The prince answered: "He in whom we first of all place our trust is G.o.d. We shall hope then in the blessing of his envoy. We shall leave the cadi here, and if it pleases G.o.d the most high, we shall return promptly as soon as we have accomplished the pilgrimage."
The King therefore caused to be equipped and provided with all sorts of provisions, those of his subjects who were going to accompany him, and when, the favorable moment had arrived he started with the Queen, some of the maids-of-honor, and his son named Minbah Chahaz. He took his son, but he left behind, guarded in the palace, his daughter called the Princess Djouher-Manikam. In those times there was no one in the country of Bagdad who surpa.s.sed in beauty the Princess Djouher-Manikam.
Furthermore, she had in her heart the fear of G.o.d the most high and worthy of all praise, and would not cease her prayers.
After travelling for some time, the prince her father arrived at Mecca, and fulfilled his duties as a pilgrim. He recited the appropriate prayers. But observing that there was still a great quant.i.ty of provisions, the prince said to his officers:
"It is good for us to wait a year or so, for our provisions are yet considerable."
The officers replied: "It is well, lord of the world! Whatever may be your Majesty"s commands, we place them above our heads." "Since it is thus," answered the prince, "it is fitting that we should send a letter thus conceived: Peace and blessing upon the cadi: I place my trust in G.o.d first of all, and in the cadi, to guard my kingdom, palace, and my child the Princess Djouher-Manikam. Be a faithful guardian, neglect nothing in the cares to be given to my kingdom, for I am going to remain another year for the great pilgrimage.""
The prince"s letter reached the cadi. The latter gave all his efforts to the good administration of the country, and, according to the words of the prince, he avoided every negligence.
But one night while he was on watch near the fortifications of the King"s palace, Satan came to him and slid into his heart a temptation.
The cadi thought in his heart: "The King"s daughter is of a marvellous beauty; her name, Djouher-Mani-kam, is charming; and her face is lovely. Since it is thus, I must marry this daughter of the King." The cadi called the man who was guarding the gate, exclaiming:
"Ho! Guardian of the gate! Open unto me."
The guardian of the gate demanded, "Who is there?"
The cadi replied, "It is I, the cadi."
So the guardian promptly opened the gate, and the cadi entered within the fortification, then went up into the palace and found the princess there saying her evening prayers. He hid behind the lamp in a corner which was dark. When her prayer was finished, the Princess Djouher- Manikam cast her eyes in that direction and saw there was someone standing there in the shadow, so three times again she said the "verse of the Throne"; but she saw that the vision had not yet vanished from her eyes.
Then the princess said in her heart: "What in the world is that? Is it a ghost? Is it a demon? Is it a djinn? If it were, it would have necessarily disappeared when I recited the "verse of the Throne.""
The cadi heard these words and said: "O Princess Djouher-Manikam, it is I, the cadi."
"What are you doing here?" asked the princess. He answered, "I wish to marry you."
The Princess Djouher-Manikam said: "O cadi! Why do you act so to me?
Have you then no fear of G.o.d the most high and worthy of all praise? Do you not blush before the face of my ancestor the prophet Mahomet, the envoy of G.o.d? May the peace and blessings of G.o.d be upon him! As for me, I am the servant of the Lord and I belong to the religion of the envoy of G.o.d. I fear to marry now. And you, cadi, why do you act so? My father gave you a charge. He sent you a letter which commanded you to protect the country and all who dwelt in his palace. Why do you conduct yourself in this fashion toward me?"
The cadi, hearing these words of the Princess Djouher-Manikam, felt a great confusion in his heart. He went out of the palace and returned home full of trouble and emotion. When it was day, the cadi sent a letter to the King Haroun-er-Raschid at Mecca. It was thus conceived: "Your Majesty left me to be guardian of his kingdom, his palace, and his daughter. Now, the Princess Djouher-Manikam desires to marry me.
This is the reason why I send this letter to your Majesty." Thus spake the cadi in his letter.
When it reached the prince and he had read it, he immediately summoned his son Minbah-Chahaz. He came in haste, and the King gave him a cutla.s.s and said, "Return to Bagdad and slay your sister, because she will bring shame upon the family by marrying now."
Minbah-Chahaz bowed before his father. Then he set out to return to his own country.
Arriving at the end of his journey, he entered the city, and went up to the palace of the Princess Djouher-Manikam. She was filled with joy and said, "Welcome, O my brother!"
Minbah-Chahaz answered, "O my little sister, our parents will remain for the great pilgrimage."
The brother and sister thus chatting together, the Princess Djouher- Manikam said, "O my brother, I wish to sleep."
"It is well, my sister," answered Minbah-Chahaz; "sleep while your brother combs his little sister"s hair." And the princess Djouher- Manikam slept.
Her brother then took a cushion, which he slipped under the head of the young virgin his sister; then he thought in his heart: "If I do not execute the commands of my father, I shall be a traitor to him. But, alas, if I kill my sister, I shall not have a sister any more. If I do not kill her, I shall certainly commit a crime against the most high, because I shall not have obeyed the order of my father. I will fulfil then my father"s will. It is a duty obligatory on all children. What good are these subterfuges?" His resolution thus confirmed, he bound his handkerchief over his eyes and directed his cutla.s.s against his sister"s neck. But at that instant, by the will of G.o.d the most high, a little gazelle came up and, by the power of G.o.d the most high, placed its neck upon the neck of the princess Djouher-Manikam, saying, "I will take the place of the princess Djouher-Manikam." And the little gazelle was killed by Minbah-Chahaz. That done he unbound his eyes and saw a little gazelle lying dead with its throat cut, by the side of his young sister the princess Djouher-Manikam.
At this sight, Minbah-Chahaz was stricken with astonishment. He thought in his heart: "Since it is so with my sister, she must be entirely innocent, and cannot have commited the least fault. Nevertheless, although I am confident that she was calumniated by the cadi I must tell my father that I have killed her."
Minbah-Chahaz set out then for Mecca, to find the prince his father.
When he had arrived at Mecca he presented to his father the cutla.s.s still stained with blood. The King Haroun-er-Raschid cried, "Praise be to G.o.d, the Lord of the worlds. Our shame is now effaced, since you have poniarded your sister and she is dead." Such were the deeds of this first story.
The princess Djouher-Manikam, having awakened after the departure of Minbah-Chahaz, saw that her brother was no longer there, but that at her side there was a little gazelle with its throat cut. She thought in her heart: "The cadi has slandered me to my father, and that is why my brother came here with orders to kill me." The princess Djouher-Manikam felt a great shame and thought in her heart, "Since it is so, I must retire to a hidden place." Now in the King"s park there was a solitary place in the midst of a vast deserted plain. There was a pond of very agreeable appearance there, many kinds of fruit-trees and flowers, and an oratory beautifully built. The princess Djouher-Manikam set out and retired to this place to pray to G.o.d the most high and worthy of all praise. She was established there for some time when, by the will of G.o.d the most high, a certain thing happened.
SECOND STORY
There was in the country of Damas a king who was named Radja Chah Djouhou. This King wished to go hunting in the deserted forests. His first minister said to him, bowing low: "O my lord, King of the world, why does your Majesty wish to go hunting in foreign countries?"
King Chah Djouhou replied: "I insist upon my plan of going to hunt in foreign lands, in forests far removed from ours. I wish to go from place to place, from plain to plain. Such is my will." The prince set out therefore accompanied by his ministers, his chiefs, and his servants.
They had all been hunting for some time and had not yet found a single bit of game. The prince had directed his march toward the forests of the country of Bagdad. These forests were of immense extent. The heat was excessive, and the prince, being very thirsty, wanted a drink of water. The people who generally carried water for the King said to him: "O lord, sovereign of the world, your Majesty"s provision of water is entirely exhausted."
The prince then asked of his officers and servants: "Which of you can get me water? I will reward him with riches and with slaves."
These words were heard by one of his officers named Asraf-el-Kaum. He said: "O my lord, sovereign of the world, give me the vase which will serve for water, and I will go and seek water for your Majesty."
Then the prince said to the people who had brought water for his use, "Give my emerald pitcher into the hands of Asraf-el-Kaum."
The latter bowed low and started to seek water. Seeing from afar a very large fig-tree, he advanced in that direction. Arriving near the tree he saw at its base an oratory and a pond. At the oratory there was a woman of very great beauty. The splendor of her countenance shone like that of the full moon at its fourteenth day. Asraf-el-Kaum, astonished and moved with admiration, thought in his heart: "Is this a human creature, or is it a peri?" and Asraf-el-Kaum saluted the princess Djouher-Manikam, who returned the salutation.
Then the princess asked him, "What is your desire in coming here to my dwelling?"
Asraf-el-Kaum answered, "I have come here to ask you for water, for I have lost my way."
The princess said, "Take water, lord."
Asraf-el-Kaum plunged the emerald pitcher into the pond, and filled it with water. Then he asked permission to return.
Arriving near the King Chah Djouhou he presented the pitcher to the prince, who seized it quickly and drank.
"Asraf-el-Kaum," said the prince, "where did you find such fresh and delicious water? In all my life I have never drunk the like."
Asraf-el-Kaum answered: "O my lord, sovereign of the world, there is a garden in the middle of the plain, and in this garden there is a very large and bushy fig-tree, and at the foot of this tree there is a pond, and near this pond there is an oratory. At this oratory there was a woman who was reading the Koran. This charmingly beautiful woman has no equal in this world. I saluted her and then returned to the presence of the sovereign of the world. That is what I saw, my lord."
"Conduct me to this place," said the King.
"O sovereign of the world, if your Majesty wishes to go thither, let it be with me alone. Let not my lord take his people with him, for it is a woman, and naturally she would be ashamed."
The prince set out then on horseback with Asraf-el-Kaum. The princess Djouher-Manikam, seeing two cavaliers approach, thought in her heart: "I must hide myself, so that I may not be seen." So she left the oratory and went toward the fig-tree. She addressed a prayer to G.o.d the most high and worthy of all praise, in these terms:
"O G.o.d, I beseech thee, give me a refuge in this tree, for thy servant, O Lord, is ashamed to look upon the faces of these infidels."
Then by the will of G.o.d the most high, the tree opened in two and the princess Djouher-Manikam entered by the split, and the tree closed and became as it was before. The King Chah Djouhou and Asraf-el-Kaum arrived at the oratory, but the prince saw nothing of the princess Djouher-Manikam. He was astonished and said: