Know, O my lady, that I also am a King and the son of a King and my name is Ajíb son of Khazíb. When my father died I succeeded him; and I ruled justly and dealt fairly by all my subjects. I delighted in sea voyages, for my capital stood on the shore, before which the ocean stretched far and wide; and near at hand were many great islands with fortifications and garrisons in the midst of the sea. My fleet numbered fifty merchant ships, and as many pleasure yachts, and a hundred and fifty sailing vessels ready equipped for holy war with the Unbelievers. It happened that I desired to enjoy myself on the islands aforesaid, so I took ship with my people in ten vessels; and, carrying with me a month's provisions, I set out on a twenty days' voyage. But one night a head wind struck us, and the sea rose against us with huge waves; the billows buffeted us severely and a dense darkness settled around us. We gave ourselves up for lost and I said, "Whoever endangers his life, even if he escapes, deserves no praise." Then we prayed to Allah and besought Him;

but the storm blasts did not cease to blow against us nor the surges to strike us until morning broke, when the gale fell, the seas sank to glassy stillness and the sun shone upon us bright and clear. Presently, we came to an island where we landed and cooked some food, and ate heartily and took our rest for a couple of days. Then we set out again and sailed another twenty days, the seas broadening and the land shrinking. Presently, the current ran counter to us, and we found ourselves in strange waters, where the Captain had lost his reckoning and was wholly bewildered in this sea; so we said to the lookout man, "Go to the mast head and keep your eyes open." He climbed up the mast and looked out and cried aloud, "O Captain, I spy to starboard something dark, very like a fish floating on the face of the sea, and to larboard there is a light in the midst of the sea, now black and now bright." When the Captain heard the lookout's words he threw his turban on the deck and plucked out his beard and beat his face saying, "Good news indeed! We are all dead men; not one of us can be saved."

And he fell to weeping and all of us wept for his weeping and also for our lives; and I said, "O Captain, tell us what it is the lookout saw." "O my Prince," answered he, "know that we lost our course on the night of the storm, which was followed on the next day by a two days' calm during which we made no way; and we have gone astray eleven days reckoning from that night, with not a wind to bring us back to our true course. Tomorrow by the end of the day we shall come to a mountain of black stone, called the Magnet Mountain; for there the currents carry us willingly or not. As soon as we are under its lee, the ship's sides will open and every nail in a plank will fly out and cling fast to the mountain; for Almighty Allah has gifted the loadstone with a mysterious virtue and an attraction for iron, by reason of which all that is iron is drawn towards it; and on this mountain is much iron, how much none knows except the Most High, from the many vessels which have been lost there since the days of old. The bright spot upon its summit is a dome of yellow brass from Andalusia, vaulted upon ten columns; and on its crown is a horseman who rides a horse of brass and holds in hand a lance of brass; and there hangs on his bosom a tablet of lead engraved with names and talismans."

And he presently added, "And, O King, none destroys folk except the rider on that steed, nor will the magic be dispelled until he falls from his horse." Then, O my lady, the Captain wept with exceeding weeping and we all made sure of certain death and each and every one of us bid farewell to his friend and entrusted him with his last will and testament in case he might be saved. We did not sleep that night and in the morning we found ourselves much nearer the Loadstone Mountain, where the waters drove us with violent force. When the ships were close under its lee they opened and the nails flew out and all the iron in them sought the Magnet Mountain and clung to it like a network; so that by the end of the day we were all struggling in the waves around about the mountain. Some of us were saved, but more were drowned and even those who had escaped knew not one another, so stunned were they by the beating of the billows and the raging of the winds. As for me, O my lady, Allah (be His name exalted!) preserved my life that I might suffer whatever He willed to me of hardship, misfortune and calamity; for I scrambled upon a plank from one of the ships, and the wind and waters threw it at the feet of the Mountain.

There I found a practical path leading by steps carved out of the rock to the summit, and I called upon the name of Allah Almighty"—

When it was the Fifteenth night,

Then I awoke from my sleep in joy and gladness and, hastening to do the bidding of the mysterious Voice, found the bow and arrows and shot at the horseman and knocked him into the sea, while the horse fell at my feet; so I took it and buried it. Presently, the sea surged up and rose until it reached the top of the mountain; nor had I long to wait before I saw a small boat in the distance coming towards me. I gave thanks to Allah; and when the boat came up to me, I saw within it a man of brass with a tablet of lead on his breast inscribed with talismans and characters; and I embarked without saying a word. The boatman rowed with me through the first day and the second and the third, in all ten full days, until I caught sight of the Islands of Safety; at which I rejoiced with exceeding joy and in my gladness exclaimed, "Allah! Allah! In the name of Allah! There is no god but God and Allah is Almighty." Thereupon the boat immediately overturned and cast me upon the sea; then it righted itself and sank deep into the depths.

Now I am a good swimmer, so I swam the whole day until nightfall, when my forearms and shoulders were numbed with fatigue and I felt like dying; so I testified to my faith, expecting nothing but death. The sea was still surging under the violence of the winds, and presently there came a billow like a hillock; and, bearing me up high in air, threw me with a long cast on dry land, so that His will might be fulfilled. I crawled up the beach and, removing my clothes, wrung them out to dry and spread them in the sunshine: then I lay down and slept the whole night. As soon as it was day, I put on my clothes and rose to see where I should walk. Presently, I came to a thicket of low trees; and, going around it, found that the spot on which I stood was an islet, a mere island, surrounded on all sides by the ocean; whereupon I said to myself, "Whatever frees me from one great calamity casts me into a greater!" But while I was pondering my case and longing for death, behold, I saw afar off a ship making for the island; so I climbed a tree and hid myself among the branches. Presently, the ship anchored and landed ten slaves, black Africans, bearing iron hoes and baskets, who walked on until they reached the middle of the island. Here they dug deep into the ground until they uncovered a plate of metal which they lifted, thereby opening a trap door.

After this they returned to the ship and thence brought bread and flour, honey and fruits, clarified butter, leather bottles containing liquors and many household items; also furniture, table service and mirrors; rugs, carpets and in fact everything needed to furnish a dwelling; and they kept going back and forth, descending by the trap door, until they had transported into the dwelling everything that was in the ship. After this the slaves again went on board and brought back with them garments as rich as could be, and in the midst of them came an old, very old man, of whom very little was left, for Time had dealt harshly and roughly with him, and all that remained of him was bone wrapped in a rag of blue stuff through which the winds whistled east and west. As the poet says of him:—

Time gars me tremble Ah, how sore the baulk! While Time in pride of strength does ever stalk: Time was I walked nor ever felt I tired, Now am I tired albe I never walk!

And the Shaykh held by the hand a youth cast in beauty's mold, all elegance and perfect grace; so fair that his comeliness deserved to be proverbial; for he was like a green bough or the tender young of the deer, ravishing every heart with his loveliness and subduing every soul with his coquetry and amorous ways. It was of him the poet spoke when he said:—

Beauty they brought with him to make compare; But Beauty hung her head in shame and care: They said, "O Beauty, have you seen his like?" And Beauty cried, "His like? not anywhere!"

They did not stop their going, O my lady, until all went down by the trap door and did not reappear for an hour, or rather more; at the end of which time the slaves and the old man came up without the youth and, replacing the iron plate and carefully closing the door slab as it was before, they returned to the ship and made sail and were lost to my sight. When they turned away to depart, I came down from the tree and, going to the place I had seen them fill up, scraped off and removed the earth; and I patiently possessed my soul until I had cleared the whole of it away. Then appeared the trap door which was of wood, in shape and size like a millstone; and when I lifted it up it disclosed a winding staircase of stone. At this I marvelled and, descending the steps until I reached the last, found a fair hall, spread with various kinds of carpets and silk fabrics, in which was a youth sitting upon a raised couch and leaning back on a round cushion with a fan in his hand and bouquets and posies of sweet-scented herbs and flowers before him; but he was alone and not a soul near him in the great vault.

When he saw me he turned pale; but I greeted him courteously and said, "Set your mind at ease and calm your fears; no harm shall come near you; I am a man like yourself and the son of a King to boot; whom the decrees of Destiny have sent to bear you company and cheer you in your loneliness. But now tell me, what is your story and what causes you to dwell thus in solitude under the ground?" When he was assured that I was of his kind and no Jinni, he rejoiced and his fine colour returned; and, making me draw near to him he said, "O my brother, my story is a strange story and this is it: My father is a merchant jeweller possessed of great wealth, who has white and black slaves travelling and trading on his account in ships and on camels, and trafficking with the most distant cities; but he was not blessed with a child, not even one. Now on a certain night he dreamed a dream that he should be favoured with a son, who would be short lived; so the morning dawned on my father bringing him woe and weeping. On the following night my mother conceived and my father noted down the date of her becoming pregnant. Her time being fulfilled she bare me; at which my father rejoiced and made banquets and called together the neighbours and fed the Fakirs and the poor, for that he had been blessed with issue near the end of his days.

Then he assembled the astrologers and astronomers who knew the places of the planets, and the wizards and wise ones of the time, and men learned in horoscopes and nativities; and they drew out my birth scheme and said to my father, "Your son shall live to fifteen years, but in his fifteenth there is a sinister aspect; If he safely tide it over he shall attain a great age. And the cause that threatens him with death is this. In the Sea of Peril stands the Mountain Magnet called; on whose summit is a horseman of yellow laton seated on a horse also of brass and bearing on his breast a tablet of lead. Fifty days after this rider shall fall from his steed your son will die and his slayer will be he, who shoots down the horseman, a Prince named Ajib son of King Khazib." My father grieved greatly to hear these words; but he reared me in the most tender fashion and educated me excellently well until my fifteenth year was complete. Ten days ago news came to him that the horseman had fallen into the sea and that he who shot him down was named Ajib son of King Khazib. My father thereupon wept bitter tears at the necessity of parting with me and became like one possessed by a Jinni. However, being in mortal fear for me, he built me this place under the earth; and, stocking it with all required for the few days still remaining, he brought me here in a ship and left me here. Ten are already past and when the forty days shall have passed without danger to me, he will come and take me away; for he has done all this only in fear of Prince Ajib. Such, then, is my story and the cause of my loneliness." When I heard his history I marvelled and

The Third Kalandars Tale. 147 said in my mind, "I am the Prince Ajib who has done all this; but as Allah is with me I will surely not slay him!" So I said to him, "O my lord, far from you be this hurt and harm, and then, please Allah, you will not suffer care nor sorrow nor any disquiet, for I will stay with you and serve you as a servant, and then go on my way; and after having borne you company during the forty days, I will go with you to your home where you will give me an escort of some of your servants with whom I may journey back to my own city; and the Almighty shall reward you for me." He was glad to hear these words, and I rose and lit a large bright candle and trimmed the lamps and the three lanterns; and I set out meat and drink and sweetmeats. We ate and drank and sat talking over various matters until the greater part of the night was gone; when he lay down to rest and I covered him up and went to sleep myself. Next morning I arose and warmed a little water, then lifted him gently so as to awake him and brought him the warm water with which he washed his face and said to me, "Heaven requite you for me with every blessing, O youth! By God, if I survive this danger and am saved from him whose name is Ajib ibn Khazib, I will make my father reward you and send you home healthy and wealthy; and if I die, then my blessing be upon you."

I answered, "May the day never dawn on which evil shall happen to you; and may Allah make my last day before your last day!" Then I set before him something of food and we ate; and I prepared perfumes for fumigating the hall, with which he was pleased. Moreover I made him a Mankalah board, and we played and ate sweetmeats and we played again and took our pleasure until nightfall, when I rose and lit the lamps, and set before him something to eat, and sat telling him stories until the hours of darkness were far spent. Then he lay down to rest and I covered him up and rested also. And thus I continued to do, O my lady, for days and nights and affection for him took root in my heart and my sorrow was eased, and I said to myself, "The astrologers lied when they predicted that he should be slain by Ajib ibn Khazib: By God, I will not slay him." I did not stop ministering to him and conversing and celebrating with him and telling him all manner of tales for thirty-nine days. On the fortieth night the youth rejoiced and said, "O my brother, praise be to God!—praise be to Allah—who has preserved me from death and this is by your blessing and the blessing of your coming to me; and I pray God that He restore you to your native land. But now, O my brother, I would you warm me some water for the ritual ablution and do you kindly bathe me and change my clothes."

I replied, "With love and gladness;" and I heated plenty of water and carrying it in to him washed his body all over with the cleansing of health, with meal of lupins and rubbed him well and changed his clothes and spread him a high bed on which he lay down to rest, being drowsy after bathing. Then he said, "O my brother, cut me up a watermelon, and sweeten it with a little sugar candy." So I went to the store room and bringing out a fine watermelon I found there, set it on a platter and laid it before him saying, "O my master, do you not have a knife?" "Here it is," answered he, "over my head upon the high shelf." So I got up in haste and taking the knife drew it from its sheath; but my foot slipped in stepping down and I fell heavily upon the youth holding in my hand the knife which hurried to fulfill what had been written on the Day that decided the destinies of man, and buried itself, as if planted, in the youth's heart. He died on the instant. When I saw that he was slain and knew that I had slain him, in spite of myself, I cried out with an exceeding loud and bitter cry and beat my face and tore my garments and said, "Truly we are Allah's and unto Him are we returning, O Muslims! O folk of Allah! There remained for this youth but one day of the forty dangerous days which the astrologers and the learned had foretold for him; and the fated death of this beautiful one was to be at my hand. Would that I had not tried to cut the watermelon. What dire misfortune is this I must bear willingly or unwillingly? What a disaster! What an affliction! O Allah my Lord,

When it was the Sixteenth night,

So I climbed up into a high tree and concealed myself among its leaves; and hardly had I done so when the ship anchored and the slaves landed with the ancient man, the youth's father, and made directly for the place; and when they removed the earth they were surprised to see it soft. Then they raised the trap door and went down and found the youth lying at full length, clothed in fair new garments, with a face radiant after the bath, and the knife deep in his heart. At the sight they shrieked and wept and beat their faces, loudly cursing the murderer; while a swoon came over the Shaykh so that the slaves thought him dead, unable to survive his son. At last they wrapped the slain youth in his clothes and carried him up and laid him on the ground covering him with a shroud of silk. While they were making for the ship the old man revived; and, gazing on his son who was stretched out, fell on the ground and strewed dust over his head and struck his face and plucked out his beard; and his weeping increased as he thought of his murdered son and he swooned away once more. After a while a slave went and fetched a strip of silk whereupon they lay the old man and sat down at his head. All this took place and I was on the tree above them watching everything that happened;

and my heart aged before my head grew grey, for the hard lot which was mine, and for the distress and anguish I had undergone, and I fell to reciting:—

"How many a joy By God's will has fled With flight escaping sight of wisest head! How many a sadness shall begin the day, Yet grow right gladsome before the day is sped! How many a weal trips on the heels of ill, Causing the mourner's heart with joy to thrill!"

But the old man, O my lady, did not awake from his swoon until near sunset, when he came to himself and, looking upon his dead son, he recalled what had happened, and how what he had dreaded had come to pass; and he beat his face and head and recited these couplets:—

"Racked is my heart by parting fro' my friends And two rills ever fro' my eyelids flow: With them went forth my hopes, Ah, well away! What shift remains me to say or do? Would I had never looked upon their sight, What shift, fair sirs, when paths ever straiter grow? What charm shall calm my pangs when this wise burn Longings of love which in my vitals glow? Would I had trod with them the road of Death! never had befell us twain this parting blow: Allah: I pray the Ruthful show me ruth And mixour lives nor part them evermo'e! How blest were we as 'neath one roof we dwelt Conjoined in joys nor recking anything of woe; Till fortune shot us with the severance shaft; Ah who shall patient bear such parting throe? And dart of Death struck down amid the tribe The age's pearl that Morn saw brightest show: I cried the while his case took speech and said:— Would Heaven, my son, Death mote his doom foreslow! Which be the readiest road wi' you to meet My Son! for whom I would my soul bestow? If sun I call him no! the sun does set; If moon I call him, wane the moons; Ah no!

The Third Kalandars Tale. 151

O sad mischance o' you, O doom of days, Your place none other love shall ever know: Your sire distracted sees you, but despairs By wit or wisdom Fate to over throw: Some evil eye this day has cast its spell And foul befall him as it foul befell!"

Then he sobbed once and his soul fled his flesh. The slaves shrieked aloud, "Alas, our lord!" And threw dust on their heads and redoubled their weeping and wailing. Presently, they carried their dead master to the ship side by side with his dead son and, having transported all the items from the dwelling to the vessel, set sail and disappeared from my eyes. I descended from the tree and, raising the trap door, went down into the underground dwelling where everything reminded me of the youth; and I looked upon the remains of him and began reciting these verses:—

"Their tracks I see, and pine with pain and pang And on deserted hearths I weep and yearn: And Him I pray who doomed them depart Some day vouchsafe the boon of safe return."

Then, O my lady, I went up again by the trap door, and every day I used to wander round about the island and every night I returned to the underground hall. Thus I lived for a month, until at last, looking at the western side of the island, I observed that every day the tide ebbed, leaving shallow water that the flow did not compensate for; and by the end of the month the sea showed dry land in that direction. At this I rejoiced, making certain of my safety; so I arose and wading through what little water was left, got to the mainland, where I fell upon great heaps of loose sand in which even a camel's hoof would sink up to the knee. However, I emboldened my soul and waded through the sand when behold, a fire shone from afar burning with a blazing light. So I made for it, hoping perhaps to find help, and burst out into these verses:—

"Perhaps my Fortune may change her course, And Time bring good, although jealous he seems called; Forward my hopes, and help all my needs, And let past ills be repaid with present good.

And when I drew near to the fire aforesaid, lo! it was a palace with gates of copper burnished red which, when the rising sun shone upon them, gleamed and glistened from afar showing what had seemed to me a fire. I rejoiced at the sight and sat down over against the gate, but I was hardly settled in my seat before there met me ten young men clothed in sumptuous attire and all were blind of the left eye which appeared as if plucked out. They were accompanied by a Shaykh, a very old man, and I marvelled greatly at their appearance and at their all being blind in the same eye. When they saw me, they greeted me with the Salam and asked me about my case and my history; whereupon I related to them all what had befallen me and what full measure of misfortune was mine. marvelling at my tale they took me to the mansion, where I saw arranged around the hall ten couches each with its blue bedding and covering of blue fabric, and in the very middle stood a smaller couch furnished like them with blue and nothing else. As we entered each of the youths took his seat on his own couch and the old man seated himself upon the smaller one in the middle saying to me, "O youth, sit you down on the floor and ask not of our case nor of the loss of our eyes."

Presently, he rose up and set before each young man some meat in a dish and drink in a large cup, treating me in the same way; and after that they sat questioning me concerning my adventures and what had happened to me: and I kept telling them my tale until the night was far spent. Then said the young men, "O our Shaykh, will you not set before us our meal? The time has come." He replied, "With love and gladness," and rose and entering a closet disappeared, but presently returned bearing on his head ten trays each covered with a strip of blue fabric. He set a tray before each youth and, lighting ten bright candles, he placed one upon each tray and drew off the covers and lo! under them was nothing but ashes and powdered charcoal and kettle soot. Then all the young men rolled up their sleeves to the elbows and fell to weeping and wailing and they blackened their faces and smeared their clothes and struck their brows and beat their breasts, continually exclaiming, "We were sitting at our ease but our frowardness brought us unease!" They did not stop doing this until dawn drew near, when the old man rose and heated water for them, and they washed their faces and put on other, clean clothes.

Now when I saw this, O my lady, for sheer wonderment my senses left me and my wits went wild and my heart and head were full of thought, until I forgot what had happened to me and I could not keep silence, feeling I must speak out and question them about these strange things; so I said to them, "How come you to do this after we have been so open-hearted and playful? Thanks be to Allah you are all sound and sane, yet actions such as these befit none but mad men or those possessed by an evil spirit. I beg you by all that is dearest to you, why do you not tell me your history and the cause of your losing your eyes and your blackening your faces with ashes and soot?" Hereupon they turned to me and said, "O young man, do not listen to your youth's suggestions and ask us no questions." Then they slept and I with them and when they awoke the old man brought us some food; and after we had eaten and the plates and goblets had been removed, they sat conversing until nightfall when the old man rose and lit bright candles and lamps and set meat and drink before us.

After we had eaten and drunk we sat conversing and celebrating together until midnight, when they said to the old man, "Bring us our meal, for the hour of sleep is at hand!" So he rose and brought them the trays of soot and ashes; and they did as they had done on the preceding night, no more and no less. I stayed with them in this way for the space of a month during which time they used to blacken their faces with ashes every night, and to wash and change their clothes when the morning was young; and I merely marvelled the more and my doubts and curiosity increased to such a point that I had to forego even food and drink. At last, I lost control of myself, for my heart was aflame with fire unquenchable and passion irrepressible and I said, "O young men, will you not relieve my trouble and acquaint me with the reason for thus blackening your faces and the meaning of your words:—We were sitting at our ease but our frowardness brought us unease?" they said, "It would be better to keep these things secret." Still I was bewildered by their doings to the point of refusing to eat and drink and, at last wholly losing patience, I said to them, "There is no help for it: you must tell me what is the reason for these doings." They replied, "We kept our secret only for your good: to gratify you will bring down evil upon you and you will become one-eyed even as we are." I repeated, "There is no help for it and if you will not, let me leave you and return to my own people and be at rest from seeing these things, for the proverb says:—

Better you stay and I take my leave: For what eye sees not heart shall never grieve."

Thereupon they said to me, "Remember, O youth, that should ill befall you we will not harbor you again nor suffer you to stay amongst us;" and bringing a ram they slaughtered it and skinned it. Lastly they gave me a knife saying, "Take this skin and stretch yourself upon it and we will sew it around you, presently there shall come to you a certain bird, called the Rukh, that will catch you up in his claws and soar high in the air and then set you down on a mountain. When you feel he is no longer flying, rip open the skin with this blade and come out of it; the bird will be scared and will fly away and leave you free. After this travel for half a day, and the journey will bring you to a palace wondrous fair to behold, towering high in the air and built of valuable woods and aloes and sandalwood, plated with red gold, and set with all manner of emeralds and costly gems fit for seal rings. Enter it and you will gain your wish for we have all entered that palace; and such is the cause of our losing our eyes and of our blackening our faces. Were we now to tell you our stories it would take too long a time; for each and every of us lost his left eye by an adventure of his own."

I rejoiced at their words and they did with me as they said; and the bird Rukh bore me off and set me down on the mountain. Then I came out of the skin and walked on until I reached the palace. The door stood open as I entered and found myself in a spacious and goodly hall, wide exceedingly, even as a horse race track; and around it were a hundred chambers with doors of sandalwood and aloes wood plated with red gold and furnished with silver rings by way of knockers. At the head of the hall I saw forty maidens, sumptuously dressed and adorned and one and all bright as moons; none could ever tire of gazing upon them and all so lovely that the most ascetic devotee on seeing them would become their slave and obey their will. When they saw me the whole group came up to me and said, "Welcome and well come and good cheer to you, O our lord! This whole month we have been expecting you. Praised be Allah who has sent us one who is worthy of us, even as we are worthy of him!" Then they made me sit down upon a high divan and said to me, "This day you are our lord and master, and we are your servants and your handmaids, so order us as you will."

And I marvelled at their case. Presently, one of them arose and set meat before me and I ate and they ate with me; while others warmed water and washed my hands and feet and changed my clothes and others prepared sherbets and gave us to drink; and all gathered around me being full of joy and gladness at my coming. Then they sat down and conversed with me until nightfall, when five of them arose and set out the trays and spread them with flowers and fragrant herbs and fruits, fresh and dried, and confections in abundance. At last they brought out a fine wine service with rich old wine; and we sat down to drink and some sang songs and others played the lute and harp and pipes and other instruments, and the wine cup went merrily around. Hereupon such gladness possessed me that I forgot the sorrows of the world one and all and said, "This is indeed life; O sad that it is fleeting!" I enjoyed their company until the time came for rest; and our heads were all warm with wine, when they said, "O our lord, choose from amongst us her who shall be your bed companion this night and shall not lie with you again until forty days have passed." So I chose a girl fair of face and perfect in shape, with eyes ringed with kohl by nature's hand; hair long and jet black with slightly parted teeth and joining brows: she was like some graceful supple branchlet or the slender stalk of sweet basil to amaze and bewilder a man's fancy; even as the poet said of such a one:—

To even her with greeny bough were vain :Fool he who finds her beauties in the roe: When has the roe those lively lovely limbs Or honey dews those lips alone bestow? Those eyne, soul piercing eyne, which slay with love, Which bind the victim by their shafts laid low? My heart to second childhood they beguiled No wonder: love sick man again is child!

And I recited to her the verses of the poet who said:—

"None other charms but yours shall greet my eyes, Nor other image can my heart surprise: Your love, my lady, captivates all my thoughts And on that love I'll die and I'll arise.

So I lay with her that night; none fairer I ever knew; and when it was morning, the maidens carried me to the bathhouse and bathed me and robed me in the finest apparel. Then they served up food and we ate and drank and the wine cup went around until nightfall when I chose from among them one fair of form and face, soft and graceful, a model of elegance, such an one as the poet described when he said:—

On her fair bosom caskets twain I scanned, Sealed fast with musk seals lovers to withstand; With arrowy glances standing guard her eyes, Whose shafts would wound whoever dares put forth a hand.

With her I spent a most goodly night; and, to be brief, O my mistress, I remained with them in all comfort and delight of life eating and drinking, conversing and celebrating and every night lying with one or other of them. But at the beginning of the new year they came to me in tears and bade me farewell, weeping and crying out and clinging about me; at which I wondered and said, "What may be the matter? truly you break my heart!" They exclaimed, "Would that we had never known you; for although we have been with many, yet never saw we a more pleasant than you or a more courteous." And they wept again. "But tell me more clearly," asked I, "what causes this weeping which makes my heart like to burst;" and they answered, "O our lord and master, it is parting which makes us weep; and you, and you only, are the cause of our tears. If you listen to us we need never be parted and if you do not listen we part forever; but our hearts tell us that you will not listen to our words and this is the cause of our tears and cries." "Tell me how the matter stands?" "Know, O our lord, that we are the daughters of Kings who have met here and have lived together for years; and once in every year we are necessarily absent for forty days; and afterwards we return and stay here for the rest of the twelve months eating and drinking and taking our pleasure and enjoying delights: we are about to depart according to our custom; and we fear lest after we are gone you act against our charge and disobey our orders. Here now we give to you the keys of the palace which contains forty chambers and you may open thirty-nine of them, but beware (and we beg you by God and by our lives!) lest you open the fortieth door, for within it is that which shall separate us forever." I said, "Assuredly I will not open it, if it contains the cause of separation from you." Then one among them came up to me and falling on my neck wept and recited these verses:—

"If Time unite us after absent while, The world harsh frowning on our lot shall smile; And if your semblance deign adorn my eyes, I'll pardon Time past wrongs and by gone guile."

And I recited the following:—

"When drew she near to bid adieu with heart unstrung, While care and longing on that day her bosom wrung; Wet pearls she wept and mine like red carnelians rolled And, joined in sad rivière, around her neck they hung."

When I saw her weeping I said, "By God I will never open that forties door, never and no wise!" And I bade her farewell. Thereupon all departed flying away like birds; signalling with their hands farewells as they went and leaving me alone in the palace. When evening drew near I opened the door of the first chamber and entering it found myself in a place like one of the pleasaunces of Paradise. It was a garden with trees of freshest green and ripe fruits of yellow sheen; and its birds were singing clear and keen and rills ran wimpling through the fair terrene. The sight and sounds brought solace to my sprite; and I walked among the trees, and I smelt the breath of the flowers on the breeze; and heard the birdies sing their melodies hymning the One, the Almighty in sweetest litanies; and I looked upon the apple whose hue is parcel red and parcel yellow; as said the poet:—

Apple whose hue combines in union mellow My fair's red cheek, her hapless lover's yellow.

Then I looked upon the quince, and inhaled its fragrance which puts to shame musk and ambergris, even as the poet has said:—

Quince every taste conjoins; in her are found Gifts which for queen of fruits the Quince have crowned; Her taste is wine, her scent the waft of musk; Pure gold her hue, her shape the Moon's fair round.

Then I looked upon the pear whose taste surpasses sherbet and sugar; and the apricot whose beauty striks the eye with admiration, as if she were a polished ruby. Then I went out of the place and locked the door as it was before. When it was the morrow I opened the second door; and entering found myself in a spacious plain set with tall date palms and watered by a running stream whose banks were shrubbed with bushes of rose

The Third Kalandars Tale. 159 and jasmine, while privet and eglantine, oxe eye, violet and lily, narcissus, origane and the winter gilliflower carpeted the borders; and the breath of the breeze swept over these sweet smelling growths diffusing their delicious odours right and left, perfuming the world and filling my soul with delight. After taking my pleasure there awhile I went from it and, having closed the door as it was before, opened the third door in which I saw a high open hall pargetted with parti coloured marbles and pietradura of price and other precious stones, and hung with cages of sandal wood and eagle wood; full of birds which made sweet music, such as the Thousand voiced, and the cushat, the merle, the turtle dove and the Nubian ring dove. My heart was filled with pleasure by that; my grief was dispelled and I slept in that aviary till dawn. Then I unlocked the door of the fourth chamber and within it found a grand saloon with forty smaller chambers giving upon it. All their doors stood open: so I entered and found them full of pearls and jacinths and beryls and emeralds and corals and carbuncles, and all manner precious gems and jewels, such as tongue of man may not describe. My thought was stunned at the sight and I said to myself, "These be things I think united which could not be found save in the treasuries of a King of Kings, nor could the monarchs of the world have collected the like of these!"

And my heart dilated and my sorrows ceased, "For," I, said, "now truly am I the monarch of the age, since By God's grace this enormous wealth is mine; and I have forty damsels under my hand nor is there any to claim them save myself." Then I gave not over opening Place after place until nine and thirty days were passed and in that time I had entered every chamber except that one whose door the Princesses had charged me not to open. But my thoughts, O my mistress, ever ran on that forbidden forties and Satan urged me to open it for my own undoing; nor had I patience to forbear, albeit there wanted of the trysting time but a single day. So I stood before the chamber aforesaid and, after a moment's hesitation, opened the door which was plated with red gold, and entered. I was met by a perfume whose like I had never before smelt; and so sharp and subtle was the odour that it made my senses drunken as with strong wine, and I fell to the ground in a fainting fit which lasted a full hour. When I came to myself I strengthened my heart and, entering, found myself in a chamber whose floor was bespread with saffron and blazing with light from branched candelabra of gold and lamps fed with costly oils, which diffused the scent of musk and ambergris. I saw there also two great censers each big as a mazer bowl, flaming with lign aloes, nadd perfume, ambergris and honied scents; and the place was full of their fragrance. Presently, O my lady, I espied a noble steed, black as the murks of night when murkiest, standing, ready saddled and bridled (and his saddle was of red gold) before two mangers, one of clear crystal in which was husked sesame, and the other also of crystal containing water of the rose scented with musk.

When I saw this I marvelled and said to myself, "Doubtless in this animal must be some wondrous mystery;" and Satan cozened me, so I led him without the palace and mounted him, but he would not stir from his place. So I hammered his sides with my heels, but he moved not, and then I took the rein whip, and struck him as well. When he felt the blow, he neighed a neigh with a sound like deafening thunder and, opening a pair of wings flew up with me in the firmament of heaven far beyond the eyesight of man. After a full hour of flight he descended and alighted on a terrace roof and shaking me off his back lashed me on the face with his tail and gouged out my left eye causing it roll along my cheek. Then he flew away. I went down from the terrace and found myself again amongst the ten one eyed youths sitting upon their ten couches with blue covers; and they cried out when they saw me, "No welcome to you, nor anything of good cheer! We all lived of lives the happiest and we ate and drank of the best; upon brocades and cloths of gold we took rest and we slept with our heads on beauty's breast, but we could not await one day to gain the delights of a year!" I, said, "Behold I have become one like unto you and now I would have you bring me a tray full of blackness, wherewith to blacken my face,

The Third Kalandars Tale. 161 and receive me into your society." "No, By God," They said, "you will not sojourn with us and now get you hence!" So they drove me away. Finding them reject me thus I foresaw that matters would go hard with me, and I remembered the many miseries which Destiny had written upon my forehead; and I fared forth from among them heavy hearted and tearful eyed, repeating to myself these words, "I was sitting at my ease but my frowardness brought me to unease." Then I shaved beard and mustachios and eye brows, renouncing the world, and wandered in Kalandar garb about Allah's earth; and the Almighty decreed safety for me till I arrived at Baghdad, which was on the evening of this very night. Here I met these two other Kalandars standing bewildered; so I saluted them saying, "I am a stranger!" And they answered, "And we likewise be strangers!" By the freak of Fortune we were like to like, three Kalandars and three monoculars all blind of the left eye. Such, O my lady, is the cause of the shearing of my beard and the manner of my losing an eye. Said the lady to him, "Rub your head and go your ways," but he answered, "By God, I will not go until I hear the stories of these others."

Then the lady, turning towards the Caliph and Ja'afar and Masrur, said to them, "Do you also give an account of yourselves, you men!" Whereupon Ja'afar stood forth and told her what he had told the portress as they were entering the house; and when she heard his story of their being merchants and Mosul men who had outrun the watch, she said, "I grant you your lives each for each sake, and now away with you all." So they all went out and when they were in the street, the Caliph to the Kalandars, said, "O company, where go you now, seeing that the morning has not yet dawned?" They said, "By God, O our lord, we know not where to go." "Come and pass the rest of the night with us," said the Caliph and, turning to Ja'afar, "Take them home with you and tomorrow bring them to my presence that we may chronicle their adventures." Ja'afar did as the Caliph bade him and the Commander of the Faithful returned to his palace; but sleep gave no sign of visiting him that night and he lay awake pondering the mishaps of the three Kalandar princes and impatient to know the history of the ladies and the two black bitches. No sooner had morning dawned than he went forth and sat upon the throne of his sovereignty; and, turning to Ja'afar, after all his Grandees and Officers of state were gathered together, he said, "Bring me the three ladies and the two bitches and the three Kalandars." So Ja'afar fared forth and brought them all before him

(and the ladies were veiled); then the Minister turned to them and said in the Caliph's name, "We pardon you your maltreatment of us and your want of courtesy, in consideration of the kindness which forewent it, and for that you knew us not: now however I would have you to know that you stand in presence of the fifth of the sons of Abbas, Harun al-Rashid, brother of Caliph Músá al-Hádi, son of Al-Mansúr; son of Mohammed the brother of Al-Saffáh bin Mohammed who was first of the royal house. Speak you therefore before him the truth and the whole truth!" When the ladies heard Ja'afar's words touching the Commander of the Faithful, the eldest came forward and said, "O Prince of True Believers, my story is one which, were it graven with needle gravers upon the eye corners were a warner for whoever would be warned and an example for whoever can take profit from example."—

When it was the Seventeenth night,

She said, she stood forth before the Commander of the Faithful and began to tell