THE FLASHES OF THE BLADE
Now, it was the morning of the fourth day, and lo! at the first leap of the sun of that day the flame of the Identical abated in its fierceness, and it dwindled and darkened, and tapered and flickered feebly, descending from its alt.i.tude in the heavens and through the ceiling of the Hall, and lay down to sleep among the intricate lengths and frizzled convolutions and undulating weights flowing from s.h.a.gpat, an undistinguished hair, even as the common hairs of his head. So, upon that, the four fasting Kings breathed, and from the people of the City there went up a mighty shout of gladness and congratulation at the glory they had witnessed; and they took the air deeply into their chests, and were as divers that have been long fathoms-deep under water, and ascend and puff hard and press the water from their eyes, that yet refuse to acknowledge with a recognition the things that be and the sights above, so mazed are they with those unmentionable marvels and treasures and profusion of jewels, and splendid lazy growths and lavish filmy illuminations, and mult.i.tudinous pearls and sheering sh.e.l.ls, that lie heaped in the beds of the ocean. As the poet has said:
After too strong a beam, Too bright a glory, We ask, Is this a dream Or magic story?
And he says:
When I"ve had rapturous visions such as make The sun turn pale, and suddenly awake, Long must I pull at memory in this beard, Ere I remember men and things revered.
So was it with the people of the City, and they stood in the Hall and winked staringly at one another, shouting and dancing at intervals, capering with mad gravity, exclaiming on the greatness of that they had witnessed. And Zeel the garlic-seller fell upon Mob the confectioner, and cried, "Was this so, O Dob? Wullahy! this glory, was it verily?" And Dob peered dimly upon Zeel, whispering solemnly, "Say, now, art thou of a surety that Zeel the garlic-seller known to me, my boon-fellow?" And the twain turned to Sallap the broker, and exchanged interjections with him, and with Azawool the builder, and with Krooz el Krazawik the carrier; and they accosted Bootlbac the drum-beater, where he stood apart, drumming the air as to a march of triumph, and no word would he utter, neither to Zeel, nor to Sallap, nor to Krooz el Krazawik, nor to Azawool his neighbour, nor to any present, but continued drumming on the air rapidly as in answer, increasing in the swiftness of his drumming till it was a rage to mark him, and the excitement about Bootlbac became as a mad eddy in the midst of a mighty stream, he drumming the air with exceeding swiftness to various measures, beating before him as on the tightened skin, lost to all presences save the Identical and s.h.a.gpat. So they edged away from Bootlbac in awe, saying, "He"s inspired, Bootlbac! "tis the triumph of s.h.a.gpat he drummeth." They feigned to listen to him till their ears deceived them, and they rejoiced in the velocity of the soundless tune of Bootlbac the drum-beater, and were stirred by it, excited to a forgetfulness of their fasting. Such was the force of the inspiration of Bootlbac the drum-beater, caused by the burning of the Identical.
Now, the four Kings, when they had mastered their wits, gazed in silence on s.h.a.gpat, and sighed and shook their heads, and were as they that have swallowed a potent draught and ponder sagely over the gulp. Surely, the visages of the Kings of Shiraz and of Gaf and of Oolb betokened dread of s.h.a.gpat and amazement at him; but the King of the City exulted, and the shining of content was on his countenance, and he cried, "Wondrous!" and again, "Wullahy, wondrous!" and "Oh, glory!" And he laughed and clucked and chuckled, and the triumph of s.h.a.gpat was to him as a new jewel in his crown outshining all others, and he was for awhile as the c.o.c.k smitten with the pride of his comb, the peac.o.c.k magnified by admiration of his tail. Then he cried, "For this, praise we Allah and the Prophet. Wullahy, "twas wondrous!" and he went off again into a roll of cluckings and chucklings and exclamations of delight, crying, "Need they further proof of the power in s.h.a.gpat now? Has he not manifested it? So true is that saying--
"The friend that flattereth weakeneth at length; It is the foe that calleth forth our strength."
Wondrous! and never knew earth a thing to equal it in the range of marvels!"
Now, ere the last word was spoken by the King, there pa.s.sed through the sky a mighty flash. Those in the Hall saw it, and the hors.e.m.e.n of the three cities encamped without the walls were nigh blinded by the keenness of its blaze. So they looked into the height, and saw straight over the City a speck of cloud, but no thunder came from it; and the King cried, "These be Genii! the issue of this miracle is yet to come! look for it, and exult." Then he turned to the other Kings, but they were leaning to right and left in their seats, as do the intoxicated, without strength to answer his questioning. So he exclaimed, "A curse on my head! have I forgotten the laws of hospitality? my cousins are famished!" He was giving orders for the spreading of a sumptuous banquet when there pa.s.sed through the sky another mighty flash. They awaited the thunder this time confidently, yet none came. Suddenly the King exclaimed, ""Tis the wrath of s.h.a.gpat that his a.s.sailants remain uncastigated!" Then cried he to the eunuchs of the guard, "Hither with Feshnavat, the son of Feil!" And the King said to Feshnavat, "Thou plotter! envious of s.h.a.gpat!" Here the King, Kresnuk, fell forward at the feet of s.h.a.gpat from sheer inanition, and the King of the City ordered instantly wines and viands to be brought into the Hall, and commenced saying to Feshnavat, in the words of the wise entablature:
""Of reckless mercy thus the Sage declared: More culpable the sparer than the spared; For he that breaks one law, breaks one alone: But who thwarts Justice flouts Law"s sovereign throne."
And have I not been over-merciful in thy case?"
As the King was haranguing Feshnavat, his nostril took in the steam of the viands and the fresh odours of the wines, and he could delay no longer to satisfy his craving, but caught up the goblet, and drank from it till his visage streamed the tears of contentment. Lo, while he put forth his hand tremblingly, as to continue the words of his condemnation of the Vizier, the heavens were severed by a third flash, one exceeding in fierceness the other flashes; and now the Great Hall rocked, and the pillars and thrones trembled, and the eyes of s.h.a.gpat opened. He made no motion, but sat like a wonder of stone, looking before him. Surely, Kadza shrieked, and rushed forward to him from the crowd, yet he said nothing, and was as one frozen. So the King cried, "He waketh! the flashes preceded his wakening! Now shall he see the vengeance of kings on his enemies." Thereupon he made a signal, and the scimitars of the guard were in air over the head of Feshnavat, when darkness as of the dropping of night fell upon all, and the darkness spake, saying, "I am Abarak of the Bar, preceder of the Event!"
Then it was light, but the ears of every soul present were pierced with the wailing of wild animals, and on all sides from the Desert hundreds of them were seen making toward the City, some swiftly, others at a heavy pace; and when they were come near they crouched and fawned, and dropped their dry tongues as in awe. There was the serpent, meek as before the days of sin, and the leopard slinking to get among the legs of men, and the lion came trundling along in utter flabbiness, raising not his head.
Soon the streets were thronged with elephants and lions and sullen tigers, and wild cats and wolves, not a tail erect among them: great was the marvel! So the King cried, "We "re in the thick of wonders; banquet we lightly while they increase upon us! What"s yonder little man?" This was Abarak that stood before the King, and exclaimed, "I am the darkness that announceth the mastery of the Event, as a shadow before the sun"s approach, and it is the Shaving of s.h.a.gpat!" The world darkened before the eyes of the King when he heard this, and in a moment Abarak was clutched by the soldiers of the guard, and dragged beside Feshnavat to await the final blow; and this would have parted two heads from two bodies at one stroke, but now Noorna bin Noorka entered the hall, veiled and in the bright garb of a bride, with veiled attendants about her, and the people opened to give her pa.s.sage to the throne of the King. So she said, "Delay the stroke yet awhile, O Head of the Magnanimous! I am she claimed by s.h.a.gpat; surely, I am bride of him that is Master of the Event, and the hour of bridals is the hour of clemency."
The King looked at s.h.a.gpat, perplexed; but the eye of s.h.a.gpat gazed as into the distance of another world. Then said he, "We shall hear nought from the mouth of s.h.a.gpat till he is avenged, and till then he is silent with exceeding wrath." Hearing this, Noorna ran quickly to a window of the Hall, and let loose a white dove from her bosom.
Then came there that flash which is recorded in old traditions as the fourth of the flashes of thunderless lightnings, after the pa.s.sing of which, hundreds of fakirs that had been awaiting it saw nothing further on this earth. Down through the Hall it swept; and lo! when the Kings and the people recovered their sight to regard s.h.a.gpat, he was, one side of him, clean shorn, the shaven side shining as the very moon!
Surely from that moment there was no longer aught mortal in the combat that ensued. For now, while amazement and horror palsied all present, the Genie Karaz, uttering a howl of fury, shot down the length of the Hall like a black storm-bolt, and caught up s.h.a.gpat, and whirled off with him into the air; and they beheld him dive and dodge the lightnings that beset him from upper heaven, catching s.h.a.gpat from them, now by the heels, now by the hair remaining one side his head. This lasted a full hour, when the Genie paused a second, and made a sheer descent into the earth. Then saw they the wings of Koorookh, each a league in length, overshadow the entire land, and on the neck of the bird sat Shibli Bagarag cleaving through the earth with his blade, and he sat on Koorookh as the moon sits on the midnight. There was no light save the light shed abroad by the flashes of the blade, and in these they beheld the air suffocated with Afrites and Genii in a red and brown and white heat, followers of Karaz. Strokes of the blade clove them, and their blood was fire that flowed over the feathers of Koorookh, lighting him in a conflagration; but the bird flew constantly to a fountain of earth below and extinguished it. Then the battle recommenced, and the solid earth yawned at the gashes made by the mighty blade, and its depths revealed how Karaz was flying with s.h.a.gpat from circle to circle of the under-regions, hurrying with him downward to the lowest circle, that was flaming to points, like the hair of vast heads. Presently they saw a wondrous quivering flash divide the Genie, and his heels and head fell together in the abysses, leaving s.h.a.gpat p.r.o.ne on great brasiers of penal flame. Then the blade made another hissing sweep over s.h.a.gpat, leaving little of the wondrous growths on him save a topknot.
But now was the hour struck when Rabesqurat could be held no longer serving the ferry in Aklis; and the terrible Queen streamed in the sky, like a red disastrous comet, and dived, eagle-like, into the depths, re-ascending with s.h.a.gpat in her arms, cherishing him; and lo, there were suddenly a thousand s.h.a.gpats multiplied about, and the hand of Shibli Bagarag became exhausted with hewing at them. The scornful laugh of the Queen was heard throughout earth as she triumphed over Shibli Bagarag with hundreds of s.h.a.gpats, Illusions; and he knew not where to strike at the s.h.a.gpat, and was losing all sleight of hand, dexterity, and cunning.
Noorna shrieked, thinking him lost; but Abarak seized his bar, and leaning it in the direction of Aklis, blew a pellet from it that struck on the eye of Aklis, and this sent out a stretching finger of beams, and singled forth very s.h.a.gpat from the myriads of semblances, so that he glowed and was ruddy, the rest cowering pale, and dissolving like salt-grains in water.
Then saw earth and its inhabitants how the Genie Karaz re-ascended in the shape of a vulture with a fire beak, pecking at the eyes of him that wielded the Sword, so that he was bewildered and shook this way and that over the neck of Koorookh, striking wildly, languidly cleaving towers and palaces, and monuments of earth underneath him. Now, Shibli Bagarag discerned his danger, and considered, "The power of the Sword is to sever brains and thoughts. Great is Allah! I"ll seek my advantage in that."
So he whirled Koorookh thrice in the crimson smoke of the atmosphere, and put the blade between the first and second thought in the head of Rabesqurat, whereby the sense of the combat became immediately confused in her mind, and she used her powers as the fool does, equally against all, for the sake of mischief solely--no longer mistress of her own Illusions; and she began doubling and trebling Shibli Bagarag on the neck of monstrous birds, speeding in draggled flightiness from one point of the sky to another. Even in the terror of the combat, Shibli Bagarag was fair to burst into a fit of violent laughter at the sight of the Queen wagging her neck loosely, perking it like a mad raven; and he took heart, and swept the blade rapidly over s.h.a.gpat as she dandled him, leaving s.h.a.gpat but one hair remaining on him; yet was that the Identical; and it arose, and was a serpent in his head, and from its jaws issued a river of fiery serpents: these and a host of Afrites besieged Shibli Bagarag; and now, to defend himself, he unloosed the twin Genii, Karavejis and Veejravoosh, from the wrist of that hand which wielded the Sword of Aklis, and these alternately interwound before and about him, and were even as a glittering armour of emerald plates, warding from him the a.s.saults of the host; and lo! he flew, and the battle followed him over blazing cities and lands on fire with the slanting hail of sparkles.
By this time every soul in the City of s.h.a.gpat, kings and people, all save Abarak and Noorna bin Noorka, were overcome and prostrate with their faces to the ground; but Noorna watched the conflict eagerly, and saw the head of s.h.a.gpat sprouting incessant fresh crops of hair, despite the pertinacious shearing of her betrothed. Then she smote her hands, and cried, "Yea! though I lose my beauty and the love of my betrothed, I must join in this, or he"ll be lost." So, saying to Abarak, "Watch over me,"
she went into the air, and, as she pa.s.sed Rabesqurat, was multiplied into twenty damsels of loveliness. Then Abarak beheld a scorpion following the twenty in mid-air, and darting stings among them. Noorna tossed a ring, and it fell in a circle of flame round the scorpion. So, while the scorpion was shooting in squares to escape from the circle, the fire-beaked vulture flew to it, and fluttered a dense rain which swallowed the flame, and the scorpion and vulture a.s.sailed Noorna, that was changed to a golden hawk in the midst of nineteen other golden hawks.
Now, as Rabesqurat came scudding by, and saw the encounter, she made the twenty hawks a hundred. The Genie Karaz howled at her, and pinioned her to a pillar below in the Desert, with s.h.a.gpat in her arms. But, as he soared aloft to renew the fight with Noorna, Shibli Bagarag loosed to her aid the Slaves of the Sword, and Abarak marked him slope to a distant corner of earth, and reascend in a cloud, which drew swiftly over the land toward the Great Hall. Lo, Shibli Bagarag stepped from it through a cas.e.m.e.nt of the Hall, and with him s.h.a.gpat, a slack weight, mated out of all power of motion. Koorookh swooped low, on his back Baba Mustapha, and Shibli Bagarag flung Abarak beside him on the bird. Then Koorookh whirred off with them; and while the heavens raged, Shibli Bagarag prepared a rapid lather, and dashed it over s.h.a.gpat, and commenced shearing him with lightning sweeps of the blade. "Twas as a racing wheel of fire to see him! Suddenly he desisted, and wiped the sweat from his face. Then calling on the name of Allah, he gave a last keen cunning sweep with the blade, and following that, the earth awfully quaked and groaned, as if speaking in the abysmal tongue the Mastery of the Event to all men. Aklis was revealed in burning beams as of a sun, and the trouble of the air ceased, vapours slowly curling to the four quarters. Shibli Bagarag had smitten clean through the Identical! Terribly had Noorna and those that aided her been oppressed by the mult.i.tude of their enemies; but, in a moment these melted away, and Karaz, together with the scorpion that was Goorelka, vanished. Day was on the baldness of s.h.a.gpat.
CONCLUSION
So was shaved s.h.a.gpat, the son of Shimpoor, the son of Shoolpi, the son of Shullum, by Shibli Bagarag, of Shiraz, according to preordainment.
The chronicles relate, that no sooner had he mastered the Event, than men on the instant perceived what illusion had beguiled them, and, in the words of the poet,--
The blush with which their folly they confess Is the first prize of his supreme success.
Even Bootlbac, the drum-beater, drummed in homage to him, and the four Kings were they that were loudest in their revilings of the spouse of Kadza, and most obsequious in praises of the Master. The King of the City was fain to propitiate his people by a voluntary resignation of his throne to Shibli Bagarag, and that King took well to heart the wisdom of the sage, when he says:
Power, on Illusion based, o"ertoppeth all; The more disastrous is its certain fall!
Surely Shibli Bagarag returned the Sword to the Sons of Aklis, flashing it in midnight air, and they, with the others, did reverence to his achievement. They were now released from the toil of sharpening the Sword a half-cycle of years, to wander in delight on the fair surface of the flowery earth, breathing its roses, wooing its brides; for the mastery of an Event lasteth among men the s.p.a.ce of one cycle of years, and after that a fresh Illusion springeth to befool mankind, and the Seven must expend the concluding half-cycle in preparing the edge of the Sword for a new mastery. As the poet declareth in his scorn:
Some doubt Eternity: from life begun, Has folly ceased within them, sire to son?
So, ever fresh Illusions will arise And lord creation, until men are wise.
And he adds:
That is a distant period; so prepare To fight the false, O youths, and never spare!
For who would live in chronicles renowned Must combat folly, or as fool be crowned.
Now, for the Kings of Shiraz and of Gaf, Shibli Bagarag entertained them in honour; but the King of Oolb he disgraced and stripped of his robes, to invest Baba Mustapha in those royal emblems--a punishment to the treachery of the King of Oolb, as is said by Aboo Eznol:
When nations with opposing forces, rash, Shatter each other, thou that wouldst have stood Apart to profit by the monstrous feud, Thou art the surest victim of the crash.
Take colours of whichever side thou wilt, And stedfastly thyself in battle range; Yet, having taken, shouldst thou dare to change, Suspicion hunts thee as a thing of guilt.
Baba Mustapha, was p.r.o.nounced Sovereign of Oolb, amid the acclamations of the guard encamped under the command of Ravaloke, without the walls.
No less did Shibli Bagarag honour the benefactor of Noorna, making him chief of his armies; and he, with his own hand, bestowed on the good old warrior the dress of honour presented to him by the Seven Sons, charactered with all the mysteries of Aklis, a marvel lost to men in the failure to master the Illusion now dominating earth.
So, then, of all that had worshipped s.h.a.gpat, only Kadza clung to him, and she departed with him into the realms of Rabesqurat, who reigned there, divided against herself by the stroke of the Sword. The Queen is no longer mighty, for the widening of her power has weakened it, she being now the mistress of the single-thoughted, and them that follow one idea to the exclusion of a second. The failure in the unveiling of her last-cherished Illusion was in the succ.u.mbing frailty of him that undertook the task, the world and its wise men having come to the belief that in thwackings there was ignominy to the soul of man, and a tarnish on the l.u.s.tre of heroes. On that score, hear the words of the poet, a vain protest:
Ye that nourish hopes of fame!
Ye who would be known in song!
Ponder old history, and duly frame Your souls to meek acceptance of the thong.
Lo! of hundreds who aspire, Eighties perish-nineties tire!
They who bear up, in spite of wrecks and wracks, Were season "d by celestial hail of thwacks.
Fortune in this mortal race Builds on thwackings for its base; Thus the All-Wise doth make a flail a staff, And separates his heavenly corn from chaff.
Think ye, had he never known Noorna a belabouring crone, Shibli Bagarag would have shaved s.h.a.gpat The unthwack"d lives in chronicle a rat!
"Tis the thwacking in this den Maketh lions of true men!
So are we nerved to break the clinging mesh Which tames the n.o.blest efforts of poor flesh.