The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night, vol 10 by Sir Richard Francis Burton (essential reading TXT) 📖

you will be numbered among the believers.” He at once repeated the formula, and Shaikh Gyat was much pleased, and devoted the night to teaching him the history of Abraham and his religion, and the forms of worship. Towards morning he said, “O my son, whenever you advance to battle, say, �God is great, grant me victory, O

God, and destroy the infidels,’ and help will be near you. Now pursue your journey, but leave your horse here until your return.

Enter the valley before you, under the protection of God, and after three days you will meet some one who will aid you.” Wakhs El Fellat set out on that road, and after three days he met a horseman who saluted him, and exclaimed, “Welcome, Saif Zul Yezn, for you bring happiness to this neighbourhood.” Saif returned his salutation, and asked, “How do you know me, and how do you know my name?” “I am not a brave or renowned warrior,” was the answer, “but one of the maidens of this country and my mother taught me your name.” “What is your name and that of your mother?” “My mother’s name is Alka,” answered she, “and I am called Taka.”

When he heard this he was greatly rejoiced, for he remembered that Shaikh Gyat had said to him, “O thou, whose destiny will be decided by Alka and Taka.” “O noble virgin,” said he, “where is your mother, Alka?” “Look round,” she replied; and he saw a very large and lofty city at some distance. “Know,” said she, “that 360 experienced philosophers dwell in that city. My mother Alka is their superior, and directs all their affairs and actions. She knew that you would come to this neighbourhood in search of a book concerning the Nile, which was written by Japhet, the son of Noah, and she wishes you to attain your end by her means. She also informed me of your coming, and promised me to you, saying, �You shall have no other husband but him.’ We expected you to-day, and she sent me to meet you, adding, �Warn him not to enter the town by daylight, or it will be his destruction.’ Wait here, therefore, till nightfall, and only approach the city after dark.

Turn to the right along the wall, and stand still when you reach the third tower, where we will await you. As soon as we see you we will throw you a rope; bind it round your waist, and we will draw you up. The rest will be easy.” “But why need you give yourselves all this trouble?” said Saif Zul Yezn. “Know,” replied she, “that the inhabitants of this city have been informed of your approaching arrival by their books, and are aware that you are about to carry away their book, which they hold in superstitious reverence. On the first day of each month they repair to the building where it is preserved; and they adore it and seek counsel from it respecting their affairs. They have also a king whose name is Kamrun. When they knew that you were coming for the book they constructed a talisman against you. They have made a copper statue, and fixed a brazen horn in its hand, and have stationed it at the gate of the city. If you enter, the statue will sound the horn, and it will only do so upon your arrival. They would then seize you and put you to death. On this account we desire to baffle their wisdom by drawing you up to the walls of the city at another place.” “May God reward you a thousandfold,” replied he; “but go now, and announce my arrival to your mother.” She went away, and he approached the city in the darkness of night, and turned towards the third tower on the right, where he found Alka and Taka. When they recognised him, they immediately threw him the rope, which he fastened about him.

When he was drawn up, they descended from the wall, and were about to proceed to Alka’s house, when the talisman suddenly acted, and the statue blew the horn loudly. “Hasten to our house,” cried Alka; and they succeeded in reaching it safely and barred the doors, when the noise increased. The whole population of the city rose up, and the streets were filled. “What is this disturbance about?” asked Saif. “This is all due,” replied Alka, “to the alarm sounded by the statue, because you have entered the town. There will be a great meeting held tomorrow, where all the wise men will assemble, to attempt to discover the whereabouts of the intruder; but by God’s help, I will guide them wrong, and confuse their counsels. Go to our neighbour the fisherman,” added she to her daughter, “and see what he has caught.” She went, and brought news that he had taken a large fish, of the size of a man. “Take this piece of gold,” said her mother, “and bring us the fish;” and when she did so, she told her to clean it, which was done. Food was then brought in, and they ate and talked. The night passed quietly, but on the following morning Alka ordered Saif Zul Yezn to undress, and to hide in the skin of the fish.

She put her mouth to the mouth of the fish, and took a long rope, which she fastened under Saif’s armpits. She then let him down into a deep well, and fastened him there, saying, “Remain here, till I come back.” She then left him, and went to the great hall of the King, where the divan was already assembled, and the King had taken his seat on the throne. All rose up when she entered, and when she had seated herself, the King said to her, “O mother, did you not hear the blast of the horn yesterday, and why did you not come out with us?” “I did hear it,” she replied, “but I did not heed it.” “But you know,” said he, “that the sound can only be heard upon the arrival of the stranger who desires to take the book.” “I know it, O King; but permit me to choose forty men from among those assembled here.” She did so, and selected ten from among the forty again. She then said to them, “Take a Trakhtramml (sandboard on which the Arabs practise geomancy and notation) and look and search.” They did so, but had scarcely finished when they looked at each other in amazement. They destroyed their calculation, and began a second, and confused this, too, and began a third, upon which they became quite confounded. “What are you doing there?” asked the King at last. “You go on working and obliterating your work; what have you discovered?” “O King,”

replied they, “we find that the stranger has entered the town, but not by any gate. He appears to have passed in between Heaven and earth, like a bird. After this, a fish swallowed him, and carried him down into some dark water.” “Are you fools?” asked the King angrily; and turning to Alka, continued, “Have you ever seen a man flying between Heaven and earth, and afterwards swallowed by a fish, which descends with him into dark water?” “O

King,” replied she, “I always forbid the wise men to eat heavy food, for it disturbs their understanding and weakens their penetration; but they will not heed me.” At this the King was angry, and immediately drove them from the hall. But Alka said, “It will be plain tomorrow what has happened.” She left the hall, and when she reached home, she drew Saif Zul Yezn out of the well, and he dressed himself again. They sat down, and Alka said, “I have succeeded in confounding their deliberations to-day! and there will be a great assembly tomorrow, when I must hide you in a still more out-of-the-way place.” After this they supped, and went to rest. Next morning Alka called her daughter, and said, “Bring me the gazelle.” When it was brought her, she said, “Bring me the wings of an eagle.” Taka gave them to her, and she bound them on the back of the gazelle. She then took a pair of compasses, which she fixed in the ceiling of the room.

She next took two other pairs of compasses, which she fixed in the ceiling of the room. She next took two other pairs of compasses, and tied one between the fore feet, and the other between the hind feet of the gazelle. She then tied a rope to the compasses in the roof, and the two ends to the other pairs. But she made Saif Zul Yezn lie down in such a position that his head was between the feet of the gazelle. She then said to him, “Remain here till I come back”; and went to the King, with whom she found a very numerous assemblage of the wise men. As soon as she entered, the King made her sit beside him on the throne. “O

my mother Alka,” he said, “I could not close an eye last night from anxiety concerning yesterday’s events.” “Have you no wise men,” returned she, “who eat the bread of the divan?” She then turned to them, saying, “Select the wisest among you!” and they chose the wisest among them. She ordered them to take the sandboard again, but they became so confused that they were obliged to begin again three times from the beginning. “What do you discover?” said the King angrily. “O our master,” replied they, “he whom we seek has been carried away by a beast of the desert, which is flying with him between Heaven and earth.” “How is this?” said the King to Alka; “have you ever seen anything like it?” He seized his sword in a rage, and three fled, and he killed four of the others. When Alka went home, she released Saif, and told him what had happened. Next morning Alka took the gazelle, and slaughtered it in a copper kettle. She then took a golden mortar, and reversed it over it, and said to Saif Zul Yezn, “Sit on this mortar till I come back.” She then went to the divan, and chose out six wise men, who again took the sandboard, and began again three times over in confusion. “Alas,” said the King, in anger, “What misfortune do you perceive?” “O our master,” they exclaimed in consternation, “our understanding is confused, for we see him sitting on a golden mountain, which is in the midst of a sea of blood, surrounded by a copper wall.” The King was enraged, and broke up the assembly, saying, “O Alka, I will now depend on you alone.” “Tomorrow I will attempt to show you the stranger,” she replied. When she came home, she related to Saif what had happened, and said, “I shall know by tomorrow what to tell the King to engage his attention, and prevent him from pursuing you.” Next morning she found Taka speaking to Saif Zul Yezn alone; and she asked her, “What does he wish?” “Mother,”

replied Taka, “he wishes to go to the King’s palace, to see him and the divan.” “What you wish shall be done,” said she to Saif, “but you must not speak.” He assented to the condition, and she dressed him as her attendant, gave him a sandboard, and went with him to the King, who said to her, “I could not sleep at all last night, for thinking of the stranger for whom we are seeking.”

“Now that the affair is in my hands,” returned she, “you will find me a sufficient protection against him.” She immediately ordered Saif to give her the sandboard. She took it, and when she had made her calculations, she said joyfully to the King, “O my lord, I can give you the welcome news