Chapter VI: Part 6

Queen Labe, who had never yet seen any one that pleased her so well as king Beder, and who began to conceive a mighty passion for him, thought immediately of getting the old man to abandon him to her. Father, quoth she, will not you oblige me so far as to make me a present of this young man? Do not refuse me, I conjure you; and I swear by the fire and the light, I will make him as great and powerful as ever private man was in the world. Although my design be to do evil to all mankind, yet he shall be the sole exception. I trust you will grant me what I desire, more on account of the friendship you have for me, than the esteem you know I have always had, and shall ever have, for your person.

Madam, replied the good Abdallah, I am infinitely obliged to your majesty for all the kindness you have for me, and the honours you propose to do my nephew. He is not worthy to approach so great a queen, and I humbly beseech your majesty to excuse him.

Abdallah, replied the queen, I all along flattered myself you loved me, and I could never have thought you would have given me so evident a token of your slighting my request: but I swear once more by the fire and light, and even by whatsoever is most sacred in my religion, that I will pass on no farther until I have conquered thy obstinacy. I understand very well what raises fears in thee; but I here promise, thou shalt never have any occasion to repent thy having trusted me.

Old Abdallah was exceedingly grieved, in relation to king Beder and himself, for being in a manner forced to obey the queen. Madam, therefore, replied he, I would not willingly have your majesty have an ill opinion of the sincere respect I have for you, but would always contribute whatever I can to oblige you: I put an entire confidence in your royal word, and I do not in the least doubt but you will keep it: I only beg of your majesty to delay doing this great honour to my nephew till you shall again pass by this way. That shall be to-morrow, quoth the queen; and so saying, she inclined her head, as a token of her being pleased, and so went forward towards her palace.

When queen Labe and all her attendants were out of sight, the good Abdallah said to king Beder, Son, (for so he was wont to call him, for fear of some time or other betraying himself in public,) it has not been in my power, as you may have observed, to refuse the queen what she demanded of me with so great earnestness, to the end I might not force her to an extremity of employing her magic both against you and myself. But I have some reason to believe she will use you well, as she promised, on account of that particular esteem she professes for me. This you may have seen, by the respect both she and all her court paid me. She would be a cursed creature indeed, if she should deceive me; but in case she should, she shall not deceive me unrevenged, for I know how to be even with her.

All these assurances, which appeared very doubtful, were not sufficient to support king Beder’s spirits. After all you have told me of this queen’s wickedness, replied he, you cannot wonder if I am somewhat fearful to approach her. I should, it may be, slight all you could tell me of her, and suffer myself to be dazzled by the lustre of grandeur that surrounds her, if I had not already been at the mercy of a sorceress. The condition I was in, through the enchantment of the princess Giahaure, and from whence I was delivered only to enter anew into another, has made me look upon such a fate with horror. His tears hindered him from going on any farther, and sufficiently showed with what repugnance he held himself in a manner under a fatal necessity of being delivered to queen Labe.

Son, replied old Abdallah, do not afflict yourself; for though I must own there is no great stress to be laid upon the oaths and promises of so perfidious a queen, yet I must withal acquaint you, her power extends no farther than I am pleased to permit it: she knows it full well herself; and that is the reason, and no other, that she pays me so great respect. I can quickly hinder her from doing you the least harm, though she should be perfidious enough to attempt it. You may entirely depend upon me; and, provided you follow exactly the advice I shall give you before I abandon you to her, she shall have no more power over you than she has over me.

The magic queen did not fail to pass by the old man’s shop the next day, with the same pomp she had done the day before; and Abdallah waited for her with great respect. Father, cried she, stopping just against him, you may judge of my impatience to have your nephew with me, by my punctual coming to put you in mind of your promise: I know you are a man of your word, and I cannot think you will break it with me.

Abdallah, who fell on his knees as soon as he saw the queen approaching, rose up when she had done speaking; and as he would have nobody hear what he had a mind to say to her, he advanced with great respect as far as her horse’s head, and then said softly, Puissant queen! I am persuaded your majesty will not be offended at my seeming unwillingness to trust my nephew with you yesterday, since you cannot be ignorant of the reasons I had for it; but I conjure you to lay aside the secrets of that art which you possess in so wonderful a degree. I respect my nephew as my own son; and your majesty would reduce me to the utmost despair, if you should think fit to deal with him as you have done with others.

I promise you once more I will not, replied the queen; and I once more repeat the oath I made yesterday, that neither you nor your nephew shall have any cause to be offended at me. I see plainly, added she, you are not yet well enough acquainted with me: you never saw me yet but through a veil; but as I find your nephew worthy of my friendship, I will show you I am not any wise unworthy of his. With that she threw off her veil, and discovered to king Beder, who came near her with Abdallah, an incomparable face: but king Beder was little charmed. It is not enough, said he within himself, to be beautiful; one’s actions ought to correspond in regularity with one’s features.

While king Beder was making these reflections, with his eyes fixed on queen Labe, the old man turned towards him, and, taking him by the arm, presented him to her majesty, saying, Here he is, madam; and I beg of your majesty once more to remember he is my nephew, and to let him come and see me sometimes. The queen promised he should; and, to give a farther assurance of her acknowledgment, she caused a bag of a thousand pieces of gold to be given him. He excused himself at first from receiving them; but she insisted absolutely upon it, and he could not refuse her. She had caused a horse to be brought, as richly harnessed and set out as her own, for the king of Persia. While he was mounting him, I forgot, said the queen to Abdallah, to ask you your nephew’s name; pray how is he called? He answered, his name was Beder, (The Full Moon); and her majesty replied, Sure his ancestors were mistaken; they ought to have given him the name of Shems, (The Sun).

When king Beder was mounted, he would have taken his post behind the queen; but she would not suffer him, and made him to ride on her left hand. She looked upon Abdallah; and, after having made him an inclination with her head, she set forward on her march.

Instead of observing a satisfaction in the people’s faces at the sight of their sovereign, king Beder took notice that they rather despised and cursed her. The sorceress, said some, has got a new subject to exercise her wickedness upon: will Heaven never deliver the world from her tyranny? Poor stranger, cried out others, thou art much deceived if thou thinkest thy happiness will last long: it is to render thy fall more terrible, that she has raised thee so high. This talk gave king Beder to understand Abdallah had told him nothing but the truth of queen Labe; but as he no longer depended on him, he had recourse to divine Providence to free him from the danger he was got into.

The magic queen arrived at her palace, whither she was no sooner come, than she alighted, and, giving her hand to king Beder, entered with him, accompanied by her women and the officers of her eunuchs. She herself showed him all her apartments, where there was nothing to be seen but massy gold, precious stones, and furniture of wonderful magnificence. When she had carried him into her closet, she led him out into a balcony, from whence he observed a garden of surprising beauty. King Beder commended all he saw, with a great deal of wit, but nevertheless in such a manner that he might not be discovered to be any other than old Abdallah’s nephew. They discoursed of divers indifferent matters, till such time as news was brought the queen that dinner was upon the table.

The queen and king Beder arose, and went to place themselves at table, which was of pure massy gold, and the plates of the same. They began to eat, but did not drink till almost the dessert came, when the queen caused a cup to be filled with excellent wine: she took it, and drank to king Beder’s health; and then causing it to be filled again, presented it to him. King Beder received it with profound respect, and, by a very low bow, signified to her majesty that he likewise drank to her health.

Soon after, ten of queen Labe’s women entered with musical instruments, with which, accompanied with their voices, they made an agreeable concert during the whole drinking, which continued till late at night. At length they began to be so heated with wine, that king Beder insensibly forgot he had to do with a magic queen, and looked upon her only as the finest woman he ever saw. As soon as the queen perceived she had wrought him to the pitch she desired, she made a sign to her eunuchs and women to retire. They obeyed; and king Beder and she went and lay together all night.

Next morning the queen and king Beder went to the bagnio; and as soon as they came out, the women who had served the king there, presented him with fine linen and a magnificent habit. The queen likewise, who was more splendidly dressed than the day before, came to receive him, and they went together to her apartment, where they had a good repast brought before them, and spent the remainder of the day in walking and other amusements.

Queen Labe treated king Beder after this manner for forty days, as she had been accustomed to do all her lovers. The fortieth night, as they were lying together, she, believing he was really asleep, arose without making any noise; but he was awake, and perceiving she had some design upon him, watched all her motions. Being up, she opened a chest, from whence she took a little box, full of a certain yellow powder. Taking some of the powder, she laid a train of it across the chamber, and immediately flowed in a rivulet of water, to the great astonishment of king Beder. He trembled with fear, but still pretended to sleep, that he might not discover to the sorceress he was awake.

Queen Labe next took up some of the water in a pot, and poured it into a basin where there was flour, with which she made paste, and kneaded it for a long time: then she mixed certain drugs with it, which she took from different boxes, and made a cake, and put it into a covered baking-pan. As she had taken care at first to make a good fire, she took some of the coals, and set the pan upon them; and as the cake was baking, she put up her pot and boxes again; and at the pronouncing of certain words, dismissed the rivulet, which appeared no more. When the cake was baked, she took it off the coals, and carried it into her closet, and afterwards returned to bed again to king Beder, who dissembled the matter so well with her, that she had not the least suspicion that he knew any thing of what she had done.

King Beder, whom the pleasures and delights of a court had made to forget his good host Abdallah, began now to think of him again, and believed he had more than ordinary occasion for his advice at this juncture, since he saw all the queen had done that night. As soon as he was up, therefore, he expressed a great desire to go and see his uncle, and begged of her majesty to permit him. Alas! my dear Beder, cried the queen, are you then already tired, I will not say with the pleasures of so superfine a palace as mine is, but with the company of a queen who loves you so passionately as I do?

Great queen, answered king Beder, how can I be tired with so many favours and graces as your majesty perpetually heaps upon me? Very far from that, I desire this permission, madam, purely to go and give my uncle an account of the mighty obligations I have to your majesty. I must own likewise it is partly in this respect, that my uncle loving me so tenderly, as it is very well known he does, and I having been from him now forty days, without so much as once seeing him, he will surely take it very unkindly if I cannot afford him one visit. Go, said the queen, I consent to it; but you will not be long before you return, if you consider I cannot possibly live without you. This said, she ordered him a fine horse richly caparisoned, and so he departed.

Old Abdallah was overjoyed to see his dear adopted son again; insomuch that, without regard to his quality, he embraced him heartily, and king Beder returned the like, that nobody might doubt but that he was his nephew. As soon as they were sat down, Well, said Abdallah to the king, how do you do, sir? and how have you passed your time with that infidel sorceress?

Hitherto, answered king Beder, I must needs own she has been extraordinary kind to me, and has done all she could to persuade me that she loves me entirely; but I observed something last night, which gives me just reason to suspect that all her kindness hitherto is but dissimulation. Whilst she thought me asleep, although I was really awake, she stole from me with a great deal of precaution, which made me suspect her intention, and therefore I resolved to watch her. Going on with his discourse, he related to Abdallah how, and after what manner, he had seen her make the cake; and then added, Hitherto, said he, I must needs confess I had almost forgot, not only you, but all the advice you gave me concerning the wickedness of this queen: but this last action of hers gives me reason to fear she neither intends to observe any of her oaths nor promises. I thought of you immediately, and esteem myself happy in that I have obtained permission to come to you.

You are not deceived in this wicked queen, replied old Abdallah with a smile, to show he did not himself believe she would observe one word she spoke, nor oath she made; nothing is capable of obliging a perfidious woman to mend her morals. But fear nothing; I have a way to make the mischief she intends you fall upon herself. You are become jealous in time; and you could not have done better than this, to have recourse to me. It is her ordinary practice to keep her lovers only forty days; and after that time, instead of sending them home, to turn them into animals to stock her forests and parks; but I thought of measures yesterday to prevent her doing any harm. The earth has borne this monster long enough, and it is now high time she should be served as she deserves.

So saying, Abdallah put two cakes into king Beder’s hands, bidding him keep them to make use of as he should direct. You told me, continued he, the sorceress made a cake last night: it was for you to eat of, depend upon it, but take great care you do not touch it. Nevertheless, do not refuse to receive it when she offers it you; but, instead of tasting it, break off part of one of the two that I gave you, unobserved, and eat that. As soon as she thinks you have swallowed it, she will not fail to attempt transforming you into some animal, but she shall not succeed; which when she sees, she will immediately turn the thing to pleasantry, as if what she had done was only to frighten you; but she will conceal a mortal aversion in her heart, and think her having failed proceeded only from the want of something in the composition of her cake. As for the cake she made, and which she will not know to be her own, you shall make a present of it to her, and press her to eat it; which she will not refuse to do, if it were only to convince you she does not mistrust you, though she has given you so much reason to mistrust her. When she has quite eaten it, take a little water in the hollow of your hand, and, throwing it in her face, say, Quit that form you now wear, and take that of such or such an animal, as you shall think fit; which done, come to me with the animal, and I will tell you what you shall do afterwards.

King Beder made all possible acknowledgments to old Abdallah, for the great obligations he had to him, for defending him from the wiles of a pestilent sorceress who sought to ruin him; and after some little discourse, he took his leave of him and returned to the palace. Upon his arrival, he understood that the queen waited for him with great impatience in the garden. He went to pay his respects to her, and she no sooner perceived him, than she came in great haste to meet him. My dear Beder! said she, it is said, with a great deal of reason, that nothing moves more the force and excess of love than absence from the object beloved. I have had no quiet since I saw you, and the minutes I have been separated from you have seemed so many ages; nay, if you had staid ever so little longer, I was preparing to come and fetch you once more to my arms.

Madam, replied king Beder, I can assure your majesty that I have not been under less disquiets on your account; but I could not refuse to stay a little longer than ordinary with an uncle who loves me so dearly, and had not seen me for so long a while. He would have kept me still longer, but I tore myself away from him to come and pay my vows where they are so much due. Of all the collations he prepared for me, I have only brought away this cake, which I desire your majesty to accept. King Beder had wrapped up one of the two cakes in a handkerchief very neatly, took it out, and presented it to the queen, saying, I beg your majesty to accept of it, though it be so inconsiderable a present.

I do accept of it with all my heart, replied the queen, receiving it, and will eat it cheerfully for yours and your good uncle’s sake: but before I taste of it, I desire you will eat a piece of mine, which I have made for you during your absence. Fair queen, answered king Beder, receiving it with great respect, such hands as your majesty’s can never make any thing but what is excellent; and the favour hereby done me will exact an eternal acknowledgment.

King Beder then substituted, in the place of the queen’s cake, the other which old Abdallah had given him, and having broken off a piece, he put it to his mouth, and cried, while he was eating, Ah! queen, I never tasted any thing so charming in my life. They being near a cascade, the sorceress seeing him swallow one bit of the cake, and ready to eat another, she took a little water in the palm of her hand, and throwing it on the king’s face, said, Wretch! quit that form of a man thou bearest, and take that of a vile horse, lame and blind.

These words not having the desired effect, the sorceress was strangely surprised to find king Beder still in the same form, and that he only started, being a little frightened. Blushes came suddenly into her cheeks; and as she saw that she had missed her aim, Dear Beder, cries she, this is nothing, recover thyself; I did not intend thee any harm; what I did, was only to see what thou wouldst say. I should be the most miserable and execrable of women, should I attempt aught against thy tranquillity; I do not only say, after all the oaths I made to the contrary, but even after so many testimonies of love as I have given thee.

Puissant queen, replied king Beder, however well satisfied I were, that what your majesty did was only to divert yourself, yet I could not help being a little frightened with the surprise. Also, what could hinder me from being a little moved at the pronouncing of such terrible words, as are capable of making so strange a transformation? But, madam, continued he, let us set aside this discourse; and since I have ate of your cake, I desire you would do me the like favour by tasting of mine.

Queen Labe, who could no better justify herself than by putting this confidence in the king of Persia, broke off a piece of his cake and ate it; which she had no sooner done, than she appeared much troubled, and remained, as it were, motionless. King Beder, seeing his time, took water out of the same basin she had done, and, throwing it in her face, cried, Abominable sorceress! quit that form of a woman, and be turned instantly into a mare.

The same instant queen Labe was transformed into a very beautiful mare; and she was so concerned to find herself in that condition, that she shed tears in great abundance, which perhaps no mare before had been ever known to do. She bowed her head with great obeisance to king Beder, thinking to move him to compassion; but, though he could have been so moved, it was absolutely out of his power to repair the damage he had done her. He led her then into the stable belonging to the palace, and put her into the hands of a groom, to bridle and saddle; but of all the bridles he tried upon her, not one would fit her. This made him cause two horses to be saddled, one for the groom and the other for himself; and the groom led the mare after him to old Abdallah’s.

Abdallah, seeing king Beder coming with the mare at a distance, doubted not but he had done what he advised him. Cursed sorceress! said he immediately to himself very joyfully. Heaven has at length punished thee as thou deservest. King Beder alighted at Abdallah’s door, and entered with him into the shop embracing and thanking him for all the signal services he had done him. He related to him the whole matter, with all its circumstances; and moreover told him, he could find no bridle fit for the mare. Abdallah found one that fitted exactly; and as soon as king Beder had sent back the groom, he said to him, My lord, you have no reason to stay any longer in this city; take the mare, mount her, and return to your kingdom. I have but one thing more to recommend to you; and that is, if ever you should happen to part with the mare, be sure to deliver her bridle. King Beder promised to observe all his commands, and this especially; and so, having taken leave of the good old man, he departed.

The young king of Persia no sooner got out of the city, than he began to reflect on the deliverance he had had, and to rejoice he had the sorceress in his power, who had given him so much cause to tremble. Three days after, he arrived at a great city, where, entering the suburbs, he met a venerable old man, walking on foot towards a pleasure-house he had hard by: Sir, said the old man to him, stopping, may I presume to ask from what part of the world you come? The king stopped to satisfy him; and, as they were discoursing together, an old woman chanced to come by, who, stopping likewise, wept and sighed bitterly at the sight of the mare.

King Beder and the old man left off discoursing, to look on the old woman, whom the king asked, whom she had to lament so much. Alas! sir, replied she, It is because your mare resembles so perfectly one my son had, and which I still mourn the loss of on this account, and should think yours were the same, did I not know she was dead. Sell her to me, sir, I beseech you, and I will give you even more than she is worth, for the sake of the person that once owned her likeness.

Good woman, replied king Beder, I am heartily sorry I cannot comply with your request; my mare is not to be sold. Alas! sir, continued the old woman, do not refuse me this favour, for the love of God. I conjure you to do it out of pure charity, since my son and I shall certainly die with grief if you do not grant it. Good mother, replied the king, I would grant it with all my heart, if I was disposed to part with so good a beast; but if I were so disposed, I believe you would hardly give a thousand pieces of gold for her, which is the lowest price I shall ever put upon her. Why should I not give so much? replied the old woman: if that be the lowest price, you need only say you will take it, and I will fetch you the money.

King Beder, seeing the old woman so poorly dressed, could not imagine she could find the money; therefore, to try her, he said, not thinking to part with his mare for all that, Go fetch me the money, and the mare is yours. The old woman immediately unloosed a purse she had fastened to her girdle, and desiring him to alight, bade him tell over the money: and, in case he found it came short of the sum demanded, her house was not far off, and she could quickly fetch the rest.

The surprise king Beder was in at the sight of this purse was not small. Good woman, said he, do you not perceive I have bantered you all this while? I will assure you my mare is not to be sold.

The old man, who had been witness to all that was said, now began to speak: Son, quoth he to king Beder, it is necessary you should know one thing, which I find you are ignorant of; and that is, that in this city it is not permitted any one to lie, on any account whatsoever, and that on pain of death: now, you having made this bargain with this old woman, you must not refuse her money, and delivering your mare according to the agreement; and this you had better do without any noise, than expose yourself to what may ensue.

King Beder, sorely afflicted to find himself thus trapped by his rash proffer, was nevertheless forced to alight and perform his agreement. The old woman stood ready to seize the bridle; which when she had done, she immediately unbridled the mare, and taking some water in her hand from a spring that ran in the middle of the street, she threw it in the mare’s face, uttering these words: Daughter, quit that bestial form, and reassume thy own. The transformation was effected in a moment; and king Beder, who swooned as soon as he saw queen Labe appear, would have fallen to the ground, if the old man had not hindered him.

The old woman, who was mother to queen Labe, and who had instructed her in all her magic, had no sooner embraced her daughter, than in an instant, she, by whistling, caused a genie to rise, of a gigantic form and stature: this genie immediately took king Beder on one shoulder, and the old woman with the magic queen on the other, and transported them in a few minutes to the palace of queen Labe, in the city of enchantments.

The magic queen immediately fell upon king Beder, reproaching him grievously, in the following manner: Is it thus, ungrateful wretch, that thy unworthy uncle and thou make me amends for all the kindnesses I have done for you? I shall soon be able to make you both feel what you so well deserve. She said no more, but, taking water in her hand, threw it in his face, with these words, Come out of that form, and take that of a vile owl. These words were soon followed by the effect; and immediately she commanded one of her women to shut up the owl in a cage, and give him neither meat nor drink.

The woman took the cage, and, without regarding what the queen ordered, gave him both meat and drink; and being old Abdallah’s friend, she sent him word privately how the queen had treated his nephew, and what design she had taken to destroy him and king Beder, in case he did not take timely measures to prevent it.

Abdallah knew no common measures would do with queen Labe; he therefore did but whistle after a certain manner, and there immediately rose a vast giant, with four wings, who presented himself before him, and asked what he would have with him. Lightning, said Abdallah to him, (for so was the genie’s name,) I command you to preserve the life of king Beder, son of the queen Gulnare. Go to the palace of the magic queen, and transport immediately to the capital of Persia the compassionate woman who has the cage in custody, that she may inform queen Gulnare of the danger the king her son is in, and the occasion he has of her assistance. Take care not to fright her when you come before her, and acquaint her from me what she ought to do.

Lightning immediately disappeared, and got in an instant to the palace of the magic queen. He instructed the woman, lifted her up into the air, and transported her to the capital of Persia, where he placed her on the terrace of the apartment where queen Gulnare was. She went down stairs to the apartment, and she there found queen Gulnare and queen Farasche, lamenting their mutual misfortunes. She made them a profound reverence, and, by the relation she gave them, they soon came to understand the great necessity king Beder was in of their assistance.

Queen Gulnare was so overjoyed at the news, that, rising from her seat, she went and embraced the good woman, telling her how much she was obliged to her for the service she had done her.

Then going immediately out, she commanded the trumpets to sound and the drums to beat, to acquaint the city, that the king of Persia would suddenly return safe to his kingdom. She then went again, and found king Saleh her brother, whom Farasche had caused to come speedily thither, by a certain fumigation. Brother, said she to him, the king your nephew, and my dear son, is in the city of enchantments, under the power of queen Labe. Both you and I must see what we can do to deliver him, for there is no time to be lost.

King Saleh forthwith assembled a puissant body of sea-troops, and even called to his assistance the genies his allies, who appeared with a much more numerous army. As soon as the two armies were joined, he put himself at the head of them, together with queen Farasche, queen Gulnare, and the princesses, who would all have their share in this glorious action. They then lifted themselves up into the air, and soon poured down on the palace and city of enchantments, where the magic queen, her mother, and all the other adorers of fire, were destroyed in an instant.

Queen Gulnare had ordered the woman who brought her the news of queen Labe’s transforming and imprisoning her son, to follow her close, and bade her, in her hurly-burly, to take no other care than to go and seize the cage, and bring it to her. She did as she was ordered, and queen Gulnare was no sooner in the possession of the cage, than she opened it, and took the owl out, saying, after she had sprinkled a little water upon him, My dear son, quit that foreign form which has been given thee, and resume thy natural one of a man. In a moment queen Gulnare no more saw the hideous owl, but king Beder her son instead of him. She immediately embraced him with that excess of joy which is better expressed by actions than words. She could not find in her heart to let him go; and, if he had not been in a manner torn from her by queen Farasche, who had a mind to embrace him in her turn, for aught I know, they might not have parted till now, so great queen Gulnare’s affection was for him. After the queen his grandmother had done with him, he was likewise embraced by the king his uncle, and the princesses his relations.

The next care queen Gulnare had, was to look out for old Abdallah, to whom she had been obliged for the recovery of the king of Persia; and who, being brought to her, she said to him, My obligations to you, sir, have been so great, that there is nothing within my power but I will freely do for you as a token of my acknowledgment. Do but satisfy me in what I can serve you; and you shall see I will immediately set about it. Great queen, replied Abdallah, if the lady next to your majesty will but consent to the marriage I offer her, and the king of Persia will give me leave to reside at his court, I will spend the remainder of my days in his service. The queen turned towards the lady; and, finding by her modesty that she was not against the match proposed, she caused them to join hands, and the king of Persia and she took care of their fortune.

This marriage occasioned the king of Persia to speak thus, addressing himself to the queen: Madam, I am heartily glad of this match which your majesty has just now made: there remains one more, which I desire you to think of. Queen Gulnare did not at first comprehend what marriage he meant; but, after a little considering, she said, Of yours do you mean, son? I consent to it with all my heart. Then, turning about, and looking on her brother’s sea-attendants, and the genies, who were still present, she said, Go you, and traverse both the sea and land, to find out the most lovely and amiable princess, worthy of the king my son, and come and bring us word.

Madam, replied king Beder, it is to no purpose for them to take all that pains. You have, no doubt, heard that I have already given my heart to the princess of Samarcand, upon the bare relation of her beauty. I have seen her, and do not repent of the present I then made her. In a word, neither earth nor sea, in my opinion, can furnish a princess any thing like her. It is true, upon declaring my love to her, she used me after a rate that would have extinguished any flame less fierce than mine: but I hold her excused; for, after a rigorous treatment, and imprisoning the king her father, which I was in some measure the cause of, how could she use me more civilly? But, it may be, the king of Samarcand may have changed his resolution; and his daughter, the princess, may consent to love me, when she sees her father has agreed to it.

Son, replied queen Gulnare, if only the princess Giahaure can make you happy in this world, I shall not make it my business to oppose you. The king your uncle need only have the king of Samarcand brought, and we shall see whether he be still of the same untractable temper.

How strictly soever the king of Samarcand had been kept during his captivity, by king Saleh’s orders, yet he always had great respect shown him, and was become very familiar with the officers that guarded him. In order to bring him, king Saleh caused a chafing dish of coals to be brought, into which he threw a certain composition, uttering at the same time some mysterious words. As soon as the smoke began to arise, the palace shook, and immediately the king of Samarcand, with king Saleh’s officers, appeared. The king of Persia cast himself at the king of Samarcand’s feet; and then, rising upon one knee, he said, It is no longer king Saleh that demands of your majesty the honour of your alliance for the king of Persia: it is the king of Persia himself that humbly begs that boon; and I persuade myself your majesty will never persist in being the cause of the death of a king, who can no longer live than he is in the possession of the adorable princess Giahaure.

The king of Samarcand did not long suffer the king of Persia to remain on his knee; he took him up, and embracing him, said, I should be very sorry to have contributed in the least towards the death of a monarch who is so worthy to live. If it be true that so precious a life cannot be preserved, without being in possession of my daughter, live, sir, and live happy; she is yours. She has always hitherto been obedient to my will, and I cannot think she will now oppose it. Speaking these words, he ordered one of the officers that king Saleh had assigned him, to go and look for the princess Giahaure, and bring her to him immediately.

The princess continued all this while where the king of Persia had left her. The officer brought her with her women to attend her. The king of Samarcand embraced her, and said, Daughter, I have provided a husband for you: it is the king of Persia you see there, the most accomplished monarch at this juncture in the universe. The preference he has given you to all other princesses obliges us both to make him suitable acknowledgments.

Sir, replied the princess Giahaure, your majesty well knows I have never presumed to disobey your will in any thing: I shall be always ready to obey you; and I hope the king of Persia will please to forget the ill treatment I gave him, and consider it was duty, not inclination, that forced me to it.

The nuptials were celebrated in the palace of the city of enchantments, with so much the greater solemnity, as all the lovers of the magic queen, who resumed their pristine forms as soon as ever that queen ceased to live, assisted at them, and came to pay their acknowledgments to the king of Persia, queen Gulnare, and king Saleh. They were all either sons of kings, or princes of extraordinary merit.

King Saleh at length conducted the king of Samarcand to his dominions, and put him once again in possession of them. The king of Persia, having what he most desired, returned to his capital with queen Giahaure, queen Gulnare, queen Farasche, and the princesses; and queen Farasche and the princesses continued there, till such time as king Saleh came to re-conduct them to his kingdom under the waves of the sea.

THE STORY OF
GANEM, SON TO ABOU AYOUB, AND KNOWN BY THE SURNAME OF LOVE’S SLAVE.

There was formerly a merchant at Damascus, who had, by care and industry, acquired great wealth, on which he lived in a very honourable manner. His name was Abou Ayoub, and he had one son and a daughter. The son was at first called Ganem, but afterwards had the surname of Love’s Slave. He was graceful as to his person, and the excellent natural qualities of his mind had been improved by able masters his father had taken care to provide him. The daughter’s name was Alcolomb, signifying ravisher of hearts, because her beauty was so accomplished, that whosoever saw her could not but love her.

Abou Ayoub died, and left immense riches: an hundred loads of brocades, and other silks that lay in his warehouse, were the least part of it. The loads were ready made up, and on every bale was written, in large characters, “For Bagdad.”

Mohammed, the son of Soliman, surnamed Zinebi, reigned at that time in Damascus, the capital of Syria. His kinsman Haroun Alraschid, whose residence was at Bagdad, had bestowed this kingdom on him as tributary to him.

Soon after the death of Abou Ayoub, Ganem, discoursing with his mother about their private affairs, among the rest, concerning the bales of merchandise that lay in the warehouse, asked her the meaning of what was written upon each bale. My son, answered his mother, your father used to travel sometimes into one province and sometimes into another, and it was customary with him, before he set out, to write the name of the city he designed to repair to on every bale. He had provided all things to take a journey to Bagdad, and was upon the point of setting forwards, when death——She had not the power to proceed any farther; the lively remembrance of the loss of her husband would not permit her to say any more, and drew from her a shower of tears.

Ganem could not see his mother so sensibly affected without relenting. Thus they continued some time in silence; but at length he recovered himself; and, as soon as he found his mother calm enough to listen to him, he directed his discourse to her, and said: Since my father designed these goods for Bagdad, and is no longer in being to put his design in execution, I will prepare myself to perform that journey; and I am of opinion, it will be proper for me to expedite my departure, for fear those commodities should perish, or, at least, that we lose the opportunity of selling them to the best advantage.

Abou Ayoub’s widow, who tenderly loved her son, was much surprised at this resolution; and replied, My dear child, I cannot but commend you for designing to follow your father’s example; but consider that you are too young, inexperienced, and altogether a stranger to the toils of travelling. Besides, can you think of leaving me, and by that means add to that sorrow with which I am already oppressed? Is it not better to sell those goods to the merchants of Damascus, and to take up with a moderate profit, than to expose yourself to the danger of perishing?

It was in vain for her to oppose Ganem’s resolution by the strongest arguments, for they had no weight with him. An inclination to travel, and to accomplish himself by a thorough knowledge of the affairs of the world, urged him on to set out, and prevailed above all his mother’s remonstrances, her entreaties, and even her tears. He went away to the market where the slaves are sold, and bought such as were able of body, hired one hundred camels, and, having furnished all other necessaries, he entered upon his journey, with five or six merchants of Damascus, who were going to trade at Bagdad.

Those merchants, attended by all their slaves, and accompanied by several other travellers, made up such a considerable caravan, that they had no occasion to fear the Bedouins, that is, the Arabs who make it their only profession to range the country, and to attack and plunder the caravans which are not strong enough to repulse them. Thus they had no other difficulty to encounter than the usual fatigues of a long journey, which were easily forgot when they saw the city of Bagdad, where they arrived in safety.

They went to alight at the most magnificent and most resorted khan in the city; but Ganem, who had a mind to be lodged conveniently, and by himself, took no apartment there. He only left his goods in a warehouse for their greater security, and hired a very fine house in the neighbourhood, richly furnished; having a garden, which was very delightful, on account of the many water-works and shady groves that were in it.

Some days after this young merchant had been settled in his house, and perfectly recovered of the fatigue of his journey, he dressed himself genteelly, and repaired to the public place where the merchants meet to buy and sell their commodities, with a slave following him, carrying a parcel of fine stuffs and silks.

The merchants received Ganem very courteously, and their syndic, or chief, to whom he first made application, bought all his parcel at the price set down in the ticket annexed to every piece of stuff. Ganem continued his trade so successfully, that he daily sold all the goods he exposed.

He had no more left than one bale, which he had caused to be carried from the warehouse to his own house, and then went to the public rendezvous, where he found all the shops shut. This seemed somewhat extraordinary to him; and, having asked the cause of it, was told, that one of the prime merchants, whom he knew, was dead, and that all his brother traders were gone to his funeral.

Ganem inquired after the mosque where the ceremony was to be performed, and whence the body was to be conducted to the grave; and having been told it, sent back his slaves with the goods, and walked towards the mosque. He got thither before the prayers were ended, which were said in a hall hung with black satin. The corpse was taken up and followed by the kindred, the merchants, and Ganem, to the place of burial, which was at a great distance without the city. It was a stone structure, like a dome, purposely built to receive the bodies of all the family of the deceased, and, being very small, they had pitched tents all about it, that all the company might be sheltered during the ceremony. The monument was opened, and the corpse laid into it, after which it was shut up again. Then the iman, and other ministers of the mosque, sat down in a ring on carpets, in the largest tent, and said the rest of the prayers. They also read the chapters of the Alcoran appointed for the burial of the dead. The kindred and merchants sat round in the same manner behind the ministers.

It was near night before the whole was ended. Ganem, who had not expected such a long ceremony, began to be uneasy; and was the more so, when he saw meat served up in memory of the deceased, according to the custom of Bagdad. He was also told that the tents had been set up, not only against the heat of the sun, but also against the evening dew, because they should not return to the city before the next morning. These words perplexed Ganem: I am a stranger, said he to himself, and have the reputation of being a rich merchant: thieves may take this opportunity of my absence, and go rob my house: my very slaves may be tempted to make their advantage of so convenient a time; they may run away with all the gold I have received for my goods; and whither shall I look for them? His head being full of these thoughts, he ate a few mouthfuls hastily, and dexterously slipped away from the company.

He made all possible haste to gain time; but, as it often happens, the more a man puts on, the less he advances: he mistook his way, and went astray in the dark; so that it was near midnight when he came to the city-gate; and, to add to this misfortune, that was shut. That disappointment was a fresh affliction to him; and he was obliged to think of finding some convenient place to pass the rest of the night in, and wait till the gate was opened. He went into a burial-place, so very spacious, that it reached from the city to the very place he was come from. He advanced to a parcel of pretty high walls, which enclosed a small field, being the peculiar burying-place of a family, and in which there was a palm-tree. There was an infinite number of other particular burial-places, the doors whereof they did not take much care to shut fast. Ganem, finding that this burial-place was open, went into it, and put to the door after him. He lay down on the grass, and did all he could to sleep; but the uneasiness he was under, for being absent from home, would not permit him. He got up; and, after having passed by the door several times, as he walked forwards and backwards, he opened it, without knowing why he did so, and immediately perceived a light at a distance, which seemed to come towards him. He was startled at that sight, put to the door, which had nothing to make it fast but a latch, and got up as fast as he could to the top of the palm-tree, looking upon that as the safest retreat under his present apprehensions. No sooner was he got up, than, by the help of the light which had frightened him, he plainly perceived three men, whom, by their habit, he knew to be slaves, come into the burial-place. One of them went foremost with a lantern, and the two others followed him, being loaded with a chest, between five and six feet long, which they carried on their shoulders. They laid it down, and then one of the three slaves said to his comrades, Brothers, if you will be advised by me, we will leave the chest here, and return to the city. No, no, replied another, that is not the way of doing what we were ordered by our mistress; we may have cause to repent our not doing as we were commanded: let us bury the chest, since we are so enjoined to do. The two other slaves complied with him; so they began to break ground with the tools they had brought for that purpose. When they had made a deep trench, they put the chest into it, and covered it with the earth they had taken out; then departed, and returned home.