The Arabian Nights Entertainments. Unknown
cat, which the fairies and genies had mentioned the night before, came to fawn upon her master, as she was accustomed to do; he took her up, and pulled seven hairs from the white spot that was upon her tail, and laid them aside for his use when occasion should serve.
Soon after sunrise the sultan, who would leave no means untried that he thought likely to restore the princess to perfect health, arrived at the gate of the convent. He commanded his guards to halt, while he with his principal officers went in. The dervishes received him with profound respect.
The sultan called their chief aside, and said, "Good Sheik,18 you may probably be already acquainted with the cause of my visit."
"Yes, sir," replied he gravely, "if I do not mistake, it is the disease of the princess which procures me this unmerited honor."
"That is the real case," replied the sultan. "You will give me new life if your prayers, as I hope they may, restore my daughter's health."
"Sir," said the good man, "if your majesty will be pleased to let her come hither, I am in hopes, through God's assistance, that she will be effectually cured."
The prince, transported with joy, sent immediately for his daughter, who soon appeared with a numerous train of ladies and attendants, veiled, so that her face was not seen. The chief of the dervishes caused a carpet to be held over her head, and he had no sooner thrown the seven hairs upon the burning coals than the genie uttered a great cry and, without being seen, left the princess at liberty; upon which she took the veil from her face, and rose up to see where she was, saying, "Where am I, and who brought me hither?"
At these words, the sultan, overcome with excess of joy, embraced his daughter and kissed her eyes; he also kissed the sheik's hands, and said to his officers, "What reward does he deserve that has thus cured my daughter?"
They all cried, "He deserves her in marriage."
"That is what I had in my thoughts," said the sultan; "and I make him my son-in-law from this moment."
Some time after, the prime vizier died, and the sultan conferred the office on the dervish. Then the sultan himself died, without heirs male; upon which the religious orders and the army consulted together, and the good man was declared and acknowledged sultan by general consent.
The honest dervish ascended the throne of his father-in-law. One day as he was in the midst of his courtiers on a march, he espied the envious man among the crowd that stood as he passed along. Calling one of the viziers that attended him, he whispered in his ear, "Go bring me that man you see there; but take care you do not frighten him."
The vizier obeyed, and when the envious man was brought into his presence the sultan said, "Friend, I am extremely glad to see you."
Then he called an officer. "Go immediately," said he, "and cause to be paid to this man out of my treasury,19 one hundred pieces of gold. Let him have also twenty loads of the richest merchandise in my storehouses, and a sufficient guard to conduct him to his house."
After he had given this charge to the officer he bade the envious man farewell, and proceeded on his march.
When I had finished the recital of this story to the genie I employed all my eloquence to persuade him to imitate so good an example, and to grant me pardon; but it was impossible to move his compassion.
"All that I can do for thee," said he, "is to grant thee thy life, but I must place thee under enchantments." So saying, he seized me violently, and carried me through the arched roof of the subterranean palace, which opened to give him passage. He ascended with me into the air to such a height that the earth appeared like a little white cloud. He then descended again like lightning, and alighted upon the summit of a mountain.
Here he took up a handful of earth, and, muttering some words which I did not understand, threw it upon me. "Quit," said he, "the form of a man, and take that of an ape."
He instantly disappeared, and left me alone, transformed into an ape, and overwhelmed with sorrow, in a strange country, not knowing whether I was near or far from my father's dominions.
I descended the mountain, and entered a plain, level country, which took me a month to travel over, and then I came to the seaside. It happened at the time to be perfectly calm, and I espied a vessel about half a league from the shore. Unwilling to lose so good an opportunity, I broke off a large branch from a tree, carried it into the sea, and placed myself astride upon it, with a stick in each hand, to serve me for oars.
I launched out on this frail bark, and rowed toward the ship. When I had approached sufficiently near to be seen, the seamen and passengers on the deck regarded me with astonishment. In the meantime I got on board, and laying hold of a rope, jumped upon the deck, but having lost my speech, I found myself in great perplexity. And indeed the risk I ran was not less than when I was at the mercy of the genie.
The merchants, being both superstitious and scrupulous, thought if they received me on board I should be the occasion of some misfortune to them during their voyage. On this account they said, "Let us throw him into the sea." Some one of them would not have failed to carry this threat into execution had I not gone to the captain, thrown myself at his feet, and taken hold of his skirt in a supplicating posture. This action, together with the tears which he saw gush from my eyes, moved his compassion. He took me under his protection, and loaded me with a thousand caresses. On my part, though I had not power to speak, I showed by my gestures every mark of gratitude in my power.
The wind that succeeded the calm continued to blow in the same direction for fifty days, and brought us safe to the port of a city, well peopled, and of great trade, where we cast anchor.
Our vessel was instantly surrounded with multitudes of boats full of people. Among the rest, some officers of the sultan came on board, and said "Our master rejoices in your safe arrival, and he beseeches each of you to write a few lines upon this roll. The prime vizier, who, besides possessing great abilities for the management of public affairs, could write in the highest perfection, died a few days since, and the sultan has made a solemn vow not to give the place to any one who cannot write equally well. No one in the empire has been judged worthy to supply the vizier's place."
Those of the merchants who thought they could write well enough to aspire to this high dignity wrote one after another what they thought fit. After they had done, I advanced, and took the roll, but all the people cried out that I would tear it or throw it into the sea, till they saw how properly I held the roll, and made a sign that I would write in my turn. Their apprehensions then changed into wonder. However, as they had never seen an ape that could write, and could not be persuaded that I was more ingenious than others of my kind, they wished to take the roll out of my hand; but the captain took my part once more.
"Let him alone," said he; "allow him to write."
Perceiving that no one opposed my design, I took the pen, and wrote six sorts of hands used among the Arabians, and each specimen contained an extemporary distich or quatrain (a stanza of four lines) in praise of the sultan. When I had done, the officers took the roll, and carried it to the sultan.
The sultan took little notice of any of the writings except mine, which pleased him so much that he said to the officers, "Take the finest horse in my stable, with the richest trappings, and a robe of the most sumptuous brocade to put on the person who wrote the six hands, and bring him hither."
At this command the officers could not forbear laughing. The sultan was incensed at their rudeness, and would have punished them, had they not explained.
"Sir," said they, "we humbly beg your majesty's pardon. These hands were not written by a man, but by an ape."
"What do you say?" exclaimed the sultan. "Those admirable characters, are they not written by the hands of a man?"
"No, sir," replied the officers; "we assure your majesty that it was an ape, who wrote them in our presence."
The sultan was too much surprised at this account not to desire a sight of me, and therefore said, "Do what I command you, and bring me speedily that wonderful ape."
The officers returned to the vessel, and showed the captain their order, who answered,
Sheiks are the chiefs of the societies of dervishes; cadis, the magistrate of a town or city.—Notes on Vathek, p. 322.
A favorite story is related of the benevolence of one of the sons of Ali. In serving at table, a slave had inadvertently dropped a dish of scalding broth on his master. The heedless wretch fell prostrate to deprecate his punishment, and repeated a verse of the Koran: "Paradise is for those who command their anger." "I am not angry." "And for those who pardon offenses." "I pardon your offense." "And for those who return good for evil." "I give you your liberty, and four hundred pieces of silver."—Gibbon's