Tales of the Marvellous and News of the Strange (Hardcover Classics) (60 page)

‘While I was in the shade of the trees, admiring their leaves and their fruit, I suddenly came on a great red dome set over an ebony couch on which sat a grim-faced and frowning old woman wearing dyed clothes, with ten jewelled bracelets on each arm, ten anklets on each foot and ten rings on each finger. She had a crown of red gold studded with jewels of all kinds. She held a sceptre of green emerald and flanking her on each side were two black
‘ifrits
with hooked iron clubs in their hands.

‘When she saw me she gave orders to these two who took hold of me and brought me before her. She addressed me harshly, asking who I was, where I lived, where I had come from and who had brought me to a land in which she had never seen a human before. I was so frightened by her and her appearance that I could find nothing to say in reply. She laughed more and more and repeated: “Where do you come from and how did you get to my country?” This unlocked my tongue, and I said: “I am al-Haifa’, the daughter of King Muhallab of Persia. I fell in love with a
jinni
known as ‘the white-footed gazelle’ ”, and I went on to tell her everything that had happened from beginning to end until tears overcame me and I could no longer control myself. I then handed her the letter from the king of the ostriches. She took it and, after reading it, she exclaimed: “Welcome to the letter and the one who wrote it!”

‘She went on: “I am the old queen of the
jinn
crows who part lovers and companions. My nature is rude and rough, and I have never shown pity to anyone. It is through me that husbands are parted from their
wives, companions from companions, and lovers from their beloveds, and in every land I am represented in this by an emir of the crows. Out of all these I feel pity for you and you alone, because you have come here and submitted to me obediently. I also owe a debt of honour to the writer of the letter, who has asked me to be kind to you and to bring you to what you want, satisfying your needs and doing what you tell me.”

‘She gestured to one of her two
‘ifrits
and told him to fetch her the emir of the crows in Persia, and in no time at all he was back with a crow flapping its wings on its head. He took the bird before the queen, to whom it prostrated itself. She asked it: “What did you do in Persia on such-and-such a night in such-and-such a month?” The bird said: “I parted two dear friends who were suffering from the pangs of love. They were like two branches or in their perfect beauty like two gazelles. For two whole years they had enjoyed the finest fruits of love.” “You wronged a pair of pure and charming lovers,” she told it. “You should not have parted them, for mankind is divided according to ranks and classes, and in a case like this, you should have asked my permission, and, had I not acted wrongly myself, I would have had you beaten. So now go and fetch me the messenger of love who cautions friends so that he may return this woman to her beloved and fulfil her wishes.” “What was it that she lost and who is she?” asked the crow. “Look at her,” the queen told him, and when he did he said: “This is the lover of the white-footed gazelle, and she is the daughter of the king of Persia.” The queen said: “Tell me in God’s name why did you separate this pair?” “I was jealous,” the crow said, “and I made a mistake about her which I shall never repeat with anyone else.” “Bring me the messenger to take her to her beloved,” the queen repeated.’

The crow hurried off, and the queen gave Haifa’ a fruit from the trees, telling her to eat it. She said: ‘When I did, I found that it tasted sweeter than honey, and before I had finished eating the crow came back with a pleasant-looking bird like a parrot. When the old queen saw it she said to me: “When you get to the land of your gazelle, go around until you see a shaikh under a dome. Go to him submissively, tell him your name and ask him for what you want.” She then told the bird to carry me there and to do it quickly. I thought that it was too small, but the old queen had not finished speaking before it snatched me up and flew off with me between the sky and the earth, going on for the rest of the day and the following night, until next morning we came to a fresh and verdant land, delighting the eyes with the beauty of its flowers and its
freshness. There were vast trees with green leaves like silk brocade and huge boughs as long as spears. The foul smell of their fruit, of a violent red, would almost take the breath away. Between them were streams of running water and gushing springs whiter than milk.

‘The bird put me down there and flew off. I wandered by the streams and through the trees until, all of a sudden, I came across a splendid-looking shaikh with a handsome face sitting on a bench of white marble under a marble dome covered with draperies of green brocade. In front of him were foxes, male and female, and rabbits wrestling and playing with each other. He was holding a staff of green emerald and using this to join in the play, although for all that he looked sad and gloomy. In front of him was a lofty palace built of silver bricks and bars of red gold.

‘When he saw me coming towards him he asked me sharply: “Damn you, who has brought you into this land of mine?” I paid no attention to this but threw myself before him and rubbed my cheek on him as I started to kiss his feet. He said: “Where do you come from, as I feel pity for you in my heart?” I told him that I was Haifa’, the daughter of King al-Muhallab of Persia, and that I had come out in search of the white-footed gazelle. I then told him my whole story from beginning to end.

‘When the shaikh heard about the gazelle he shed such bitter tears that he collapsed in a faint. When he recovered he said: “This gazelle is my dear son, and you too are dear to me thanks to all your toil, for both of you have suffered misery. Since he left you he has been straying through the wastes without eating or drinking and he talks bitterly of how you betrayed him. I am myself a king of the
jinn
, and these deserts are mine. My son often used to wander around in the form of a gazelle. He left me for two years, during which I heard nothing of him and could find no trace of him, leading me to think that he must have been hunted down. Then, after my great sorrow and despair, he came back to me and told me of how he had suffered thanks to this affair of yours and he told me about you and your treachery, before fleeing away in tears. I built him this palace that you can see, intending to marry him to his cousin in it, but he refused and said: ‘Haifa’ has rights that I owe her as well as oaths and covenants, treacherous as she may be. By God, I shall never enter this palace except with her.’

‘ “I was at a loss to know what to do about this, but now God Almighty has given you to us both and I want you to fulfil this covenant of his and to clear away his suspicion of you.” I swore to him with solemn oaths
that I had never betrayed him and that never for a second had I wanted to forget him. He thought it right to treat me as a guest and he gave me a fruit from a tree a morsel of which satisfied my hunger, and he poured me a glass of incomparably tasty wine smelling of musk. He then provided me with clothes the like of which I had never seen in my father’s kingdom.

‘When I was quiet and rested I fell asleep, and when I woke up the tears of my gazelle were on my face, and when I opened my eyes I saw him leaning over me. I almost died of joy but I got up, and after a long embrace we both fell to the ground, fainting, and remained unconscious for the rest of the day. When we recovered we were carried into the new palace, and servants and slaves flocked to us. We took care to reproach one another in such a way as to add fire to our longing.

‘We continued to enjoy a life of comfort, honour, pleasure and joy, in the greatest pleasure. For many years time was kind to us, but then there came a day when I felt a longing for the lands of men and I told this to my prince, saying that I wanted to see them again and after enjoying myself there to come back. At first he would not allow it but after I pressed him he said that, as he wanted to please me, he would let me do what I wanted. He would transform me into a gazelle and go with me in the gazelle shape in which I had first seen him. “If we are hunted down,” he said, “only a sorcerer or a diviner will be able to free us from our shapes.”

‘When we had been transformed, we left for the lands of men, passing by many marvellous things and seeing countless wonders that I cannot stop to explain. Our most remarkable experience, however, was when on our way we came across a formidable lion. The beast had scraped itself a hole and was sitting there on its tail, shedding a constant stream of miserable tears that had filled the hole. It would not attack any prey that it saw and if any travellers came in sight it would not look at them.

‘When it saw me it called to me and my companion in a melancholy voice with sighs and groans: “Dark-eyed gazelle with your face fair as the moon, your radiant brow, your diadem and red crown, I, the red lion, say that fear of doing evil has led me to endure sorrow and injury and if I did not hope that a meeting was destined I would abandon myself to gloomy fears.” I had begun to look at him, marvelling at his grief and his flooding tears, when you caught me, O king, and Mahliya, the daughter of al-Mutariq of Egypt, caught the white-footed gazelle. Alas, I don’t know what has happened to it.’

She shed tears, and Mauhub was amazed by her story. He then collected himself and asked: ‘Was it Mahliya who caught the white-footed gazelle?’ and Haifa’ confirmed this, adding: ‘We were united in our love, and how is it with one who deceives the beloved with something distasteful in this love of theirs? This must afflict the lover with great suffering and the taste of death.’ ‘Haifa’,’ he asked, ‘who are you talking about in these terms?’ ‘Your friend Mahliya,’ she told him, ‘who promised herself to you and used cunning to meet you, calling herself Mukhadi‘ and tricking you into obedience to her.’ ‘By God, was Mahliya Mukhadi‘?’ Mauhub asked, and she said: ‘Yes, and it was she who sent you the gifts that kindled the fire of love in your heart, leaving you with sleepless nights and care-filled days.’ It disturbed Mauhub to learn that this was Mahliya. He was too preoccupied to set off and spent a wakeful night longing to find some way to let her know that he knew what she had done.

When the lioness that had suckled Mauhub heard of the eloquence of the miserable lion whom Haifa’ had described, she said: ‘This must be my companion and the father of my cubs, for whom I have been longing ever since your father Shimrakh caught me. I have been away from him for so long that I thought he must have been hunted down and killed, but I find from what she said that he has been going through the lands in search of me, grieving at my loss, and he must now have found for certain where I am. You, Mauhub, owe me a debt, as you have been a son to me and a friend to my cubs. This is one of the great lions, as we are their rulers with dauntless followers. I should like you to do me the favour of allowing us to meet here in your courtyard and under the protection of your rule, accepting him as a prince to help you as a vizier, for he is the finest of companions and the best of helpers.’ Mauhub willingly agreed and set out at once with his followers and his slaves, carrying the lioness and her cubs in front of him. He also took Haifa’ so that she could show him where he was in the wild.

When he got near he told his companions to do nothing to disturb the lion or injure it. It was as Haifa’ had described, and close to it he released the lioness and her cubs, at the sight of whom it prostrated itself to him, and then, when it went up to them, they joined in their complaints. The lioness then said: ‘Lord of the lions, King Mauhub, may God be his helper, has been as a son to me and he has graciously brought us together. I do not want to leave him and I have promised him on your behalf that you will be a good companion to him and act as his vizier, so go obediently in front of him.’ The lion did this, and Mauhub returned to his camp.

After he had dismounted, he called for Haifa’, the lion, the lioness and the cubs and asked: ‘What do you think I should do about this deceptive and calamitous Mahliya?’ They said: ‘We think, Your Majesty, that you should use your search for the white-footed gazelle as an excuse to go to her, and you can tell her that you know how she deceived you before you left. You can then learn whether she feels in her heart what you feel or even more.’

Mauhub approved of this advice and rode out immediately, most splendidly dressed, to the entrance of her tent and asked leave to enter. When this was given him, he went in, and Mahliya sat him on a couch of red gold studded with splendid jewels, while she herself sat behind a curtain that had been hung between them. After giving him a flattering greeting, she asked what had brought him to her when it was she who should have gone to him. He said: ‘Separation from you burned my heart and filled me with loneliness, so I wanted to come to you as a guest so that this might strengthen our friendship.’ She replied: ‘Welcome to the guest who follows right guidance and is a lord and chief. It was good and generous of you to come here first; you have done us a great favour, and we extend our welcome to you.’

On her orders animals were slaughtered and food was prepared, with no mark of respect being omitted. He stayed with her all that day, enjoying the greatest luxury and pleasure in the matter of food, drink, conversation and play. When his emotions had been stirred by wine and he was settled in a mood of delight, he told one of the slave girls there to give him her lute and when she had passed it to him he sang a song of separation and burst into tears. Mahliya moaned and joined in his tears and had she not been behind the curtain she would have been shamefully exposed.

When she recovered she told her close companions and her viziers to go, which they did, leaving Mauhub alone. He then fingered his lute again and sang a song, in which he spoke of Mahliya’s cunning deception, weeping until he collapsed unconscious. When he had regained consciousness Mahliya said: ‘One song of yours that I have heard was that of a lover consumed by love, and in the next you claimed to have been deceived. Who is it that you love, and by whom were you deceived?’ Mauhub took the lute and sang in three modes clearing away all ambiguity from what he had said. Then, filled with emotion, he drank again. Mahliya gave him no answer but turned to the wine and drank her fill, after which they spent the whole night there.