A Thousand And One Arabian Nights
The Story of the First Calender, Son of a King
In order, madam, to explain how I came to lose my right eye,
and to wear the dress of a Calender, you must first know that I
am the son of a king. My father's only brother reigned over the
neighbouring country, and had two children, a daughter and a son,
who were of the same age as myself.
As I grew up, and was allowed more liberty, I went every year to pay
a visit to my uncle's court, and usually stayed there about two months.
In this way my cousin and I became very intimate, and were much
attached to each other. The very last time I saw him he seemed more
delighted to see me than ever, and gave a great feast in my honour.
When we had finished eating, he said to me, "My cousin, you would
never guess what I have been doing since your last visit to us!
Directly after your departure I set a number of men to work on a building
after my own design. It is now completed, and ready to be lived in.
I should like to show it to you, but you must first swear two things:
to be faithful to me, and to keep my secret."
Of course I did not dream of refusing him anything he asked, and gave
the promise without the least hesitation. He then bade me wait
an instant, and vanished, returning in a few moments with a richly
dressed lady of great beauty, but as he did not tell me her name,
I thought it was better not to inquire. We all three sat down to table
and amused ourselves with talking of all sorts of indifferent things,
and with drinking each other's health. Suddenly the prince said to me,
"Cousin, we have no time to lose; be so kind as to conduct this lady
to a certain spot, where you will find a dome-like tomb, newly built.
You cannot mistake it. Go in, both of you, and wait till I come.
I shall not be long."
As I had promised I prepared to do as I was told, and giving my hand
to the lady, I escorted her, by the light of the moon, to the place
of which the prince had spoken. We had barely reached it when he
joined us himself, carrying a small vessel of water, a pickaxe,
and a little bag containing plaster.
With the pickaxe he at once began to destroy the empty sepulchre
in the middle of the tomb. One by one he took the stones and piled
them up in a corner. When he had knocked down the whole sepulchre
he proceeded to dig at the earth, and beneath where the sepulchre
had been I saw a trap-door. He raised the door and I caught sight
of the top of a spiral staircase; then he said, turning to the lady,
"Madam, this is the way that will lead you down to the spot which I
told you of."
The lady did not answer, but silently descended the staircase,
the prince following her. At the top, however, he looked at me.
"My cousin," he exclaimed, "I do not know how to thank you for
your kindness. Farewell."
"What do you mean?" I cried. "I don't understand."
"No matter," he replied, "go back by the path that you came."
He would say no more, and, greatly puzzled, I returned to my room
in the palace and went to bed. When I woke, and considered
my adventure, I thought that I must have been dreaming, and sent
a servant to ask if the prince was dressed and could see me.
But on hearing that he had not slept at home I was much alarmed,
and hastened to the cemetery, where, unluckily, the tombs were all so
alike that I could not discover which was the one I was in search of,
though I spent four days in looking for it.
You must know that all this time the king, my uncle, was absent
on a hunting expedition, and as no one knew when he would be back,
I at last decided to return home, leaving the ministers to make
my excuses. I longed to tell them what had become of the prince,
about whose fate they felt the most dreadful anxiety, but the oath I
had sworn kept me silent.
On my arrival at my father's capital, I was astonished to find
a large detachment of guards drawn up before the gate of the palace;
they surrounded me directly I entered. I asked the officers in command
the reason of this strange behaviour, and was horrified to learn
that the army had mutinied and put to death the king, my father,
and had placed the grand-vizir on the throne. Further, that by his
orders I was placed under arrest.
Now this rebel vizir had hated me from my boy-hood, because once,
when shooting at a bird with a bow, I had shot out his eye by accident.
Of course I not only sent a servant at once to offer him my regrets
and apologies, but I made them in person. It was all of no use.
He cherished an undying hatred towards me, and lost no occasion
of showing it. Having once got me in his power I felt he could
show no mercy, and I was right. Mad with triumph and fury he
came to me in my prison and tore out my right eye. That is how I
lost it.
My persecutor, however, did not stop here. He shut me up in a large
case and ordered his executioner to carry me into a desert place,
to cut off my head, and then to abandon my body to the birds of prey.
The case, with me inside it, was accordingly placed on a horse,
and the executioner, accompanied by another man, rode into the country
until they found a spot suitable for the purpose. But their hearts
were not so hard as they seemed, and my tears and prayers made
them waver.
"Forsake the kingdom instantly," said the executioner at last,
"and take care never to come back, for you will not only lose
your head, but make us lose ours." I thanked him gratefully,
and tried to console myself for the loss of my eye by thinking
of the other misfortunes I had escaped.
After all I had gone through, and my fear of being recognised
by some enemy, I could only travel very slowly and cautiously,
generally resting in some out-of-the-way place by day, and walking
as far as I was able by night, but at length I arrived in the kingdom
of my uncle, of whose protection I was sure.
I found him in great trouble about the disappearance of his son,
who had, he said, vanished without leaving a trace; but his own grief
did not prevent him sharing mine. We mingled our tears, for the loss
of one was the loss of the other, and then I made up my mind that it
was my duty to break the solemn oath I had sworn to the prince.
I therefore lost no time in telling my uncle everything I knew,
and I observed that even before I had ended his sorrow appeared to be
lightened a little.
"My dear nephew," he said, "your story gives me some hope.
I was aware that my son was building a tomb, and I think I can find
the spot. But as he wished to keep the matter secret, let us go
alone and seek the place ourselves."
He then bade me disguise myself, and we both slipped out of a
garden door which opened on to the cemetery. It did not take
long for us to arrive at the scene of the prince's disappearance,
or to discover the tomb I had sought so vainly before.
We entered it, and found the trap-door which led to the staircase,
but we had great difficulty in raising it, because the prince had
fastened it down underneath with the plaster he had brought with him.
My uncle went first, and I followed him. When we reached the bottom
of the stairs we stepped into a sort of ante-room, filled with
such a dense smoke that it was hardly possible to see anything.
However, we passed through the smoke into a large chamber,
which at first seemed quite empty. The room was brilliantly lighted,
and in another moment we perceived a sort of platform at one end,
on which were the bodies of the prince and a lady, both half-burned,
as if they had been dragged out of a fire before it had quite
consumed them.
This horrible sight turned me faint, but, to my surprise, my uncle
did not show so much surprise as anger.
"I knew," he said, "that my son was tenderly attached to this lady,
whom it was impossible he should ever marry. I tried to turn
his thoughts, and presented to him the most beautiful princesses,
but he cared for none of them, and, as you see, they have now been
united by a horrible death in an underground tomb." But, as he spoke,
his anger melted into tears, and again I wept with him.
When he recovered himself he drew me to him. "My dear nephew,"
he said, embracing me, "you have come to me to take his place,
and I will do my best to forget that I ever had a son who could act
in so wicked a manner." Then he turned and went up the stairs.
We reached the palace without anyone having noticed our absence,
when, shortly after, a clashing of drums, and cymbals, and the blare
of trumpets burst upon our astonished ears. At the same time a thick
cloud of dust on the horizon told of the approach of a great army.
My heart sank when I perceived that the commander was the vizir
who had dethroned my father, and was come to seize the kingdom
of my uncle.
The capital was utterly unprepared to stand a siege, and seeing
that resistance was useless, at once opened its gates. My uncle
fought hard for his life, but was soon overpowered, and when he
fell I managed to escape through a secret passage, and took refuge
with an officer whom I knew I could trust.
Persecuted by ill-fortune, and stricken with grief, there seemed
to be only one means of safety left to me. I shaved my beard
and my eyebrows, and put on the dress of a calender, in which it
was easy for me to travel without being known. I avoided the towns
till I reached the kingdom of the famous and powerful Caliph,
Haroun-al-Raschid, when I had no further reason to fear my enemies.
It was my intention to come to Bagdad and to throw myself at the feet
of his Highness, who would, I felt certain, be touched by my sad story,
and would grant me, besides, his help and protection.
After a journey which lasted some months I arrived at length at the
gates of this city. It was sunset, and I paused for a little to look
about me, and to decide which way to turn my steps. I was still
debating on this subject when I was joined by this other calender,
who stopped to greet me. "You, like me, appear to be a stranger,"
I said. He replied that I was right, and before he could say more
the third calender came up. He, also, was newly arrived in Bagdad,
and being brothers in misfortune, we resolved to cast in our
lots together, and to share whatever fate might have in store.
By this time it had grown late, and we did not know where to spend
the night. But our lucky star having guided us to this door,
we took the liberty of knocking and of asking for shelter,
which was given to us at once with the best grace in the world.
This, madam, is my story.
"I am satisfied," replied Zobeida; "you can go when you like."
The calender, however, begged leave to stay and to hear the histories
of his two friends and of the three other persons of the company,
which he was allowed to do.
Next: The Story of the Second Calender, Son of a King
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