Kemerezzeman

“ By Allah, O my lord, neither man nor woman has come in to thee!’ ‘Thou liest, O pestilent slave!’ exclaimed the prince. ‘Dost thou also presume to hoodwink me and wilt thou not tell me what is come of the young lady who lay with me last night and who took her away?’ The eunuch was affrighted at him and answered, ‘By Allah, O my lord, I have seen neither girl nor boy!’ His words only angered Kemerezzeman and he said to him, ‘O accursed one, my father hath taught thee deceit! ”

“ Meanwhile, Kemerezzeman passed the night in his lodging and on the morrow he took a hundred dinars and carried them to the old woman, the barber’s wife, who said to him, ‘Give them to thy father.’ So he gave them to the barber, and she said, ‘Hast thou done as I told thee?’ ‘Yes,’ answered he, and she said, ‘Go now to the jeweller and if he give thee the ring, put it on the top of thy finger and pull it off in haste and say to him, “O master, thou hast made a mistake; the ring is too strait.” He will say, “O merchant, shall I break it and make it again larger?” ”

“ Rather do thou send one of thine officers with them into the desert and let him kill them there, out of thy sight, for, as says the adage, “When the eye sees not, the heart grieves not.”’ Kemerezzeman saw his father-in-law’s words to be just, so he sheathed his sword and turning back, sat down upon his throne and called his treasurer, a very old man, versed in affairs and in the shifts of fortune, to whom he said, ‘Go in to my sons Amjed and Asaad; bind fast their hands behind them and lay them in two chests and set them on a mule. ”

“ Thy presence with me is my heaven of delight And my hell of
affliction the loss of thy sight.
My soul be thy ransom! If love be my crime For thee, my offence,
of a truth, is not light.
Doth passion blaze up in thy heart like to mine? I suffer the
torments of hell day and night.'
'O my father,' answered Kemerezzeman, 'God willing, I will lie but one night abroad.' Then he took leave of him, and he and Merzewan mounted and taking with them the dromedary and camel, rode out into the open country. ”

“ So he accepted her from him and said to Helimeh, ‘Kiss thy lord’s hand.’ Accordingly, she came out from the litter and kissing Ubeid’s hand, remounted, whilst he looked at her. Then said Kemerezzeman, ‘I commend thee to God, O Master Ubeid! Acquit me of responsibility.’ [32] ‘God acquit thee,’ answered the jeweller, ‘and bring thee in safety to thy family!’ Then he bade him farewell and went to his shop, weeping, and indeed it was grievous to him to part from Kemerezzeman, for that he had been his friend and friendship hath its claims ”

“ Kemerezzeman told him what his sons Amjed and Asaad had done and added, ‘I am now going in to them, to slay them on the foulest wise and make of them the most shameful of examples.’ ‘O my son,’ said King Armanous, (and indeed he too was wroth with them,) ‘thou dost well, and may God not bless them nor any sons that offend thus against their father’s honour! But, O my son, the proverb says, “Whoso looks not to the issues, Fortune is no friend to him.” ”

“ Then said the Vizier in himself, ‘I must save myself from this madman by telling him a lie, even as did the eunuch; else he will kill me, for he is mad beyond a doubt.’ So he said to Kemerezzeman, ‘O my lord, bear me not malice, for indeed thy father charged me to conceal from thee this affair of the young lady; but now I am weak and weary and sore with beating; for I am an old man and lack strength to endure blows. So have a little patience with me and I will tell thee all.’ When the prince heard this, he left beating him and said, ‘Why couldst thou not tell me without blows and humiliation? ”

“ If he be bearded, the mosquitoes trouble him not, and nought hinders them from me but my beard. It seems they love not bearded men.’ ‘True,’ rejoined Kemerezzeman. Then the maid brought them breakfast and they broke their fast and went out.
Kemerezzeman betook himself to the old woman, who exclaimed, when she saw him, ‘I see the marks of dalliance on thy face: tell me what thou hast seen.’ Quoth he, ‘I have seen nothing. ”

“ But no, I’ve committed no crime, that calleth for rigour from thee; Or, if in good sooth I’m at fault, I bring thee repentance therefor.
Of the marvels of Fortune it is that thou shouldst abandon me thus; But Fortune to bring to the light fresh marvels will never give o’er.
When he had made an end of these verses, Merzewan said to him, ‘See, yonder are King Ghaïour’s Islands.’ Whereat Kemerezzeman rejoiced with an exceeding joy and thanked him for what he had done and strained him to his bosom and kissed him between the eyes. ”

“ So let not thy beauty and grace delude thee; for, by Allah, if thou cure her not, I will assuredly cut off thy head!' 'I knew of this condition before I came hither,' answered Kemerezzeman, 'and am ready to abide by it.' Then King Ghaïour took the Cadis to witness against him and delivered him to an eunuch, saying, 'Carry this fellow to the lady Budour.' So the eunuch took him by the hand and led him along the gallery; but Kemerezzeman out-went him and pushed on before, whilst the eunuch ran after him, saying, 'Out on thee! Hasten not to destroy thyself. ”

“ They ate and drank and rested, and the princess Budour lay down to sleep. Presently, Kemerezzeman went in to her and found her lying asleep, in a shift of apricot-coloured silk, that showed all it should have covered, and a coif of cloth of gold embroidered with pearls and jewels. The breeze raised her shift and showed her breasts and navel and a belly whiter than snow, each one of whose dimples contained an ounce of benzoin ointment. ”

“ The King named him Kemerezzeman and rejoiced in him with exceeding joy and bade decorate the city in his honour. So they decorated the city seven days, whilst the drums beat and the messengers bore the glad tidings abroad. Meanwhile nurses and attendants were provided for the boy and he was reared in splendour and delight, until he reached the age of fifteen. He grew up of surpassing beauty and symmetry, and his father loved him very dear, so that he could not brook to be parted from him day or night. ”

“ Then do thou take with thee a pair of saddle-bags full of gold and mount a swift hackney and I will do the like; and we will take each a spare horse. Suffer not any servant to follow us, for as soon as we reach the open country, we will go our ways.' Kemerezzeman rejoiced mightily in this plan and said, 'It is good.' Then he took heart and going in to his father, sought his leave to go out to hunt, saying as Merzewan had taught him. The King consented and said, 'O my son, a thousandfold blessed be the day that restores thee to health! ”

“ As for Kemerezzeman, he was at a loss for the reason of all the honour and favour she showed him and gave gifts and largesse out of the abundance of the wealth he owed to her munificence, devoting himself in particular to the service of King Armanous, so that he and all the Amirs and people, great and small, loved him and were wont to swear by his life. Nevertheless, he ceased not to marvel at the favour shown him by Budour and said in himself, ‘By Allah, there must be a reason for this affection! ”

“ The cure of hearts is union with the beloved and whom his love maltreateth, God is his physician. If either of us have broken faith, may the false one fail of his desire! There is nought goodlier than a lover who is faithful to a cruel beloved one.' Then, for a subscription, he wrote, 'From the distracted and despairing lover, him whom love and longing disquiet, from the captive of passion and transport, Kemerezzeman, son of Shehriman, to the peerless beauty, the pearl of the fair Houris, the Lady Budour, daughter of King Ghaïour. ”

“ At break of day, the prince awoke from sleep and turned right and left, but found not the young lady by him and said in himself, 'What is this? It would seem as if my father would fain incline me to marriage with the young lady, that was with me, and have now taken her away by stealth, to the intent that my desire for marriage may redouble.' Then he called out to the eunuch who slept at the door, saying, 'Out on thee, O accursed one, arise forthright!' So the eunuch arose, dazed with sleep, and brought him basin and ewer, whereupon Kemerezzeman entered the draught-house and did his need ”

“ So he entered and Kemerezzeman knew him and told his father, who said, ‘O my son, leave him awhile: belike he is hungry; so let him eat his fill and recover himself, and after we will look to him.’ So they waited till Ubeid had eaten his fill and washed his hands and drunk coffee and sherbets of sugar flavoured with musk and ambergris and was about to go out, when Abdurrehman sent one after him, who said to him, ‘Come, O stranger, and speak with the merchant Abdurrehman.’ ‘Who is he?’ asked Ubeid ”

“ Night ccii.They entered the city and took up their lodging at a khan, where they rested three days from the fatigues of the journey; after which Merzewan carried Kemerezzeman to the bath and clothing him in a merchant’s habit, provided him with a geomantic tablet of gold, a set of astrological instruments and an astrolabe of silver, plated with gold. Then he said to him, ‘Go, O my lord, stand before the King’s palace and cry out, “I am the mathematician, I am the scribe, I am he that knows the Sought and the Seeker, I am the skilled physician, I am the accomplished astrologer. ”

“ After the fatal day of Nagy Szöllös, the faithful followers of John Kemeny fled to Hungary, and transferred their allegiance to Simon Kemeny, the son of the fallen Prince. But a sinking cause has few friends, and while the younger Kemeny's party rapidly diminished, Apafi's as rapidly increased. His victory had assured his position, and won for him all the great men of the land—the governors of the towns, the magnates, the commandants of the fortresses—in short, it was a race who should do him homage first, all the Estates of the Realm recognized him as Prince. ”

“ Thereupon (still faithful to his system) he re-concentrated his scattered forces, and prepared to march against the Turks, the Hungarian gentry being ready to a man to follow him. But John Kemeny was against a general advance, holding that if the Turkish contingent was strong enough to put his forces to flight, he would have Segesvar in his rear, and thus would be caught between two fires. ”

“ Then the grand vizier related to him the whole story of Prince Camaralzaman from its origin, and concealed nothing; his birth, his education, the inclination the king his father had to see him married early, his resistance and extraordinary aversion to marriage, his disobeying his father in full council, his imprisonment, his pretended extravagancies in prison, which were afterwards changed into a violent madness for a certain unknown lady, who, he pretended, had exchanged a ring with him; though, for his part, he verily believed there was no such person in the world. ”

“ The victorious king of the Birmans immediately entered Pegu, where he slew a vast multitude of the inhabitants, and recovered his treasure. Meanwhile the city of Martavan declared for Xemindoo, and massacred the garrison of 2000 Birmans. Zemin did the same in the city of Zatam where he commanded. The king marched towards him, but he contrived to have him murdered by the way; on which Zemin was proclaimed king by his followers, and soon raised an army of 30,000 men. Chaumigrem, brother to the dead king, plundered the palace and city, and then fled to Tangu where he was born. ”

“ Our travellers had arrived at Vitebsk, on the road to the Prussian frontier, when one morning Kempelen rushed into the room where Worousky was concealed.
“A frightful misfortune hangs over us,” the mechanician said, in a terrible state of alarm, and showing a letter dated St. Petersburg. “Heaven knows how we shall escape it! The Empress Catherine, having heard through the papers of the automaton’s wonderful talent, desires to play a game with it, and requests me to bring it straight to the imperial palace. We must hit on some plan to evade this dangerous honor.” ”

“ Kameneff listened to our conversation with some amusement. He told me afterwards that he liked “the tone.” I wonder whether he had expected me to be different.
I asked the Prince as a favour that Princess Margaret’s maid, Amy, might come out shopping with me. She came and fetched me, and was a tremendous help, as she knew where to take me, and did all the talking in Swedish.
I left her to collect my parcels, as it was nearly midday, got a taxi, and told him to drive to “The Palace.” He looked vague, and did not understand. I said: “Palace! Kronprinzen.” ”

“ Camytzes was there with the Turks, as a prisoner, and when he noticed the confusion that had arisen in the battle and saw that the Turks were now fleeing and our men pursuing, he, being a determined man, planned his escape and took to the road, and fell in with a Frank in full armour who gave him his horse. He found the Emperor encamped in the plain of the valley lying between Philadelphia and Acrocus which was large enough, not only for one, but for several armies. ”

“ We have, first and foremost, General Keim, Keim the invincible, Keim the insatiable, Keim of the Army-League, Keim the arch hater of England and of Russia and of France, Keim the jewel of the fighting Junker aristocracy of Prussia—the band of warriors who despise all common soldiers—“white slave” conscripts, and with them all civilians, who at the best are only potential common soldiers. “War, war, on both frontiers,” is Keim’s obsessing vision. War being inevitable and salutary, it cannot come too soon. The duty of hate, he urges on all the youth of Germany, maidens as well as men. ”