Edmund Dulac

“ Will you grace it with your presence?" "Yes, O Commander of the Faithful," cried they all, laughing merrily and clapping their hands, for they thought him a perfect impersonator; "we will come to thee." "On the head and the eye?" "Yea, O King, on the head and the eye is our promise given." At this the Khalifeh turned to his two officials. "O Vizier," he said, "I call thee to witness; and thee also, O Mesrur." And they answered smiling, for they liked the pretence of his pretence, "King of the Age, we hear and obey." ”

“ Wilt thou still commit the crime of unfaithfulness with thine eye?" And, raising the sword again, he cut off her head.
"O man," he said, turning to me, "it is lawful for one, having known his wife for twenty-five years, to kill her for the crime of unfaithfulness. As for thee, I will not permit thee to join her. I will not take thy life, but, as I am minded to punish thee, I will give thee thy choice as to whether thou wilt be changed into the form of a dog, or an ass, or an ape." ”

“ Take thy bow, and bury it again; and, as soon as thou shalt have done this, the sea will rise swiftly up the mountain sides, until it reaches the foot of the dome. Then, before thee, thou wilt perceive a man in a boat, with an oar in each hand—he being of metal also, but different from the horseman. Embark with him in his boat, and within ten days he will convey thee to a calm sea, and to a ship which will bear thee to thine own land. But beware, O Prince, lest in all these things thou utter the name of God, for, by so doing, thou wilt be in extreme peril. ”

“ Thou shalt be punished by the power of enchantment, and thou knowest not how to prevent it."
Immediately on these words, he stamped the floor with his foot, and the sides of the Palace rocked on their foundations, and fell together; but seizing me, he clove a way through the falling structure, and bore me aloft to a great height. Presently he set me down upon the summit of a high mountain, where he took up a handful of dust, and, having chanted some strange words over it, cast it upon me, crying, "Change thy form, O Man! Retain thy form, O Ape!" ”

“ With this, he seized me and bore me aloft through the roof of the house, and thence rapidly through the air into the forest, where he descended through the earth and placed me within the chamber of the palace from which I had fled. There, on the floor, laid the lady, bleeding from the wounds inflicted by the Efrite's torture. "Shameless woman!" cried he, standing over her; "here is thy lover: deny it not." She glanced at me, and answered him: "I have never set eyes on this man before." He appeared to take thought for a moment, and then he said: "Thou wilt swear that thou lovest not this man?" ”

“ When I descended from the roof, I found I was back in the Palace of the ten young men. When they beheld me, and saw that my eye was gone, they cried with one voice, "No welcome to thee, O curious one! Thou art now in like case with us, having been chastised for thine impertinent curiosity. For know that we have all opened that golden door and ridden that black horse, and that is why we do nightly penance for our foolishness." ”

“ Each of us having lost, not only an eye, but a throne—for know that we are kings, and the sons of kings—has been led hither by the same stars, to kneel at the feet of the Khalifeh Harun-er-Rashid and implore his aid in the restoration of our royal state. ”

“ No sooner had she entered the apartment than she hastily adjusted her veil. "Sire," said she, "why dost thou summon me thus into the presence of men?" "Nay, O my daughter," answered the King, "there is none here but myself, a eunuch, a slave, and this ape." Her ringers fastened her veil more closely as she replied, "O my father, this that thou callest an ape is no ape at all. Thou knowest I have the gift against enchantment, and I tell thee this is a man, the son of a king, and his name is Prince Eymar. He hath been transformed into this shape by a son of Iblis. ”

“ Nephew, thou hast lost a father, and one of thine eyes; and now, woe is me! I have lost a brother, and an only son."
On witnessing his terrible grief I could no longer remain silent regarding the disappearance of my cousin. I told him all. "By Allah!" he cried, joyfully. "Where is this tomb of which thou speakest?" "Alas! O my uncle," I replied; "I know not. I searched for it for many days, but could not find it." On this my uncle commanded a company of workmen to proceed to the burial place, and there, in our presence, they opened tomb after tomb. ”

“ Thus suddenly was I launched into a life of pure delight, and I dwelt among these rare and radiant damsels, their sole Lord and Master, in luxury and joy. Thus it continued for a whole year, with never a shadow of dulness in our days; but, on the first morning of the new year, they all came to me weeping, and bidding me farewell, as each in turn clung to me with the sadness of parting. "Wherefore this?" I cried. "Ye will break my heart if ye leave me." And one replied, "Nay, O master; we love thee most of any on earth, but we must leave thee for a time, and we fear to lose thee." ”

“ We will obey thy commands willingly and with joy." Then one of the Calenders added, "O Prince of the Faithful, we also hear and obey, with equal willingness and equal joy." "And as for me, O King," said the porter, "I, being a wag, and also a liar of some excellence, knew that indeed thou wert the Khalifeh of the Lord of All Creatures, but I was compelled to dissemble for fear of thine Executioner's sword. Thus I
Abu-I-Hasan awakens in the bed of the Khalifeh. ”

“ So I went my way dejected, and wandered as a mendicant, ever on and on towards Baghdad, the Abode of Peace, resolved to seek the Khalifeh of the Lord of all Creatures and set my case before him.
"Verily," exclaimed Harun-er-Rashid as the Third Royal Calender retired to his place, "this is the most astounding tale of all. Hear me now, all of you. These men have suffered greatly, but Fate hath no further trouble in store for them. By Allah! my armies are great, and I will restore each to his throne. ”

“ Yet the ways of God are inscrutable, and his will is fulfilled with thee and me. Depart, therefore, O my son, in peace; and think not that I bear thee malice."
So I went out from his presence, and shaved my beard, and left the City. And thus through many regions have I travelled to gain the Abode of Peace, and lay my case before thee, O Prince of the Faithful. ”

“ This, I soon discovered, was attached to a trap door, which, with some difficulty, I removed. Then, seeing before me a staircase, I descended until I reached a door, by which, on opening it, I found admittance to a large underground palace, richly furnished. On wandering through the rooms of this place, I came at length to one more richly decorated than all the others; and here, reclining upon a couch, was a lady of surpassing loveliness. The rarity of her charms dazzled me and took my breath away, so that I stood speechless before her. "Art thou a man?" ”

“ Nay, O Mesrur," he added, turning to his Executioner, "I want not his head without the rest of him. He shall be my wag." "O King of the Age," answered the Grand Vizier, "I hear, and obey." Meanwhile, the porter continued to amuse them, but at length he became so intoxicated that his efforts to amuse were unsuccessful, whereat the entertainment flagged. "It seems to me," said the Khalifeh, "that these three ladies are no ordinary persons; perchance they have a history. Ask them to entertain us with their various stories." ”

“ But I was not content with this answer, and continued to entreat them to tell me the reason of their actions, and also the cause of each having lost an eye. "Nay, be silent," said another; "what the mind doth not know, the heart doth not grieve." Yet I still pestered them with my questions, giving them no peace. At length they lost patience, and, after conversing together awhile, one of them said to me: "O young man, if thou dost above all things desire to know the cause of these things, submit thyself to our hands, and thou shalt learn." And I answered, "I desire nothing more than to know;" ”

“ I remained undiscovered, and when we reached the vessel's side, I leapt on board, and hid myself. But alas! I was soon observed, and not being able to explain my position there, knew not what my end would be. Moreover, the merchants who found me clamoured that I should be cast into the sea to drown, for they said, "This ugly brute will be unlucky to us, and, if he remain on the ship, we shall meet with some grievous misfortune." ”

“ Then, turning my head, I saw the ground open, and there rose into the room an Efrite of terrible aspect, who looked threateningly at the woman, and demanded to know the cause of his being summoned in such a manner. "Nay, it was naught," said she, "save that I tripped and fell against the panel, breaking it as thou seest." "Thou liest!" he cried, in a voice of rage, and, as he said it, his eyes, rolling round in his head, fell upon my sandals and my axe, which in my haste I had left. "Ha!" he exclaimed, snatching them up, "some man hath visited thee, and hath left his axe and his sandals. ”

“ Meanwhile, we sailed many days upon the sea, until at last we reached a great City built upon the side of a mountain. The houses of this City were numberless, and the inhabitants thereof beyond all reckoning. Scarcely had we cast anchor, and set foot on land, when there came to us some high officials of the King of that City, with many greetings and congratulations on our fortunate journey. "Our King hath seen thy vessel drawing near," said one of them to the master, "and he bade me say to thee: 'Thine is a large vessel, and no doubt there are many passengers on board. ”

“ To-day we must go, and we fear that, before we return, thou wilt disregard our directions, in which case thou wilt be lost to us. Here are the keys, a hundred in number, which will unlock a hundred doors for thee, admitting to gardens of various kinds, in which thou wilt find a hundred different delights; but we do entreat thee, open not the door which is fashioned of pure gold, for if thou dost, we shall never see thee again, and that is what we fear. ”

“ Then they invited me into the palace, and one of them said: "Be welcome, O brother, but see to it that thou ask us not respecting our condition, nor yet how it is we each lack an eye." Presently the old man brought food and wine, and we ate and drank together, conversing on many things until it was time to sleep. Then one of them called to the old man to bring the materials for penance, and he arose and placed before each a basin full of ashes and powdered charcoal. ”

“ Anon, the eagle changed to a huge black cat, and the vulture, changing to a wolf, fought with it, until at last the cat, finding itself well-nigh vanquished, assumed the form of a pomegranate, and rolled into a pool at one side of the circle. When the wolf dashed in after it, the pomegranate rose up into the air and burst, its grains being scattered over the floor. Quick as lightning, the wolf changed into a cock, which began picking up the grains. ”

“ When he had harboured me for some days, the tailor desired to know if I had any trade by means of which I could earn my living. Whereat I informed him that I was learned in the arts and sciences, and a fine writer. "Alas!" he said, "there is no profit in such things. This is a city of commerce, where people devote themselves to getting money. Arise, therefore, O my son, and work for thy living."
He then fetched an axe and a coil of rope, and bade me go to the forest without the city and hew firewood, which, on my return in the evening, I might sell for a good price. ”

“ But lo, as I looked at him, I saw that he was in like case with me, having lost his left eye. I was about to question him on this, when a third mendicant came out of the night, and accosted us. "By Allah!" cried the two of us in a breath, "and thou too hast lost an eye!" "Verily," said he, "we are all strangers one to another, but the stars have enmeshed us in their network, and so have drawn us together with one purpose." "And that is?" we asked. "To seek audience of the Khalifeh," he answered ”

“ They are wandering Mendicants or Calenders."
At this, her sister turned to Ja'far. "Thou didst desire to hear our stories, O my master, but it seemeth that these Dervishes may have stories more interesting to hear. Shall we admit them?" The Khalifeh added his approval to that of Ja'far on this point, and the three Calenders were admitted. And strange looking men they were. Differing widely in feature and expression, they were all alike in the manner of their dress and general appearance. Each had lost one eye ”

“ On this, the officials who stood by could not restrain their laughter, so that the King was incensed at their behaviour, and was about to mark his displeasure by swift punishment when their chief advanced and explained the matter. "O King, didst thou only know
The Prince is taken back to the Golden Palace by the Magic
Black Horse. Page 197
why we laugh, thou wouldst laugh louder than any of us. We crave thy Felicity to pardon us, but this writing was done, not by any son of Adam, but by an ape, which belongeth to the master of the ship." "What?" ”

“ In this manner, on the evening of the second day, when a great number of tombs had been opened and closed again, we came upon what we soon discovered to be the right one. When the stones had been dislodged, my uncle descended the stairway, and I followed. On reaching the bottom, we were met by a blinding smoke. ”