Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night (Arabian Nights) Volume 09 — Night 925 - 926

When it was the Nine Hundred and Twenty-fifth Night, She pursued: It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the King blamed himself saying, "'Twas I that hearkened to you in mine ignorance and slew my Wazirs so that now I find none to stand in their stead, and unless Allah succour me with one of sound judgment, who shall guide me to that wherein is my deliverance, I am fallen into utter perdition."

Then he arose and withdrew into his bedchamber, bemoaning his Wazirs and wise men and saying, "Would Heaven those lions were with me at this time, though but for an hour; so I might excuse myself unto them and look on them and bemoan to them my case and the travail that hath betided me after them!"

And he abode all his day sunken in the sea of cark and care neither eating nor drinking.

But as soon as the night fell dark, he arose and changing his raiment, donned old clothes and disguised himself and went forth at a venture to walk about the city, so haply he might hear from any some word of comfort.

As he wandered about the main streets, behold, he chanced upon two boys who had sought a retired seat by a wall and he observed that they were equal in age, or about twelve years old.

As they talked together he drew near them whereas he might hear and apprehend what they said, unseen of them, and heard one say to the other, "Listen, O my brother, to what my sire told me yesternight of the calamity which hath betided him in the withering of his crops before their time, by reason of the rarity of rain and the sore sorrow that is fallen on this city."

Quoth the other, "Wottest thou not the cause of this affliction?"

; and quoth the first, "No!

and, if thou ken it, pray tell it me."

Rejoined the other, "Yes, I wot it and will tell it thee.

Know that I have heard from one of my father's friends that our King slew his Wazirs and Grandees, not for aught of offence done of them, but only by reason of his love for women and inclination to them; for that his Ministers forbade him from this, but he would not be forbidden and commanded to do them die in obedience to his wives.

Thus he slew Shimas my sire, who was his Wazir and the Wazir of his father before him and the chief of his council; but right soon thou shalt see how Allah will do with him by reason of his sins against them and how He shall avenge them of him."

The other boy asked, "What can Allah do now that they are dead?"

; and his fellow answered, "Know that the King of Outer Hind[FN#169] maketh light of our monarch, and hath sent him a letter berating him and saying to him, 'Build me a castle amiddlemost the sea, or I will send unto thee Badi'a my Wazir, with twelve hordes of horse, each twelve thousand strong, to seize upon thy kingdom and slay thy men and carry thee and thy women into captivity.'

And he hath given him three days' time to answer after the receipt of that missive.

Now thou must know, O my brother, that this King of Outer Hind is a masterful tyrant, a man of might and prowess in fight, and in his realm are much people; so unless our King make shift to fend him off from himself, he will fall into perdition, whilst the King of Hind, after slaying our Sovran, will seize on our possessions and massacre our men and make prize of our women."

When the King heard this their talk, his agitation increased and he inclined to the boys, saying, "Surely, this boy is a wizard, in that he is acquainted with this thing without learning it from me; for the letter is in my keeping and the secret also and none hath knowledge of such matter but myself.

How then knoweth this boy of it?

I will resort to him and talk with him and I pray Allah that our deliverance may be at his hand."

Hereupon the King approached the boy softly and said to him, "O thou dear boy, what is this thou sayest of our King, that he did ill of the evilest in slaying his Wazirs and the Chiefs of his State?

Indeed he sinned against himself and his subjects and thou art right in that which thou sayest.

But tell me, O my son, whence knowest thou that the King of Outer Hind hath written him a letter, berating him and bespeaking him with the grievous speech whereof thou tellest?"

The boy replied, "O brother, I know this from the sand[FN#170] wherewith I take compt of night and day and from the saying of the ancients, 'No mystery from Allah is hidden; for the sons of Adam have in them a spiritual virtue which discovereth to them the darkest secrets.'

" Answered Wird Khan, "True, O my son, but whence learnedest thou geomancy and thou young of years?"

Quoth the boy, "My father taught it me;"

and quoth the King, "Is thy father alive or dead?"

"He is dead," replied the boy.

Then Wird Khan asked, "Is there any resource or device for our King, whereby to ward off from himself and his kingdom this sore calamity?"

And the boy answered, saying, "It befitteth not that I speak with thee of this; but, an the King send for me and ask me how he shall do to baffle his foe and get free of his snares, I will acquaint him with that wherein, by the power of Allah Almighty, shall be his salvation."

Rejoined Wird Khan, "But who shall tell the King of this that he may send for thee and invite thee to him?"

The boy retorted, "I hear that he seeketh men of experience and good counsel, so I will go up with them to him and tell him that wherein shall be his welfare and the warding off of this affliction from him; but, an he neglect the pressing matter and busy himself with his love-liesse among his women and I go to him of my own accord designing to acquaint him with the means of deliverance, he will assuredly give orders to slay me, even as he slew those his Wazirs, and my courtesy to him will be the cause of my destruction.

Wherefore the folk will think slightly of me and belittle my wit and I shall be of those of whom it is said, 'He whose science excelleth his sense perisheth by his ignorance.'

" When the King heard the boy's words, he was assured of his sagacity, and the excellence of his merit was manifest and he was certified that deliverance would betide him and his subjects at the boy's hands.

So presently he resumed the colloquy and asked him, "Whence art thou and where is thy home?"

; and the boy answered, "This is the wall of our house."

The King took note of the place and farewelling the boy, returned to his palace in high spirits.

there he changed his clothes and called for meat and wine, forbidding his women from him; and he ate and drank and returned thanks to Allah the Most High and besought Him of succour and deliverance, and he craved His pardon and forgiveness for that which he had done with his Wazirs and Olema and turned to Him with sincere repentance, imposing on himself many a prayer and long fasting, by way of discipline-vow.

On the morrow, he called one of his confidential eunuchs and, describing to him the boy's home, bade him repair thither and bring him to his presence with all gentleness.

Accordingly the slave sought out the boy and said to him, "The King summoneth thee, that good may betide thee from him and that he may ask thee a question; then shalt thou return safe and sound to thy dwelling."

Asked the boy, "What is the King's need of me that he biddeth me to him on this wise?"

, and the eunuch answered, "My lord's occasion with thee is question and answer."

"A thousand times hearkening and a thousand times obeying the commandment of the King!"

replied the boy and accompanied the slave to the palace.

When he came into the presence, he prostrated himself before Allah and after salaming, called down blessings on the King who returned his salutation and bade him be seated.

--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.

When it was the Nine Hundred and Twenty-sixth Night, She resumed: It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the boy appeared before the King and saluted him with the salam, Wird Khan returned his salutation and bade him be seated.

So he sat down and the King asked him, "Knowest thou who talked with thee yesternight?"

Answered the boy, "Yes," and the King said, "And where is he?"

"'Tis he who speaketh with me at this present," said the boy.

Rejoined the King, "Thou sayst sooth, O friend," and bade set him a chair beside his own, whereon he made him sit and called for meat and drink.

Then they talked awhile and the King said, "Ho, thou the Wazir,[FN#171] in our talk yesternight thou toldest me that thou hadst a device whereby thou couldst defend us from the malice of the King of Hind.

What is this contrivance and how shall we manœuvre to ward off his mischief from us?

Tell me, that I may make thee chief of those who speak with me in the realm and choose thee to be my Grand Wazir and do according to thy judgment in all thou counsellest me and assign thee a splendid honorarium."

Answered the boy, "O King, keep thy honorarium to thyself and seek counsel and policy of thy women, who directed thee to slay my father Shimas and the rest of the Wazirs."

When the King heard this, he was ashamed and sighed and said, "O thou dear boy, was Shimas indeed thy sire?"

The boy replied, "Shimas was indeed my sire, and I am in truth his son."

Whereupon the King bowed his head, whilst the tears ran from his eyes, and he craved pardon of Allah.

Then said he, "O boy, indeed I did this of my ignorance and by the evil counsel of the women, for 'Great indeed is their malice'[FN#172]; but I beseech thee to forgive me and I will set thee in thy father's stead and make thy rank higher than his rank.

Moreover, an thou do away from us this retribution sent down from Heaven, I will deck thy neck with a collar of gold and mount thee on the goodliest of steeds and bid the crier make proclamation before thee, saying, 'This is the lief[FN#173] boy, the Wazir who sitteth in the second seat after the King!'

And touching what thou sayest of the women, I have it in mind to do vengeance on them at such time as Almighty Allah shall will it.

But tell me now what thou hast with thee of counsel and contrivance, that my heart may be content."

Quoth the boy, "Swear to me an oath that thou wilt not gainsay me in whatso I shall say to thee and that I from that which I fear shall be safe," and quoth the King, "This is the covenant of Allah between me and thee, that I will not go from thy word and that thou shalt be my chief counsellor and whatsoever thou biddest me, that will I do; and the Almighty Lord is witness betwixt us twain whatso I say."

Therewith the boy's breast waxed broad and the field of speech was opened to him wide and he said, "O King, my rede to thee is that thou await the expiration of the delay appointed to thee for answering the courier of the King of Hind, and when he cometh before thee seeking the reply, do thou put him off to another day.

With this he will excuse himself to thee, on the ground of his master having appointed him certain fixed days, and importune for an answer; but do thou rebut him and defer him to another day, without specifying what day it be.

Then will he go forth from thee an-angered and betake himself into the midst of the city and speak openly among the folk, saying, 'O people of the city, I am a courier of the King of Outer Hind, who is a monarch of great puissance and of determination such as softeneth iron.

He sent me with a letter to the King of this city appointing to me certain days, saying, 'An thou be not with me by the time appointed, my vengeance shall fall on thee.'

Now, behold, I went in to the King of this city and gave him the missive, which when he had read, he sought of me a delay of three days, after which he would return me an answer to the letter and I agreed to this of courtesy and consideration for him.

When the three days were past, I went to seek the reply of him, but he delayed me to another day; and now I have no patience to wait longer; so I am about to return to my lord, the King of Outer Hind, and acquaint him with that which hath befallen me; and ye, O folk, are witnesses between me and him.'

All this will be reported to thee and do thou send for him and speak him gently and say to him, 'O thou who seekest thine own ruin, what hath moved thee to blame us among our subjects?

Verily, thou deservest present death at our hands; but the ancients say, 'Clemency is of the attributes of nobility.'

Know that our delay in answering arose not from helplessness on our part, but from our much business and lack of leisure to look into thine affair and write a reply to thy King.'

Then call for the scroll and read it again and laugh loud and long and say to the courier, 'Hast thou a letter other than this?

If so, we will write thee an answer to that also.'

He will say, 'I have none other than this letter';

but do thou repeat thy question to him a second time and a third time, and he will reply, 'I have none other at all.'

Then say to him, 'Verily, this thy King is utterly witless in that he writeth us the like of this writ seeking to arouse our wrath against him, so that we shall go forth to him with our forces and domineer over his dominions and capture his kingdom.

But we will not punish him this time for his unmannerly manners as shown in this letter, because he is wanting in wit and feeble of foresight, and it beseemeth our dignity that we first warn him not to repeat the like of these childish extravagances; and if he risk his life by returning to the like of this, he will deserve speedy destruction.

Indeed, methinks this King of thine who sent thee on such errand must be an ignorant fool, taking no thought to the issue of things and having no Wazir of sense and good counsel, with whom he may advise.

Were he a man of mind, he had taken counsel with a Wazir, ere sending us the like of this laughable letter.

But he shall have a reply similar to his script and surpassing it, for I will give it to one of the boys of the school to answer.'

Then send for me and, when I come to the presence, bid me read the letter and reply thereto."

When the King heard the boy's speech, his breast broadened and he approved his proposal and his device delighted him.

So he conferred gifts upon him and installing him in his father's office, sent him away rejoicing.

And as soon as expired the three days of delay which he had appointed, the courier presented himself and going in to the King, demanded the answer; but he put him off to another day;

whereupon he went to the end of the carpet-room[FN#174] and spake with unseemly speech, even as the boy had foresaid.

Then he betook himself to the bazar and cried, "Ho, people of this city, I am a courier of the King of Outer Hind and came with a message to your monarch who still putteth me off from a reply.

Now the term is past which my master limited to me and your King hath no excuse, and ye are witnesses unto this."

When these words reached the King, he sent for that courier and said to him, "O thou that seeketh thine own ruin, art thou not the bearer of a letter from King to King, between whom are secrets, and how cometh it that thou goest forth among the folk and publishest Kings' secrets to the vulgar?

Verily, thou meritest retribution from us, but this we will forbare, for the sake of returning an answer by thee to this fool of a King of thine: and it befitteth not that any return to him reply but the least of the boys of the school."

Then he sent for the Wazir's son, who came and prostrating himself before Allah, offered up prayers for the King's lasting glory and long life; whereupon Wird Khan threw him the letter, saying, "Read that letter and write me an acknowledgment thereof in haste."

The boy took the letter and read it, smiled; then he laughed; then he laughed aloud and asked the King, "Didst thou send for me to answer this letter?"

"Yes," answered Wird Khan, and the boy said, "O King, methought thou hadst sent for me on some grave occasion; indeed, a lesser than I had answered this letter but 'tis thine to command, O puissant potentate."

Quoth the King, "Write the reply forthright, on account of the courier, for that he is appointed a term and we have delayed him another day."

Quoth the boy, "With the readiest hearkening and obedience," and pulling out paper and inkcase[FN#175] wrote as follows:--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.