The Arabian Nights Entertainments - Anonymous (best novels to read in english .TXT) 📗

came. I entertained him very kindly, and asked him how his mistress did? You are, said he, the happiest lover in the world; she is quite sick of love for you; she covets extremely to see you; and were she mistress of her own conduct, would not fail to come to you, and willingly pass every moment of her life in your company. Her noble mien and graceful carriage, said I, evinced that she was a lady beyond the common level. The judgement you have formed upon that head, said the eunuch, is very just; she is the favourite of Zobeide, the caliph's lady, who has brought her up from her infancy, and intrusts her with all her affairs. Having a mind to marry, she has declared to Zobeide that she has cast her eyes upon you, and desired her consent. Zobeide told her she agreed to it, only she had a mind to see you first, in order to judge whether she had made a good choice: if she had, Zobeide meant to defray the charges of the wedding. Thus you see your felicity is certain; since you have pleased the favourite, you will be equally agreeable to the mistress, who seeks only to oblige her favourite, and would by no means thwart her inclination. In fine, all you have to do is to come to the palace. I am sent hither to call you, so you will please to come to a resolution. My resolution is formed already, said I; and I am ready to follow you whithersoever you please to conduct me. Very well, said the eunuch; but you know that men are not allowed to enter the ladies' apartments in the palace, and so you must be introduced with great secrecy: the favourite lady has contrived the matter very well. Upon your side you are to act your part very discreetly; for if you do not, your life is at stake.

I gave him repeated assurances of a punctual performance of whatever should be enjoined me. Then, said he, in the evening you must be at the mosque built by the caliph's lady on the banks of the Tigris, and stay there till one comes to call you, I agreed to what he proposed; and, after passing the day in great impatience, went in the evening to the prayer that is said in an hour and an half after sunset in the mosque, and there I staid after the people were gone. Immediately I saw a boat making up to the mosque, the rowers of which were all eunuchs, who came on shore, and put several large trunks into the mosque, and then retired; only one of them remained, whom I perceived to be the same eunuch that had all along accompanied the lady, and had been with me that morning. About the same time, I saw the lady enter the mosque; and, making up to her, told her I was ready to obey her orders. Come, said she, we have no time to lose. With that she opened one of the trunks, and bid me get into it, that being necessary both for her safety and mine. Fear nothing, added she; leave the management of the rest to me. I considered that I had gone too far to look back, and so obeyed her orders; upon which she locked the trunk. This done, the eunuch who was her confident, called the other eunuchs who had brought in the trunks, and ordered them to carry them on board again; after which the lady and eunuch re-embarked, and the boatmen rowed to Zobeide's apartment. In the mean time, I reflected very seriously upon the danger to which I had exposed myself, and made vows and prayers, though it was then too late. The boat put into the palace-gate, and the trunks were carried into the apartment of the officer of the eunuchs, who keeps the key of the ladies' apartments, and suffers nothing to enter without a narrow inspection. The officer was then in bed, consequently there was a necessity for calling him. He was angry that they should break his rest, and chid the favourite lady severely for coming home so late: You shall not come off so easily as you think; for, said he, not one of these trunks shall pass till I have opened every one of them. He then commanded the eunuchs to bring them before him, and open them one by one. The first they began with was that in which I lay; so that I was in the last degree of consternation.

The favourite lady, who had the key of the trunk, protested it should not be opened. You know very well, said she, I bring nothing hither but what is to serve Zobeide, your mistress and mine. This trunk, continued she, is filled with rich goods I had from some merchants lately arrived, besides a number of bottles of Zemzem water [Footnote: There is a fountain at Mecca, which, according to the Mahometans, is a spring that God showed to Hagar after Abraham was obliged to put her away. The water of this spring is drank by way of devotion, and is sent in presents to the princes and princesses.] sent from Mecca; if any of these should happen to break, the goods will be spoiled, and you must answer for them. Zobeide will take care, I warrant you, to resent your insolence. In fine, she stood up so tight to the matter, that the officer did not dare to take upon him to open any of the trunks. Let me go then, said he, carry them off. Immediately the lady's apartment was opened, and the trunks were carried in. They were scarcely got in, when all of a sudden I heard a cry, Here is the caliph, here comes the caliph. This put me in such a fright, that I wonder I did not die upon the spot, for it was actually the caliph. What hast thou got in these trunks? said he to the favourite. Some stuffs, said she, lately arrived, which your majesty's lady had a mind to see. Open them, cried he, and let me see them too. She pretended to excuse herself, alleging that the stuffs were only proper for ladies, and that by opening them his lady would be deprived of the pleasure of seeing them first. I say, open them, cried the caliph; I have a mind to see them, and shall see them. She still represented that her mistress would be angry with her if she opened them. No, no, said he, I will engage she shall not say a word to you for so doing; come, open them, I cannot stop. There was a necessity of obeying, which gave me such shocking alarms, that I trembled every time I thought on it. Down sat the caliph; and the favourite ordered all the trunks to be brought before him, one after another. Then she opened them; and, to spin out the time, showed all the beauties of each particular stuff, thinking thereby to tire out his patience; but her stratagem did not take. Being as loath as I to have the trunk where I lay open, she left that till the last. So when all the rest were viewed, Come, says the caliph, make an end; let us see what is in that one. I am at a loss to tell you whether I was dead or alive at that moment, for I little thought of escaping so great a danger.

When Zobeide's favourite saw that the caliph would needs have the trunk opened where I lay, As for this trunk, says she, your majesty will please to dispense with the opening of it; there are some things in it which I cannot show you unless your lady be by. Well, well, says the caliph, since it is so, I am satisfied; order the trunks to be carried away. The word was no sooner spoken, than the trunks were removed into her chamber, where I began to come to life again.

As soon as the eunuchs who had brought them were gone, she presently opened the trunk where I was prisoner. Come out, said she, go up these stairs that lead to an upper room, and stay there till I come. The door which led to the stairs she locked after I was in; and that was no sooner done than the caliph came and clapped him down upon the very trunk wherein I had been. The occasion of this visit was a motion of curiosity that did not respect me. He had a mind to discourse the lady about what she had seen or heard in the city. So they discoursed together a pretty while, after which he left her, and retired to his apartment. When she found the coast clear, she came to the chamber where I was, and made many apologies for the alarms she had given me. My uneasiness, said she, was no less than yours; you cannot well doubt of that, since I have run the same risk from love to you; perhaps another would not have had the presence of mind to manage matters so dexterously upon so tender an occasion; nothing less than the love I had for you could have inspired me with courage to do it. But come, take heart, now the danger is over. After some tender discourse between us, she told me it was time to go to bed, and that she would not fail to introduce me to Zobeide, her mistress, to-morrow, some hour of the day; for the caliph never sees her, added she, but at nights. Heartened by these words, I slept very well; or at least, whatever interruptions happened were agreeable disquietings, caused by the hopes of enjoying a lady blessed with such sparkling wit and beauty.

The next day, before I was introduced to Zobeide, her favourite instructed me how to behave, naming nearly the same questions as she put to me, and dictating the answers I was to give. This done, she carried me into a very magnificent and richly furnished hall: I had no sooner entered, than twenty female slaves, in rich and uniform habits, came out of Zobeide's apartment, and placed themselves very modestly before the throne in two equal rows: they were followed by twenty other ladies who looked younger, and were clothed after the same manner, though their habits appeared somewhat gayer. In the middle of these appeared Zobeide, with a majestic air, and so loaded with jewels, that she could scarcely walk. Zobeide then went and sat down on the throne, and the favourite lady, who had accompanied her, just by her, on her right hand; the other ladies being placed at some distance on each side of the throne.

The caliph's lady having sat down, the slaves who came in first made a sign for me to approach: I advanced between the rows they had formed, and prostrated myself upon the tapestry under the princess's feet. She ordered me to rise, and did me the honour to ask my name, my family, and the condition of my fortune; to all which I gave her satisfactory answers, as I perceived not only by her countenance, but by her words. I am very glad, said she, that my daughter (so she used to call the favourite lady, looking upon her as such, after the care she had taken of her education) has made a choice that pleases me; I approve of it, and give consent to your marriage: I shall give orders myself for what is to be done in solemnizing it, but I wish her to stay ten davs with me before the solemnity; and in that time I will speak to the caliph, and obtain his consent; mean while do you stay here, you shall be taken care of. Accordingly I staid ten days in the ladies' apartments, and during that time was deprived of the pleasure of seeing the favourite lady; but was so well used, by her orders, that I had no reason to be dissatisfied.

Zobeide told the caliph her resolution of marrying the favourite lady; and he, leaving to her the liberty of doing upon that head as she pleased, granted the favourite a considerable sum to help her fortune. When the ten days were expired, Zobeide ordered the contract of marriage to be drawn up; and the necessary preparations being made for the solemnity, the dancers, (both men and women) were called in, and rejoicings continued in the palace nine days. The tenth day being appointed for the last ceremony of the marriage, the favourite lady was conducted to a bath, and I to another. At night I sat down at table, and had all manner of rarities served up to me, and, among other things ragoo with garlic, such as you have now forced me to eat of. This ragoo I liked