grave than falling upon their captive they\ntore out his heart and entrails, and having drained out his blood as an\noffering to the slain, they left the body lying, and flew away.\n\nAll this while Camaralzaman had looked on in wonder; and surely it\nseemed to him that if, in the lower order of creation such miracles\nof devotion and service were wrought, humanity had no cause for\ndespair. And even as he so thought, he saw in the torn body of the bird\nsomething that shone brightly, and coming nearer he recognised it as\nthe talisman which he had taken from his wife's girdle.\n\nInstantly all life became changed to him; seizing the stone he wiped it\nof blood and pressed it a thousand times to his lips. 'Now at last,' he\ncried, 'I believe and know that my beloved is to be restored to me!'\n\nSo sure was he his good fortune had now returned to him that, unable to\nremain idle and inactive, he seized a hoe, and started to break up the\nground at the foot of the tree under which he had been standing. At the\nthird stroke the earth gave back a hollow and metallic sound. Quickly\nremoving the soil he discovered a trapdoor, which, when it was opened,\ndisclosed an aperture and a narrow flight of steps. Descending these he\nfound himself in a deep cellar lined with jars, twenty in all, filled\nwith red gold.\n\nContentment now took hold of his spirit, and having returned to the\ngarden he replaced the trap and continued at his work until in the\nevening the old gardener returned from the festivities.\n\nOn seeing him the old man said, 'Rejoice, my son, I bring you good\ntidings. The ship which you have so long waited for is now in the\nharbour, and in three days will be ready once more to set sail.'\n\nThis news so delighted Camaralzaman that taking the old man's hand he\nkissed it saying, 'I too have tidings for you of a happy kind.' And\nleading the gardener to the tree he lifted the trap, and disclosed to\nhis astonished eyes the gold that lay stored below.\n\n'Well,' said the gardener, 'I am glad that my poor plot of ground\nshould have yielded thee such rich fruit. Take it, my son, and Heaven\nprosper thee by its aid till thou come once more to thine own land and\nthe heart of thy beloved.'\n\n'Not so,' replied Camaralzaman, 'I will take nothing if I may not share\nit equally with thee.'\n\nSo it was agreed. Then said the gardener, 'My son, hast thou thought\nhow to convey safely so much gold on a voyage where thou wilt be alone\nin the hands of strangers? Surely if they find thee possessed of such\nwealth they will kill thee for the sake of it. Hearken, therefore, to\nwhat I shall advise. From this country we send olives into all parts\nof the world, and many ships go laden with them. Fill for thyself,\ntherefore, fifty jars from the olive-trees which are in this garden,\nand at the bottom of each jar lay a portion of the gold: so shall it be\nsafe, and no man will know of it.'\n\nSo the Prince did as the gardener advised; and fearing lest, while on\nthe voyage, he himself might be robbed, he put the talisman along with\nthe gold in one of the olive jars, marking it with a number so that\nhe might know it again. Then he made a bargain with the owner of the\nvessel, and on the third day the seamen came and carried away the jars\nand stowed them on board. And the captain said to Camaralzaman, who had\naccompanied them, 'Do not be long in returning, for the wind is fair\nand I only wait for you to set sail.'\n\nSo Camaralzaman hastened back to say farewell to the old gardener and\nto thank him for all that he had done; but when he arrived at the house\nhe found the old man so stricken with grief at his departure that he\nwas already at the point of death. Camaralzaman therefore sat down\nby his bed and tended him, holding him by the hand and speaking many\ncomfortable words; and toward evening, having made his profession of\nfaith, as all good Mussulmans do, the old man let fell his head and\nexpired.\n\nCamaralzaman closed his eyes, wrapped his body for burial, and having\ndug a grave in the garden, interred it. Then he went down in haste to\nthe shore and found that the vessel had gone.\n\nOnce again, therefore, despair returned to him, for now a second time\nthe talisman was lost, and he had no hope of recovering it. Also he\nmust needs wait another year before the ship could return and take him\nupon his way. So going to the landlord of the garden he became a tenant\nin the place of his dead friend, and hiding what remained of the gold\nin fifty other olive jars, he set to work once more as a gardener until\nthe time should once more come round for him to embark.\n\n\nMeantime, under a favourable wind, the ship arrived at the island of\nEbony; and it so happened that as it came into the harbour the Princess\nBadoura was looking out of one of the palace windows toward the sea.\nNo sooner did her eyes rest upon the sails of that ship than her heart\nbecame uplifted with joy. 'Surely,' she said to herself, 'either my\nbeloved is there on board or it brings news of him.'\n\n[Illustration: Capture of Camaralzaman.\n\n'The captain of the ship goes to capture Camaralzaman at the command of\nBadoura.' (p. 99)]\n\nSo going down to the shore, accompanied by her emirs and attendants,\nshe caused the master of the vessel to be summoned before her and\ninquired of him what merchandise he had brought. 'O King,' replied the\ncaptain, 'I have spices, drugs, aromatic scents, and sweet ointments;\nI have also rich fabrics and metal-work; and in addition to all these\nthings I have olives such as are not to be found in any other country,\nand these, since I came by them fortunately, I can let you have cheap.'\nOn hearing this a desire for the olives took hold of the Princess, and\nshe said, 'What quantity have you brought?' 'Fifty jars,' answered the\nmaster; 'that is all I have.' 'Well,' said the Princess, 'I will take\nfifty.' And she paid him for them the price that he asked--a thousand\npieces of silver.\n\nNow presently, when the olives had been conveyed to the palace, there\ncame upon the Princess a strange desire to taste that which she had\njust purchased, so she gave orders for one of the jars to be opened and\nthe contents to be poured into a dish; and as the attendant poured,\nfirst came olives and then a heap of red gold.\n\nThen said Badoura to the Princess Hayatelnefoos, who alone was with\nher, 'That is gold!' So she examined further and in every jar found\ngold in equal quantity. Presently as she emptied one of the jars, along\nwith the gold came the talisman which Camaralzaman had concealed there;\nand no sooner did the Princess Badoura see it than she knew it again;\nand she showed it to Hayatelnefoos, saying, 'Lo, this is the stone\nwhose loss hath caused our separation; now, finding it again, I know\nthat my beloved will be restored to me.'\n\nThen she sent in haste and caused the master of the vessel to be\nbrought before her, and she said to him, 'Whence had you these olives?\nTell me the truth, or you shall die!'\n\nThereupon the master being smitten in his conscience dropped to earth\nand lay there, crying, 'Alas, I had them of a poor man who brought\nthem himself to the vessel but did not return at the appointed time;\ntherefore I sailed without him. Be assured, O King, that all the money\nI got for them shall be honestly paid to him.'\n\nThen said Badoura, 'As to that I care not. But go back straightway\nto that country from which you came and find the man and bring him\nto me, for he is a malefactor against the laws of this kingdom, for\nhe hath stolen from me a precious thing dearer than life itself;\ntherefore is his life forfeit. And if you fail to bring him, then all\nthe merchandise which you have now brought I will hold, and no ship or\nmerchandise of yours shall ever enter this port again. But if you bring\nhim safely, I will reward you abundantly.'\n\nThe master therefore, being so compelled, left his merchandise in bond\nand returned with all haste to the port from which he had set out, and\nthere coming with his men to the house of Camaralzaman, he knocked; and\nno sooner had the Prince opened than, seizing him, they carried him\noff, and bestowed him on board the vessel as a prisoner.\n\nCamaralzaman said to them, 'Masters, why are you treating me thus?'\nThey answered, 'Thou art an offender and malefactor against the King of\nthe Ebony Isles, son to the King Amanos, and hast stolen his wealth;\nyea, a precious thing hast thou stolen from him, and now he requires it\nof thee!'\n\n'Well,' said Camaralzaman, 'this is the first that I have heard of it.'\n\nSo they bore him away, and after they had sailed for some while they\ncame again to the city of Ebony, and word was sent to the palace that\nthe master of the vessel had returned bringing the King his prisoner.\n\nThen Badoura gave orders, and Camaralzaman, still in his workman's\ndress, his body wasted with grief, and his face and hands soiled with\nthe defilements of his long voyage, came and stood before her. As soon\nas she saw him her heart leapt with joy, but she feared to reveal\nherself, for how would it appear to her emirs and chamberlains were she\nbefore all eyes to throw herself into the arms of a common gardener.\nTherefore, retaining her disguise, she spoke to him as a King should do\nto a peasant, and in a man's voice. And Camaralzaman, fearful of the\nunknown charge which was to be brought against him, stood before her\nwith bowed head and did not look up.\n\nThe Princess asked him but a few questions, of the country from which\nhe had come, of the time that he had lived there, and what calling\nhe had followed. Then she said to him, 'Be assured that if thou art\ninnocent of that which is charged against thee, thine honour and\nintegrity shall be made known to all. Even now if thou wilt confess to\nhaving taken a thing which is not thine and wilt restore it to me, I\nam willing to pardon thee, seeing that it was done without thought of\nevil.' But Camaralzaman hearing these words knew not what they meant,\nfor his thoughts were all astray and he did not dream that it was of\nhimself and of the talisman that she spoke.\n\nThen Badoura ordered an officer of her household to take charge of\nthe prisoner and treat him with all care; and having recompensed the\nmaster of the vessel and set free his merchandise, she went in to\nHayatelnefoos, and told her of all that had come about. And she said\nto her, 'O bosom-friend and comforter of my heart, be sure that what\nbrings happiness to me shall bring it to thee also; for no fortune\nshall Heaven send me, nor any bliss, however great, that I am not ready\nto share equally with thee.' Then speaking of Camaralzaman she said,\n'So great a distance divides in men's eyes what seems his present lot\nfrom ours, that it were peril to be sudden in this matter lest the\ntruth of our story should not be believed. Therefore we must wait till\nof his own natural nobleness he shall have raised himself in the eyes\nof all.' And to this plan Queen Hayatelnefoos agreed.\n\nSo the next day Badoura gave orders to conduct Camaralzaman to the\nbath; then she caused him to be clad in an emir's robes and brought\nforth where all might see; and lo! as a willow branch after rain or the\nplanet of love shining at dusk, so seemed he then to the eyes of all.\n\nThen again she caused him to be brought before her in the Hall of\nJudgment and pronounced him clear of all that had been charged against\nhim. 'For that which was precious to me,' she said, 'has been restored;\nand other hands held it from me, not thine. Therefore as thou hast been\nproved true I will appoint thee to high honour.' Then addressing the\nemirs and councillors who were gathered about her she said, 'My lords,\nthis Camaralzaman whom to-day I admit to my Councils is not unworthy of\nthe high post which I confer on him; for not only have I tested him as\nye have seen on an accusation whereof he is innocent, but he is a man\nof approved valour, of grace, and learning, being also a descendant of\nkings.'\n\nGreat was Camaralzaman's astonishment at finding his name and lineage\nknown to the King of the Ebony Isles; but not daring to question how\nhis good fortune had come about he prostrated himself before the\nthrone, saying, 'O King, only by thy favour have I been raised to this\nhonour, and by that alone can I either deserve or maintain it.' So the\nCouncil ended, and Camaralzaman was conducted to a large and sumptuous\nabode with slaves and attendants to wait upon him, and everything that\nhis heart could desire save only his beloved Princess.\n\nAfter a few days Badoura, wishing to find occasion for Camaralzaman's\nmore frequent presence, appointed him to the office of Grand Treasurer,\nand thereafter scarcely a day passed that she did not bestow on him\nfresh honours; while Camaralzaman, for his part, wondering why such\nhigh favours were shown him, served the King diligently, and was\ngreatly respected not only by all the emirs and officials of the Court,\nbut by the common people, who swore by his life, and would have asked\nno better than for such an one as he to be their ruler.\n\nSo time went on, and ever did the wonder of Camaralzaman increase why\nhe alone had been chosen for such great honours. And because this thing\nseemed to him without reason, he came at last to fear it. Furthermore,\nfor loss of his beloved, restlessness and the desire for travel filled\nhis heart, and in no one place could he find happiness. So one day\ncoming to the King--that is to say to Badoura--he spoke as follows: 'O\nKing of the Age, so great is the favour that thou hast shown me, that I\nknow well it cannot last. Suffer me therefore to depart before I have\noutstayed my welcome; so shall my gratitude be undiminished and the\nnature of thy regard for me unchanged.' When Badoura heard these words\nshe smiled on him and said: 'If indeed it is thy will to depart, then\nmust thou take and cast away once more--yea, lose utterly--this stone\nwhose virtue brought thee back to me, and by which, while it is in my\npossession, our lives are bound.' So saying she reached out and put the\ntalisman in his hand.\n\nWhen Camaralzaman beheld the stone once more his wonder was beyond\nwords. 'O King,' he cried, 'whence came this to thee? For herein lies\nthe cause of all my afflictions and separation from one whom I loved as\nmy own soul.'\n\n'Surely,' answered Badoura, 'none can part from that talisman without\nestrangement and separation. And since now I have parted from it to\nthee, our separation must infallibly begin from this hour. Therefore\nthe King of the Ebony Isles thou shalt see no more.'\n\nSo saying she passed out of the chamber, and Camaralzaman stood and\nwondered, not knowing what to think.\n\nThen Badoura went in haste to a closet, and there she put on the\ndress and the girdle which she had worn on the day of separation; and\ntaking from her head the man's turban, she spread her hair and put on\na head-dress of fine gold delicately wrought. So she returned to him,\nand when Camaralzaman saw her he uttered a cry and ran into her arms\nand held her with kisses as if he could never let her go. And when at\nlast he spoke of things other than his joy--'How,' he inquired, 'has\nthe King accomplished this miracle? Surely when he spoke I understood\nnothing of what he said.'\n\nBadoura smiled as she answered: 'When the King put the talisman into\nthy hand, then did his kingship cease, and he returned once more to his\ntrue form. O my lord, look upon thy king, who is now become thy slave.\nSurely hadst thou loved me a little more thou wouldst have known me.'\n\nThen she told Camaralzaman of all that had happened to her from first\nto last; and on the morrow she went to King Amanos, and to him also\nmade her story plain. Nor would she allow that any deception had been\nused, 'For truly,' she said, 'I and my beloved are one; and I did but\ncome before and prepare for him the place which he was destined to\nfill. Therefore when I married thy daughter, it was Camaralzaman who\nmarried her; and when I accepted of thee the crown, it was Camaralzaman\nwho accepted it. Give me leave, therefore, O King, who hast been to me\nas a father, to show my beloved to the Queen whom I have won for him,\nand to the people over whom, in his name, I have ruled.'\n\nGreatly was King Amanos astonished to hear a woman utter such words;\nand the wonder of Camaralzaman was scarcely less. Yet, as she had\nbrought fortune and happiness to both alike, they consented to do her\nwill; and so it was agreed.\n\nTherefore from that day on did Camaralzaman take up the power and\nauthority which Badoura had attained for him, rejoicing also in the\ndomestic felicity of two wives, the one as beautiful as the other,\neach without jealousy, and having no wish or thought out of which\nestrangement could arise. Doubtless it was the perfect happiness in\nwhich he thus dwelt which caused Camaralzaman to forget altogether the\nobject for which his journey had been begun. No second dream of his\nfather, the King Shahzaman, ever came to remind him of his neglected\npurpose, while to the dominions of King Gaiour of China he had no wish\nto return.\n\n\n\nEpilogue\n\n\n'This, O King, is the story of Prince Camaralzaman and of the Princess\nBadoura from the time of their falling in love until the day when\nall their wanderings of separation were ended. A year later the two\nQueens each presented him with a son almost upon the same day. And the\nbirth of these Princes was celebrated with every kind of festivity and\nrejoicing.'\n\nAs Scheherazade concluded her story the light of dawn grew full. For a\nthousand and one nights she had given entertainment to her lord, saving\nat the same time the lives of her fellow-women. During this period she\nhad borne the King three children, all with so strong a resemblance\nto their father that even he could find no cause in them for casting\nsuspicion upon his wife's virtue.\n\nSo the tale being ended Scheherazade rose, and having kissed the ground\nat the King's feet, said, 'O King of the Age, perfect and incomparable,\nlo in dust and ashes I thy slave come to present to thee a petition.'\nAnd the King said, 'Ask, and it shall be granted thee.'\n\nThen Scheherazade called to her attendants and said, 'Bring in the\nchildren!' So they brought the children quickly; one of them walked,\none crawled, and one lay at the breast.\n\nSo she set them before the King, and said, 'These children are thine\nand mine. In pain I bore them, having little hope of any joy that\nthey might bring me; for under sentence of death I brought them into\nthe world, and though thrice I have been a mother thou hast not yet\npardoned me. Say, therefore, O King, when is my death to be; or, if it\nis not to be, then let my suspense be ended.'\n\nAt these words the King wept; and embracing his children tenderly,\ncried: 'O Scheherazade, by Allah I swear to thee that before the coming\nof these children thou wast pardoned already. Nor shall the death of\nsuch an one as thou be laid to my charge when Kings come before God to\nbe judged.'\n\n[Illustration: The Final Marriage Procession.]\n\nThen Scheherazade fell down and kissed his feet and his hands, crying,\n'God give thee a long life, and power and strength, and dominion and\nmajesty to the world's end.'\n\nJoy of that news spread through the palace, and thence to the city and\nall the people; and the night of rejoicing that followed was a night\nnot to be reckoned among lives, for its colour was as the rainbow in\nits promise over young fields of corn, and its light whiter than the\nface of day.\n\nTHE END","title":"Princess Badoura: A tale from the Arabian Nights","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":18917}