'*1001 nights~The Young King of the Black Isles*'
1001 NIGHTS
The story of the Young King of the Black Isles
"I must first inform you," began the young man, "that my father, who was named Mahmoud, was the king of this state. It is the kingdom of the Black isles and takes its name from four small neighbouring mountains that were formerly islands, and the capital, in which my father dwelt, was situated on the spot which is now occupied by yonder lake. You will hear how these changes took place as i proceed with my history."
"The King, my father, died at the age of seventy years. Immediatelly upon mounting his throne, i married, and the person whom i chose as the partner of my state was my cousin. I had every reason to be satisfied with the proofs of affection i received from her, and i returned her regard with equal tenderness. But in the end of that time, i began to perceive that the queen no longer loved me."
"One day after dinner, when she had gone to bathe, i felt inclined to sleep, and threw myself on a sofa, two of the queen's women, who happened to be in a room, seated themselves, one at my head, the other at my feet to fan me. Those two women, supposing me asleep, began to talk in whispers, but my eyes were only closed, and i overheard their whole conversation."
"'Is it not a pity,' said one of them to another, 'that the queen does not love our King, who is such an amiable prince?'
'Surely it is,' replied the other, 'and i cannot conceive why she goes out every night and leaves him, does he not perceive it?'
'How should he perceive it?' resume the first, 'Every night she mixes in his drink the juice of a certain herb, which makes him sleep all night so profoundly that she has time to go wherever she likes, and when at break of day she returns to him, she awakes him by passing a particular scent under his nose.'"
"You may judge my astonishment after speech an how i felt when i heard it! Nevertheless i had sufficiend command over myself to suppress my emotions. I pretendet to awake, and gave no sign of having heard anything."
"Presently the queen returned from the bath, we supped together, and before we went to bed she presented me with cup of water, which it was usual for me to take. But instead of drinking it, i approached a window that was open, and throw it out unperceived by her. I then returned the cup into her hands, that she might suppose i had drunk the contents. We soon retired to rest, and shortly afterwards, supposing that i was asleep, she got up with very little procaution and even said aloud, 'Sleep, and i may never wake you againg.' She dressed herself quickly, and left the chamber."
"So soon as the queen was gone i rose up and throw on my clothes as quickly as possible, and taking my scimitar. I followed her so closely that i heard her footsteps just before ne. She passee through several doors, which opened by virtue of some magic words she pronounced. The last she opened was that of the garden which she entered. I stopped at this door that she might not see me, while she crossed a lawn, and following her with my eyes. I remarked that she went into a little wood, which was bounded by a thick hedge. I repaired thither by another way, and hiding myself. I perceived that she was walking with a man."
"I did not fail to listen attentively to their discourse, when i heard what follows, 'I do not,' said the queen to her companion, 'deserve your reproaches for my want of diligence, but if all the tokens of love which i have hither to given you are not sufficient to persuade my sincerity, i am ready to give zou still more convincing proofs. You have only to command, you know my power. I will, if you wish it, before the sun rises, change this great city and this beautiful palace into frightful ruins, which shall be inhabited only with wolves and owls. Shall i transport all the stones, with which those walls are so strongly build beyond mount Caucasus, and farther than the boundaries of the habitable world? You have only to speak, and all this place shall be transformed.'"
"As the queen finished this speech, she and her lover reached the end of the walk, and turning to enter another, passed before me. I had already drawn my scimitar, and as the man walked past me, i struck him on the neck, and he fell. I belived i had killed him, and retired precipitately, without discovering myself to the queen, whom i wished to spare."
"Although her lover's wound was mortal, she yet contrived by her magic art to preserve him a kind of existence, which can be called neither death nor life. When i reached my chamber i returned to bed, and satisfied with punishment i had inflicted on the wretch who had offend me, i feel asleep. On waking the next morning, i found the queen by my side. I cannot say whether she was in the real or feigned sleep, but i got up without dirobing her. I afterwards attended the cuncil. On my return, the queen, dressed in mourning, with her hair dishevelled and torn, presented herself before me.
'My lord,' said she, 'i come to entreat your Majesty not to be displeased at the state in which you now see me. I have just received intelligence of three events which occasion the grief i so strongly feel that i can scarcely express it.'
'What are these events, madam?' i inquired.
'The death of the queen, my beloved mother,' replied she, 'that of the king, my father, who was killed in battle, and of my brother, who fell down a precipice.'"
"I was not sorry that she had this pretext to conceal the true couse of her affliction, and i concluded that she did not suspect me of having been the murderer of her lover. 'Madam,' i said, 'i do not blame your sorrow, on the contrary, i assure you, that i sympathize in the cause. I hope, nevertheless, that time and philosophy will restore to you your wonted cheerfulness.'"
"She retired to her apartment, and, abandoning herself to her griuf, she passed a whole year there, weeping and bewailing the fate of her lover. At the expiration of that time, she reguested my permision to buid for herself, in the centre of the palace, a mausoleum, in which, she said, she designed to pass the remainder of her days. I did not refuse, and she erected a magnificent palace, with a dome, which may be seen from this place, and she called it the Palace of Tears."
"When it was completed, she had her lover removed and brought to his mausoleum from the place whither she had transported him. She had untill that period preserved his life by giving him certain potions, which she administered herself, and continued to give him daily after his removal to the Palace of Tears."
"All her enchantments, however, did not avail much, for he was not only unable to walk or stand, but had also lost the use of his speech, and gave no signs of life but by looks. Although the queen had only the consolation of seeing him and saying to him all the tender things that her love inspired, yet she constantly paid him two long visits every day. I was well acquainted with this circumstance, but i pretend to be ignorant of it."
"Moved by curiosity, i went one day to the Palace of Tears, to know how the queen passed her time there, and concealing myself i heard her speak these words to her lover, 'Oh, what a heavy affliction to me to see you in this state. I share with you all the agonies you endure, but dearest Life, i am always seaking to you, and yet you return no answer. How long will this distressing silence continue? Speak, just once, and i am satisfied. Alas! I cannot exist away from you, and i should prefer the pleasure of seeing you continually to the empire of the whole universe.'"
"This speech, which was frequently interrupted by tears, exhusted my patience. I could no longer remain in concealment, but approaching her, exclaimed, 'Madam, you have wept enough, it is now time to have done with a grief which dishonours us both!
'Sir,' replied she, 'if you still retain any regard for me, i entreat you to leave me to my sorrows, which time can neither diminish nor relieve.'"
"I endeavoured, but in vaie, to bring her to sense of her duty, finding that all my arguments only increased her obstinacy. I at last desisted and left her. She continued to visit her lover every day, and for two years she was inconsolable."
"I went a second time to the Palace of Tears while she was there. I hid myself as beforehand her say, 'It is now three years since you have spoken to me, nor do you return the tokens of affection and fondness which i offer you. Is it from insensibility or disdain? Have you, o Tomb, destroyed that excess of thenderness which he bore me? Have you closed for ever those dear eyes, which beamed with love, and were all my delight? Ah, no, i cannot think it, rather let me say, you are become the depository of the rarest treasure the world ever saw.'"
"I confess to you my Lord, that i was enqaged at these words, and i indeed this cherished lover, this adored mortal, was not the kind of man you would imagine. He was a black Indian, one of the original inhabitiants of this country. I was, as i have said, so enraged that i suddenly showed myself, and apostrophizing the tomb as my wife had dond. I said, 'Why dont you not, o Tomb, swallow up this monster, who is disgusting to human nature? Or rather, why dont you not consume both the lover and his mistress?'"
"So soon as i had spoken these words, the queen, who was seated near the Black, started up like a fury. 'Ah, wretch!' cried she to me, 'It is you who have been the cause of my grief. It was your barbarous hand which reduced the object of my affection to the miserable state he now is in.'
'Yes,' exclaimed i, transported with anger, 'I have chastised the monster as he deserved, and i ough to treat you in the same maner. I repent that i have not already done it, for you have too long abused my goodness.'
As i said this i drew my scimitar, and raised my arm to punish her. 'Moderate you rage,' said she to me with a disdainful smmile. After a moment she pronounced some words, which i did not understand and added, 'By virtue of my enchantments, i command you, from this moment, to become half marble and half man.'
Immediately, my Lord, i was changed to what you see, already dead among the living, and still living among the dead."
"As soon as this cruel enchantress had transported me, and by means of her magic has conveyed me to this apartment, she destroyed my capital, which had been flourishing and well inhabited, she annhilatee the palaces, public places and markets, turned the whole region into a large lake or pond, and rendered the country, as you may perceive, quite a desert. The four sorts of fish, which are in the lake, are four different classes of inhabitants, who professed different religions, and inhabited the capital. The white were Mussulmen, the red Persians and fire worshipers, the blue are Christians, and the yellow Jews. The four little hils were four islands, which originally gave the kingdom its name. I was informed of all this by the enchantress, who herself related to me the effects of her rage. Nor was even this all. Her fury in not satiated by the destruction of my empire, and the enchantment of myself, for she comes every day and gives me a hundred blows upon my shoulders with a thong made of bull's hide, drawing blood at every stroke. As soon as he finished this punishment, she covers me with a coarse stuff, made of goat's hair, and puts a qobe of rich brolade over it, no for the sake of honouring ne, but to mock my despair.' As he said this, the young King of the Black Isles could not refrain from tears."
"The Sultan was much affected by the recital of this strange story, and felt eager to revenge unfortunate King's injuries. 'Inform me,' cried he, 'where this perfidious enchantress resides, and also where is this infamous paramour, whom she has entombed before his death.'
'My lord,' answered the Prince, 'he, as i have before mentioned, is at the Palace of Tears in a tomb, formed like a dome, and the building has a communication with the castle, in the direction of the entrance. I cannot exactly tell you to what spot the enchantress has retired, but she visits her lover every day at sunrise, after having inflicted on me the cruel punishment i have described, and you may easily judge that i cannot defend myself from such inhumanity. She always bring with her a sort of liquor, which is the only thing that can keep him alive.'"
"'No one, Prince,' replied the Sultan, 'deserves greater commiseration than yourself. A more extraordinary fate never happened to any man, and they who may hereafter compose your history, will be able to relate and event more surprising than anything yet recorded. One thing only is wanting to complete it. And that is your revenge, nor will i leave anything untried to accomplish this end.'
The Sultan, having first informed the Prince of his own name and rank, and of the reason of his entering the castle, consulted with him on the best means of accomplishing a just revenge. They agreed upon the steps it was necessary to take, in order to ensure success, and they deferred the execution of the plan untill the following day. In the meantime, as the night advanced, the Sultan took some repose. The young Prince, as usual, passed his time in continued wake fulness, for he had been unable to sleep since his enchantment."
"The Sultan rose as soon as it was day, and, concealing in his chamber his robe and external dress, which might have encubered him, he went to the Palace of Tears. He found it illuminated by a multitude of torches of white wax and became conscious of a delicious perfume, issuing from various beautiful golden vases, regularly arranged. As soon as he perceived the bed on which the wounded man was lying, he drew his sabre, and destroyed, without resistance, the little life that remained in the wretch. He then dragged the body into the court of the castle, and threw it into a well. Having done this, he returned, and lay down in the Indian's place, hiding his sabre under the coverlid, and there he watched to complete the revenge he meditated. The enchantress arrived soon after. Her first business was to go into the apartnent in which she had immured her husband, the King of the Black Isles. She stripped him, and began with horrible barbarity to inflict upon his shoulders the accustomed number of blows. The poor Prince filled the whole building with his cries, and conjured her in the most pathetic manner to have pity on him, the cruel enchantress, however ceased not to beat him untill she had completed the hundred stripes.
'You have no compassion on my lover,' said she, 'therefore expect non from me.'
As soon as she had finished her cruel work, she threw over him the coarse garment made of goat skin, covering this with the robe of brocade. She next went to the Palace of Tears, and, on entering, began to renew lamentations. When she approached the couch, where she thought to find her lover, she exclaimed: 'Alas! What cruelty to have to destroyd the tranquil joy of so tender and fond a mistress as i am!'"
"'Mirciless Prince, you reproachest me with being inhuman, when i make you feel the effects of my resenment, and has not your barbarity far exceedet my revenge? Has you not, traitor, in destroying almost the existence of this adorable object, equally destroyed mine? Alas!' added she.
Addressing herself to the Sultan, whom she took for her lover, 'Will you always, light of my life, keep silence? Are you resolved to let me die without consolitation of hearing you again declare you love me? Utter at least one word, i conjure you!'"
"Then the Sultan, pretending to awake from a profound sleep, amd imitating the language of the Indians, answered the queen in a soletin tone.
'There is no strenght or power,' he said, 'but in Allah alone who is all powerfull.'
At these words the enchantress, who never expected to hear lover speak, gave a violent scream for very joy.
'My dear lord,' she exclaimed, 'do yo deceive me, is what i hear true? Is it really you who speak?'
'Wretched woman,' replied the Sultan, 'are you worthy of answer?'
'What!' cried the queen, 'Do you reproach me?'
'The cries, the tears, the groans of your husband,' answered the supposed Indian, 'whom you every day torture with so much barbarity. I should have been cured long since, and should have recovered the use of my tongue, if you had disenchanted him. This, and this only, is the cause of my silence, of which you so bitterly complain.'
'Then,' said the enchantress,' to satisfy you i am ready to do what you command. Do you wish him to be restored to his former shape?'
'Yes,' replied the Sultan, 'and hasten to set him free, that i may no longer be disturbed by his cries.'"
"The queen immediately went out from the Palace of Tears, and taking a vessel of water, she pronounced over it some words which caused it instantly to boil, as if it had been placed on a fire. She proceeded to the apartment where the young King, her husband was.
'If the creator of all things,' said she, throwing water over him, 'had formed you as you are now, or if he is angry with you, be not changed, but if you are in this state by virtue of my enchantment, take back your natural form, and become as you were before.'
She had hardly concluded, when the Prince, recovering it is first shape, rose up with all possible joy, and returned thanks to god.
'Go,' said the enchantress, addressing him, 'hasten from this castle, and never return, lest it should cost you your life.'
The young King yielded to necessity, and left the queen without uttering a word. He concealed himself in a secure spot, where he impatiently waited the completion of the Sultan's design, the commencement of which had been so successful."
"The enchantress then returned to the Palace of Tears, and on entering, said to the Sultan, whom she still mistook for the Indian.
'I havd done my love, what you ordered me, nothing therefore now prevents your getting up, and affording me the satisfaction i have so long been deprived of.'
The Sultan, still imitating the language of blacks, answered in a somewhat severe tone, 'What you have done is not sufficient for my cure. You have destroyed only part of the evil.'
'What do you mean by these words my charmin friend?' asked she.
'What can i mean,' he cried, 'but the city and its inhabitants and the four isles, which you have destroyed by your magic? Every day towards midnight the fish raise their heads out of the pond, and cry for vengeance against us both. This is the real cause why my recovery is so long delayed. Go quickly and reestablish everything in its former stat, and on your return i will give you my hand, and you shall assist me in rising.'"
"The queen, exulting in the expectations these words produced, joyfully exclaimed, 'I shall soon then, my life, recover your health, for i will instantly go and do what you have commanded.'
When she arrived on the border of the pond, she took a little water in her hand and scattered it about. So soon as he had done this, and pronounced certain words over the fish and the pond, the city reappeared. The fish became men, women and children, all arose as Mahometans, Christians, Persians an Jews, in short, each took his former shape. The houses and shops became filled with inhabitants, who found all things in the same situation and order in which they had been previous to the change affected by the queen's enchantment. The officers and attendants of the Sultan, who had happened to encamp upon the side of the great square, were astonished at finding themeselves on a sudden in the midst of a large, well build an popolous city."
"But to return to the enchantress. At soon as she completed this change she hastened back to the Palace of Tears to enjoy the reward of her labours. 'My dear lord,' she cried on entering, 'i have returned to participate in the pleasure of your renewed health, for i have done all you have required of me. Arise, and give me your hand.'
'Come near then,' said the Sultan still imitating the manner of Indian. She did so.
'Nearer still!' he cried. She obeyed. Then rising himself up, he seized her so suddenly by the arms that she had no opportunity of perceiving how she had been deceived, and with one stroke of his sabre he seperated her body into two parts, which fell oneach side of him. Having done this, he left the corpse where it fell, and went to seek the Prince of the Black Isles, who was waiting with the greates impatiance for him. 'Rejoice, Prince,' said he, embracing him, you have nothing more to fear, for you cruel enemy exists no longer.'"
"The young Prince thanked the Sultan in a way which proved that his heart was truly filled with gratitude, and wishes his deliverer, as a reword for the importand service he had rendered him a long life and the greatest prosperity.
'May you too live happily and at peace in your capital,' replied the Sultan, 'and should you hereafter have a wish to visit mine, which is so near, i shall receive you with truest pleasure, and you shall be as highly honoured as in your own.'
'Powerful Monarch,' answered the Prince, 'to whom i am so much indebted, do you think you are very near capital?'
'Certainly,' replied the Sultan, 'i presume, at least, that i am not more than four or five hours from thence.'
'Its a whole year's journey,' said the Prince, 'althotgh i belive you might come here in the time you mentio, becouse my city was enchanted, but since it has restored all this is altered. This however, shall not prevent my following you, were it necessary to go to the very ends of the earth. You are my liberator, and to show you every mark of my gratitude as long as i live, i shall freely accompany you, and resign my kingdom without regret.'"
"The Sultan was extremely surprised to find that he was so distant from his dominions, and could not comprehend how it had happened.
'It matters not,' resumed the Sultan, 'the trouble of returning to my doninions will be sufficiently recompensed by the satisfaction of having assisted you, and of having gained a son in you, for as you will do me the honour to accompany me. I shall look upon you as my soon, and as i am childless, i from this moment make you my heir and successor.'
This interview between the Sultan and the King of the Black Isles was terminated by the most affectionate embraces, and the young Prince at once prepered for his journey. In three weeks he was ready to depart, greatly regretted by his court and subjects, who received at his hands a near relation of his own as their King."
"At length the Sultan and the Prince set out, with a hundred camels laden with inestimable riches, which had been selected from the treasury of the young King, who was, moreover accompanied by fifty handsome nobles, well mounted and equiped. Their journey was a pleasant one, and when the Sultan, who had dispatched couriers to give notice of his arrival, and explain the reason of his delay, drew near to his capital, the principal officers, whom he had left there, came to receive him, and to assure him, that his long absence had not occasioned any change in his empire. The inhabitants also crowded to meet him, and welcomed him with acclamations and every demonstration of joy."
"The day after his arrival, the Sultan assembled his courtiers, and gave them an ample detail of the occurrences which had delayed his return. He the decleared to them his intention of adopting the King of the Black Isles, who had left a large kingdom to accompany and live with him, and lastly, to reward the fidelity with which the served him, he bestowed presents on all according to each man's rank and station."
"With regard to the fisherman, as he had been the first cause of the deliverance of the young Prince, the Sultan overwhelmed him with rewards, and make him and his family happy and prosperous for the rest of their days."
Please continue to The History of Sinbad the Sailor
