A plain and literal translation of the Arabian nights entertainments, now entituled The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night, Volume 2 (of 17)

I have a sorrel steed, whose pride is fain to bear the rein, ✿ Shall give thee what thou likest not and make thee feel his main:I have a handy limber spear full bright and keen of point, ✿ Upon whose shaft the dam of Death her throny seat hath ta'en:I have a trenchant glaive of Hind; and, when I bare its face ✿ Of scabbard-veil, from out its brow the rays of leven rain.

Luka understood not the sense of his speech nor did he apprehend the vehemence of the verse: but he smote his forehead with his hand, in honour of the Cross drawn thereon and kissed it; then he couched his throw-spear and ran at Sharrkan. But first he tossed the javelin with one hand in air to such height that it was lost to the spectators' sight; and, catching it with the other hand as do the jugglers, hurled it at Sharrkan. It flew from his grasp like a shooting star and folk clamoured and feared for Sharrkan; but, as the spear flew near him, he put out his hand and caught it in full flight to the amazement of all who saw the sight. Then he shook it with the hand that took it till it was well-nigh broken, and hurled it so high into the welkin that it disappeared from view. As it descended, he caught it again with the other hand, in less than the twinkling of an eye, and cried out from his heart-core, saying, "By the truth of Him who created the seven-fold skies, I will assuredly make this cursed wight a byword for mankind to despise!" Then threw he the throw-spear at Luka, who thought to do as Sharrkan had done and put forth his hand to bend it in mid-flight; but Sharrkan prevented him, and sped at him a second throw-spear which smote him and the point fell on his forehead, in the very centre of the sign of the Cross, and Allah hurried his soul to the Fire and Dwelling-place dire.394 But when the Infidels saw Luka bin Shamlut fall slain, they buffeted their faces and they cried, "Alas!" and "Woe worth the day!" and called for aid upon the Abbots of the monasteries – And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.

Now when it was the Ninety-first Night,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the Infidels saw Luka bin Shamlut fall slain, they buffeted their faces and cried, "Alas!" and "Woe worth the day!" and called upon the Abbots of the monasteries and cried, "Where be the crosses?" So the Religious offered up prayers and the Christians all drew together against Sharrkan; and, brandishing their scymitars and lances, rushed forward to the attack. Then army met army and breasts fell under hoof, whilst spear and sword ruled the day and fore-arms and wrists grew weak and the coursers seemed created without legs;395 nor did the herald of war cease calling to fight, till arms were aweary and day took flight and night came on with darkness dight. So the two hosts drew apart, whilst every brave staggered like a drunken knave, for that with so much cut and thrust they strave; and the place was choked with the slain; fell were the wounds and the hurt knew not by whom they fell. Then Sharrkan joined his brother, Zau al-Makan, and the Chamberlain and the Wazir Dandan, and said to them, "Verily Allah hath opened a door for the Infidels to fall, praised be the Lord of the Worlds one and all!" Replied Zau al-Makan, "Let us never cease to praise Allah, for that He hath dispelled trouble from the Arab and the Ajam. Indeed the folk, generation after generation, shall tell of thy derring-do against the accursed Luka, the falsifier of the Evangel;396 of thy catching the throw spear in mid-flight, and how the enemy of Allah among men thou didst smite; and thy fame shall endure until the end of time." Then said Sharrkan, "Harkye, O grand Chamberlain and doughty Capitayne!" and he answered, "Adsum!"397 Quoth Sharrkan, "Take with thee the Wazir Dandan and twenty thousand horse, and lead them seven parasangs towards the sea, and force the march till ye shall have come near the shore, and there remain only two parasangs between thee and the foe. Then ambush ye in the hollows of the ground till ye hear the tumult of the Infidels disembarking from their ships; and the war-cry from every side strike your ear and ye know that the sabres have begun labour between us and them; and, whenso ye see our troops falling back, as if defeated, and all the Infidels following them, as well those in front as those from the seaward and the tents, do ye still lie in wait for them: but as soon as ye see the standard with the words, There is no god but the God, and Mohammed is God's Apostle (on whom be salutation and salvation!), then up with the green banner, and do your endeavour and fall on their rear and shout, Allaho Akbar! Allah is most Great! and circle round that they may not interpose between the retreating army and the sea." He replied, "To hear is to obey!"; and forthright they agreed upon this matter and they went forth. Now the Chamberlain took with himself the Wazir Dandan and twenty thousand men even as Sharrkan had commanded. As soon as dawned the morn, the troops sprung to horse when they had donned their armour-gear and drawn the scymitar and slung the spear. Then the Christians dispread themselves over hill and dale and the Ecclesiasts398 cried out and all heads were bared, and those in the ships hoisted the Cross at their mast-heads and began making for shore from every side, and landed their horses and gat them ready for fight and fray, whilst the sword-blades glittered bright and the javelins glanced like leven-light on mail-shirt white; and all joined fight and the grind-mill of Death whirled round and ground those who fought from horse and aground: heads from bodies flew and tongues mute grew and eyes no vision knew. Scymitars strave with utmost strain and heads flew over the battle plain; gall-bladders clave and wrists were shorn in twain; steeds plashed in pools of gore and beards were gripped right sore; the host of Al-Islam called out, saying, "On the Prince of Mankind be blessings and peace, and to the Compassionate glory and praise, which ne'er shall cease, for His boons which aye increase;" and the host of the Infidels shouted, "Glory to the Cross and the Belt and the vine-prest juice, and the wine-presser and the Priests and the Monks and the Festival of Palms and the Metropolitan!" Now Zau al-Makan and Sharrkan held back and their troops gave way and feigned flight from before the enemy, while the Infidel array pressed hard upon them deeming them in rout, and made ready to foin and hew. Then the meiny of the Moslems raised their voices, reciting the first verses of the Chapter of the Cow,399 whilst the dead were trampled under hoofs of steeds, and the heralds of the Greeks cried out, "Ho, servants of the Messiah! Ho, people of the True Faith! Ho, followers of the Primate!400 Verily Divine grace upon you opes; for see, the hosts of Al-Islam like birds with broken wings incline to elope! So turn ye not to them your backs, but let your swords cleave deep in their necks and hold not your hands from them, else are ye outcasts from the Messiah, Mary's son, who spoke even when a cradled one!"401 Now Afridun, King of Constantinople, deemed that the Infidels were victorious, knowing not that this was but a clever stratagem of the Moslems, and sent to King Hardub of Roum congratulations on success, adding, "Availed us naught but the Holy Merde of the Arch-Patriarch, whose fragrance exhaled from the beards and mustachios of the slaves of the Cross near and far; and I swear, by the Miracles of the Messiah; and by thy daughter Abrizah, the Nazarene, the Mariolater; and by the Waters of Baptism, that I will not leave upon the earth a single defender of Al-Islam! And to the bitter end will I carry out this plan." So the messenger betook himself with the address to King Hardub, whilst the Infidels called to one another saying, "Take we vengeance-wreak for Luka!" – And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.

Now when it was the Ninety-second Night,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the Infidels called to one another, saying, "Take we vengeance-wreak for Luka!" while Hardub King of Greece cried aloud, "Ho, to our revenge for Abrizah!" Thereupon King Zau al-Makan shouted "Ho, servants of the Requiting King!: smite the children of denial and disobedience with the blanch of sword and the brown of spear!" So the Moslems returned to the Infidels and plied them with the keen-edged scymitar, whilst their herald cried aloud, "Up, and at the foes of the Faith, all ye who love the Prophet Elect, with hope of salvation on the Day of Fear, to win favour of the Bountiful, the Forgiving One; for verily the Garden of Paradise is under the shadow of swords!" And behold, Sharrkan and his men charged down upon the Infidels and cut off their retreat and wheeled and tourneyed among the ranks; when lo! a knight of goodly presence opened a passage through the army of Unbelievers and circled hither and thither amongst the Deniers, cutting and thrusting and covering the ground with heads and trunks, so that the Faithless feared him and their necks bent under his lunge and hew. He was girt with two swords, his glances and his brand, and he was armed with two lances, one of bamboo-cane and the other his straight wandlike shape; and his flowing hair stood him in stead of many warriors, even as saith the poet: —

Laud not long hair,402 except it be dispread ✿ In two-fold locks, on day of fight and fray,O'er youth who bears his lance 'twixt flank and thigh, ✿ From many a whiskered knight to win the day.

And as singeth another: —

I say to him, what while he slings his sword, ✿ "For sword shall serve those looks that sword-like show!"Says he, "My sabre-looks for those I love, ✿ My sword for those who sweets of love unknow!"

When Sharrkan saw him, he said to him, "I conjure thee by the Koran and the attributes of the Compassionate One, O Champion of the Champions! tell me who thou art: for verily by thy deeds this day thou hast pleased the Requiting King, whom one thing distracteth not from other thing; in that thou hast been discomfiting the children of impiety and in rebellion revelling." Then cried the Cavalier to him saying, "Thou art he who madest brother-covenant with me but yesterday: how quickly thou hast forgotten me!" Thereupon he withdrew his mouth-veil,403 so that what was hidden of his beauty was disclosed, and lo! it was none other than Zau al-Makan. Then Sharrkan rejoiced in his brother, save that he feared for him the rush of fighting and the crush of braves a-smiting; and this for two reasons, the first, his tender age and exposure to the evil eye, and the second, that his safety was to the kingdom the greater of the two overshadowing wings. So he said to him, "O King! thou riskest thy life, so join thy steed to mine; in very sooth I fear for thee from the foe; and better thou stint hazarding thyself forth of these squadrons, that we may shoot at the enemy thine unerring shaft." Quoth Zau al-Makan, "I desire to even thee in fray and I will not be niggard of myself before thee in the mellay." Then the host of Al-Islam, heaping itself upon the Infidels, girt them on all sides, warred on them a right Holy War, and brake the power of the children of impiety and pride and stowre. But King Afridun sighed when he saw the evil wreak that had fallen on the Greek, and they turned their backs from fight and addressed themselves to flight, making for the ships, when lo! there came out upon them from the sea-coast another host, led by the Minister Dandan, the champion who was wont to make champions bite the dust, and to lay load on them with cut and thrust. Nor less came forth the Emir Bahram, Lord of the Provinces of Sham, amid twenty thousand horse doughty of arm; and the host of Al-Islam pressed them in front and on flank and wrought them grievous harm. Then a body of the Moslems turned against those who in the ships remained, and perdition on them rained, till they threw themselves into the main, and they slew of them many slain, more than a hundred thousand noblemen, nor was one of their champions, great or small, saved from bale and bane. Moreover, they took their ships, with all the money and treasure and cargo, save a score of keel, and the Moslems got that loot whose like was never gotten in bygone years; nor was such cut and thrust ever heard of by men's ears.404 Now amongst the booty were fifty thousand horses, besides treasure and spoil past reckoning and arithmetic, whereat the Moslems rejoiced with an exceeding joy for that Allah had given them victory and protection. Such was the case with them; but as regards the fugitive Infidels they soon reached Constantinople, whither the tidings preceded them that King Afridun had prevailed over the Moslems; so quoth the ancient dame, Zat al-Dawahi, "I know that my son Hardub, King of Roum, is no runagate and that he feareth not the Islamitic hosts, but will restore the whole world to the Nazarene faith." Then she bade the Great King, Afridun, give command that the city be decorated, and the people held festival high and drank their wines drunkenly and knew not the decrees of Destiny. Now whilst they were in the midst of their rejoicings, behold, the raven of dule and downfall croaked over them, and up came the twenty fugitive ships wherein was the King of Cæsarea. So King Afridun, Lord of Constantinople, met them on the sea-shore, and they told him all that had befallen them from the Moslem, and they wept sore and groaned and moaned; and rejoicing at weal was turned into dismay for unheal; and they informed him concerning Luka son of Shamlut, how calamity had betided him and how Death had shot him with his shaft. Thereat the horrors of Doomday rose upon King Afridun,405 and he knew that there was no making straight their crook. Then came up from them the sound of weeping and wailing; the city was full of men mourning and the keeners were keening, and sighs and cries were heard from all sides. And when King Hardub of Greece met King Afridun he told him the truth of the case and how the flight of the Moslems was by way of stratagem and deceit, and said to him, "Look not to see any of the army, save those who have already reached thee." When King Afridun heard these words he fell down in a fainting fit, with his nose under his feet; and, as soon as he revived, he exclaimed, "Surely the Messiah was wroth with them that he caused the Moslems to prevail over them!" Then came the Arch-Patriarch sadly to the King who said to him, "O our father, annihilation hath overtaken our army and the Messiah hath punished us!" Replied the Patriarch, "Grieve not nor feel concerned, for it cannot be but that one of you have sinned against the Messiah, and all have been punished for his offence; but now we will read prayers for you in the churches, that the Mohammedan hosts may be repelled from you." After which the old woman, Zat al-Dawahi, came to Afridun and said to him, "O King, verily the Moslem hosts are many, and we shall never overcome them save by wile: wherefor I purpose to work upon them by guile and repair to this army of Al-Islam, haply I may win my wish of their leader and slay their champion, even as I slew his father. If my stratagem succeed in his case, not one of the host he leads shall return to his native land, for all are strong only because of him; but I desire to have some Christian dwellers of Syria, such as go out every month and year to sell their goods, that they may help me (for this they can do) in carrying out my plan." Replied the King, "Be it so whenever thou wilt." So she bade fetch an hundred men, natives of Najrán,406 in Sham, and the King asked them, "Have ye not heard what hath befallen the Christians with the Moslems?" "Yes," answered they; and he rejoined, "Know ye that this woman hath devoted her life to the Messiah and purposeth to go forth with you, disguised as Monotheists and Mohammedans, to work out a device which shall profit us and hinder the Moslem from us: say, then, are ye also willing to devote yourselves to the Anointed and I will give you a quintal of gold?407 He of you who escapeth shall have the money, and him of you who dieth will the Messiah reward." "O King," replied they, "we will devote our lives to the Messiah, and we will be thy sacrifice." Thereupon the old woman took all she required of aromatic roots and placed them in water which she boiled over the fire till the black essence of them was extracted. She waited till the decoction was cold, then dipped the corner of a long kerchief therein and stained her face therewith. Moreover, she donned over her clothes a long gaberdine with an embroidered border and took in her hand a rosary, and afterwards went in to King Afridun, who knew her not, nor did any of his companions know her, till she discovered herself to them: and there was none in the assembly but who thanked and praised her for her cunning; and her son rejoiced and said, "May the Messiah never fail thee!" Thereupon she took with her the Syrian Christians, and set out for the army of Baghdad. – And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.

Now when it was the Ninety-third Night,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when King Afridun heard these words, he fell into a fainting-fit with his nose under his feet; and, as soon as he revived, fear fluttered the scrotum408 below his belly and he complained to the ancient dame, Zat al-Dawahi. Now this accursed old woman was a witch of the witches, past mistress in sorcery and deception; wanton and wily, deboshed and deceptious; with foul breath, red eyelids, yellow cheeks, dull-brown face, eyes bleared, mangy body, hair grizzled, back humped, skin withered and wan and nostrils which ever ran. But she had studied the scriptures of Al-Islam and had made the Pilgrimage to the Holy House of Meccah and all this that she might come to the knowledge of the Mohammedan ordinances and the miraculous versets of the Koran; and she had professed Judaism in the Holy City of Jerusalem409 for two years' space, that she might master the magic of men and demons; so that she was a plague of plagues and a pest of pests, wrong-headed as to belief and to no religion lief. Now the chief reason of her sojourn with her son, King Hardub of Greece, was on account of the slave virgins at his court: for she was given to tribadism410 and could not exist without sapphism or she went mad: so if any damsel pleased her, she was wont to teach her the art of rubbing clitoris against clitoris and would anoint her with saffron411 till she fainted away for excess of volupty. Whoso obeyed her she was wont to favour and make her son incline towards her; but whoso repelled her she would contrive to destroy; and so she abode for a length of time. This was known to Marjanah and Rayhánah and Utrijah, the handmaids of Abrizah, and their Princess loathed the old woman and abhorred to lie with her, because of the rank smell from her armpits, the stench of her fizzles more fetid than carrion, and the roughness of her hide coarser than palm fibre. She was wont to bribe those who rubbed parts with her by means of jewels and instructions; but Abrizah held aloof from her and sought refuge with the Omnipotent, the Omniscient; for, by Allah, right well quoth the poet: —

Ho thou who grovellest low before the great ✿ Nor over-lording lesser men dost blench,Who gildest dross by dirham-gathering, ✿ No ottar-scent disguises carrion-stench!

And now to return to the story of her stratagem and the woes of her working. Presently she departed, taking the chief Nazarenes with their hosts, and turned towards the army of the Moslems. Whereupon King Hardub went in to King Afridun and said to him, "O King, we have no need of the Chief Patriarch nor of his prayers, but will consult my mother's counsel and observe what she will do with her craft unending against the Moslem hosts; for these are marching with all their power, they will soon be upon us and they will encircle us on all sides." When King Afridun heard this, terror took hold upon his heart and he wrote letters, without stay or delay, to all the nations of the Nazarenes, saying, "It behoveth none of the Messiahites or Cross-knights to hold back, especially the folk of the strongholds and forts: but let them all come to us, foot and horse, women and children, for the Moslem hosts already tread our soil. So haste! haste ye! ere what we fear to us here appear." Thus much concerning them; but regarding the work of the old woman, Zat al-Dawahi; when she went forth from the city with her suite, she clad them in the clothing of Moslem merchants, having provided herself with an hundred mules carrying stuffs of Antioch, such as goldwoven satins and royal brocades and so forth. And she had taken a letter from King Afridun to the following effect: – "These be merchantmen from the land of Sham who have been with us: so it befitteth none to do them harm or hindrance, nor take tax and tithe of them, till they reach their homes and safe places, for by merchants a country flourisheth, and these are no men of war nor of ill-faith." Then quoth the accursed Zat al-Dawahi to those with her, "Verily I wish to work out a plot for the destruction of the Moslem." Replied they, "O Queen, command us whatso thou wilt; we are at thy disposal and may the Messiah never disappoint thy dealings!" Then she donned a gown of fine white wool and rubbed her forehead, till she made a great mark as of a scar and anointed it with an ointment of her own fashion, so that it shone with prodigious sheen. Now the old hag was lean-bodied and hollow-eyed, and she bound her legs tightly round with cords412 just above her feet, till she drew near the Moslem camp, when she unwound them, leaving their marks deeply embedded in her ankles. Then she anointed the wheals with dragon's blood and bade her companions beat her with a severe beating, and set her in a chest and, quoth she, "Cry abroad the Refrain of Unity,413 nor fear from it aught of damage!" Replied they, "How can we beat thee, who be our sovereign lady, Zat al-Dawahi, mother of the King we glory in?" Then said she, "We blame not nor deal reproach to him who goeth to the jakes, and in need evil becometh good deed. When ye have set me in the chest, take it and make it one of the bales and place it on mule-back and fare forth with it and the other goods through the Moslem camp, and fear ye no blame. And if any of the Moslems hinder you, give up the mules and their lading and betake yourselves to their King, Zau al-Makan, and implore his protection saying: – We were in the land of the Infidels and they took nothing from us, but wrote us a passport, that none shall do us hindrance or work our mischance. If he ask you, What profit had ye of your property in the land of Roum? answer him: – We profited in the deliverance of a pious man, who had been bound down in an underground cell nigh fifteen years, crying out for help yet none helped him. Nay, the Infidels tortured him night and day. We knew not this; but, after we had tarried in Constantinople for some time, having sold our goods and bought others in their stead, we determined on and made ready for a return to our native land. We spent that night conversing about our journey, and when day broke, we saw figured upon the wall a human form; and as we drew nigh it, behold, it moved and said: – O Moslems, is there amongst you one who is minded to woo the favour of the Lord of the three Worlds?414 How so? asked we; and the figure answered: – Know that Allah hath made me speak to you, to the intent that your faith be fortified, and that your belief embolden you and that you may go forth of the country of the Infidels and repair to the Moslem host; for with them wones the Sword of the Compassionate One, of our Age the Champion, King Sharrkan, by whom He shall conquer Constantinople town and destroy the sect of the Nazarene. And when ye shall have journeyed three days, you will find an hermitage known as the Hermitage of the ascetic Matruhina415 and containing a cell; visit it with pure intent and contrive to arrive there by force of will, for therein is a Religious from the Holy City, Jerusalem, by name Abdullah, and he is one of the devoutest of mankind, endowed with the power of working saintly miracles416 such as dispel doubts and obscurity. Certain of the monks seized him by fraud and shut him up in a souterrain where he hath lain a long time. By his deliverance you will please the Lord of Faithful Men, for such release is better than fighting for the Faith." Now when the ancient dame and those with her had agreed upon such words, she said, "As soon as that which I impart shall reach the ears of King Sharrkan, say him further: – Hearing this from that image we knew that the holy man" – And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.