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Title: The Shaving of Shagpat, v2
Author: George Meredith
Release Date: September, 2003 [Etext #4402]
[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule]
[This file was first posted on December 21, 2001]
Edition: 10
Language: English
The Project Gutenberg Etext of The Shaving of Shagpat by Meredith, v2
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This etext was produced by Pat Castevans
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THE SHAVING OF SHAGPAT
By George Meredith
AN ARABIAN ENTERTAINMENT
1898/1909
BOOK 2.
THE BETROTHAL
THE PUNISHMENT OF SHAHPESH, THE PERSIAN, ON KHIPIL, THE BUILDER
THE GENIE KARAZ
THE WELL OF PARAVID
THE HORSE GARRAVEEN
THE TALKING HAWK
GOORELKA OF OOLB
THE BETROTHAL
Now, when Shibli Bagarag had ceased speaking, the Vizier smiled gravely,
and shook his beard with satisfaction, and said to the Eclipser of
Reason, 'What opinest thou of this nephew of the barber, O Noorna bin
Noorka?'
She answered, "O Feshnavat, my father, truly I am content with the
bargain of my betrothal. He, Wullahy, is a fair youth of flowing
speech.' Then she said, 'Ask thou him what he opineth of me, his
betrothed?"
So the Vizier put that interrogation to Shibli Bagarag, and the youth was
in perplexity; thinking, 'Is it possible to be joyful in the embrace of
one that hath brought thwackings upon us, serious blows?' Thinking, 'Yet
hath she, when the mood cometh, kindly looks; and I marked her eye
dwelling on me admiringly!' And he thought, 'Mayhap she that groweth
younger and counteth nature backwards, hath a history that would affect
me; or, it may be, my kisses--wah! I like not to give them, and it is
said,
"Love is wither'd by the withered lip";
and that,
"On bones become too prominent he'll trip."
Yet put the case, that my kisses--I shower them not, Allah the All-seeing
is my witness! and they be given daintily as 'twere to the leaf of a
nettle, or over-hot pilau. Yet haply kisses repeated might restore her
to a bloom, and it is certain youth is somehow stolen from her, if the
Vizier Feshnavat went before her, and his blood be her blood; and he is
powerful, she wise. I'll decide to act the part of a rejoicer,
and express of her opinions honeyed to the soul of that sex.'
Now, while he was thus debating he hung his head, and the Vizier awaited
his response, knitting his brows angrily at the delay, and at the last he
cried, 'What! no answer? how 's this? Shall thy like dare hold debate
when questioned of my like? And is my daughter Noorna bin Noorka,
thinkest thou, a slave-girl in the market,--thou haggling at her price,
O thou nephew of the barber?'
So Shibli Bagarag exclaimed, 'O exalted one, bestower of the bride!
surely I debated with myself but for appropriate terms; and I delayed to
select the metre of the verse fitting my thoughts of her, and my wondrous
good fortune, and the honour done me.'
Then the Vizier, 'Let us hear: we listen.'
And Shibli Bagarag was advised to deal with illustrations in his dilemma,
by-ways of expression, and spake in extemporaneous verse, and with a full
voice:
The pupils of the Sage for living Beauty sought;
And one a Vision clasped, and one a Model wrought.
'I have it!' each exclaimed, and rivalry arose:
'Paint me thy Maid of air!' 'Thy Grace of clay disclose.'
'What! limbs that cannot move!' 'What! lips that melt away!'
'Keep thou thy Maid of air!' 'Shroud up thy Grace of clay!'
'Twas thus, contending hot, they went before the Sage,
And knelt at the wise wells of cold ascetic age.
'The fairest of the twain, O father, thou record':
He answered, 'Fairest she who's likest to her lord.'
Said they, 'What fairer thing matched with them might prevail?'
The Sage austerely smiled, and said, 'Yon monkey's tail.'
'Tis left for after-time his wisdom to declare:
That's loveliest we best love, and to ourselves compare.
Yet lovelier than all hands shape or fancies build,
The meanest thing of earth God with his fire hath filled.
Now, when Shibli Bagarag ceased, Noorna bin Noorka cried, 'Enough, O
wondrous turner of verse, thou that art honest!' And she laughed loudly,
rustling like a bag of shavings, and rolling in her laughter.
Then said she, 'O my betrothed, is not the thing thou wouldst say no
other than--
"Each to his mind doth the fairest enfold,
For broken long since was Beauty's mould";
and, "Thou that art old, withered, I cannot flatter thee, as I can in no
way pay compliments to the monkey's tail of high design; nevertheless the
Sage would do thee honour"? So read I thy illustration, O keen of wit!
and thou art forgiven its boldness, my betrothed,--Wullahy! utterly so.'
Now, the youth was abashed at her discernment, and the kindliness of her
manner won him to say:
There's many a flower of sweetness, there's many a gem of earth
Would thrill with bliss our being, could we perceive its worth.
O beauteous is creation, in fashion and device!
If I have fail'd to think thee fair, 'tis blindness is my vice.
And she answered him:
I've proved thy wit and power of verse,
That is at will diffuse and terse:
Lest thou commence to lie--be dumb!
I am content: the time will come!
Then she said to the Vizier Feshnavat, 'O my father, there is all in this
youth, the nephew of the barber, that's desirable for the undertaking;
and his feet will be on a level with the task we propose for him, he the
height of man above it. 'Tis clear that vanity will trip him, but
honesty is a strong upholder; and he is one that hath the spirit of
enterprise and the mask of dissimulation: gratitude I observe in him; and
it is as I thought when I came upon him on the sand-hill outside the
city, that his star is clearly in a web with our star, he destined for
the Shaving of Shagpat.'
So the Vizier replied, 'He hath had thwackings, yet is he not deterred
from making further attempt on Shagpat. I think well of him, and I augur
hopefully. Wullahy! the Cadi shall be sent for; I can sleep in his
secresy; and he shall perform the ceremonies of betrothal, even now and
where we sit, and it shall be for him to write the terms of contract: so
shall we bind the youth firmly to us, and he will be one of us as we are,
devoted to the undertaking by three bonds--the bond of vengeance, the
bond of ambition, and that of love.'
Now, so it was that the Vizier despatched a summons for the attendance of
the Cadi, and he carne and performed between Shibli Bagarag and Noorna
bin Noorka ceremonies of betrothal, and wrote terms of contract; and they
were witnessed duly by the legal number of witnesses, and so worded that
he had no claim on her as wife till such time as the Event to which he
bound himself was mastered. Then the fees being paid, and compliments
interchanged, the Vizier exclaimed, 'Be ye happy! and let the weak cling
to the strong; and be ye two to one in this world, and no split halves
that betray division and stick not together when the gum is heated.'
Then he made a sign to the Cadi and them that had witnessed the contract
to follow him, leaving the betrothed ones to their own company.
So when they were alone Noorna gazed on the youth wistfully, and said in
a soft tone, 'Thou art dazed with the adventure, O youth! Surely there
is one kiss owing me: art thou willing? Am I reduced to beg it of thee?
Or dream'st thou?'
He lifted his head and replied, 'Even so.'
Thereat he stood up languidly, and went to her and kissed her. And she
smiled and said, 'I wot it will be otherwise, and thou wilt learn
swiftness of limb, brightness of eye, and the longing for earthly
beatitude, when next I ask thee, O my betrothed!'
Lo! while she spake, new light seemed in her; and it was as if a splendid
jewel were struggling to cast its beams through the sides of a crystal
vase smeared with dust and old dirt and spinnings of the damp spider. He
was amazed, and cried, 'How's this? What change is passing in thee?'
She said, 'Joy in thy kiss, and that I have 'scaped Shagpat.'
Then he: 'Shagpat? How? had that wretch claim over thee ere I came?'
But she looked fearfully at the corners of the room and exclaimed, 'Hush,
my betrothed! speak not of him in that fashion, 'tis dangerous; and my
power cannot keep off his emissaries at all times.' Then she said, 'O my
betrothed, know me a sorceress ensorcelled; not that I seem, but that I
shall be! Wait thou for the time and it will reward thee. What! thou
think'st to have plucked a wrinkled o'erripe fruit,--a mouldy pomegranate
under the branches, a sour tamarind? 'Tis well! I say nought, save that
time will come, and be thou content. It is truly as I said, that I have
thee between me and Shagpat; and that honoured one of this city thought
fit in his presumption to demand me in marriage at the hands of my
father, knowing me wise, and knowing the thing that transformed me to
this, the abominable fellow! Surely my father entertained not his
proposal save with scorn; but the King looked favourably on it, and it is
even now matter of reproach to Feshnavat, my father, that he withholdeth
me from Shagpat.'
Quoth Shibli Bagarag, 'A clothier, O Noorna, control the Vizier! and
demand of him his daughter in marriage! and a clothier influence the King
against his Vizier!'--tis, wullahy! a riddle.'
She replied, ''Tis even so, eyes of mine, my betrothed! but thou know'st
not Shagpat, and that he is. Lo! the King, and all of this city save we
three, are held in enchantment by him, and made foolish by one hair
that's in his head.'
Shibli Bagarag started in his seat like one that shineth with a
discovery, and cried, 'The Identical!'
Then she, sighing, ''Tis that indeed! but the Identical of Identicals, the
chief and head of them, and I, woe's me! I, the planter of it.'
So he said, 'How so?'
But she cried, 'I'll tell thee not here, nor aught of myself and him, and
the Genie held in bondage by me, till thou art proved by adventure, and
we float peacefully on the sea of the Bright Lily: there shalt thou see
me as I am, and hear my story, and marvel at it; for 'tis wondrous, and a
manifestation of the Power that dwelleth unseen.'
So Shibli Bagarag pondered awhile on the strange nature of the things she
hinted, and laughter seized him as he reflected on Shagpat, and the whole
city enchanted by one hair in his head; and he exclaimed, 'O Noorna,
knoweth he, Shagpat, of the might in him?'
She answered, 'Enough for his vain soul that homage is paid to him, and
he careth not for the wherefore!'
Shibli Bagarag fixed his eyes on the deep-flowered carpets of the floor,
as if reading there a matter quaintly written, and smiled, saying, 'What
boldness was mine--the making offer to shear Shagpat, the lion in his
lair, he that holdeth a whole city in enchantment! Wah! 'twas an
instance of daring!'
And Noorna said, 'Not only an entire city, but other cities affected by
him, as witness Oolb, whither thou wilt go; and there be governments and
states, and conditions of men remote, that hang upon him, Shagpat. 'Tis
even so; I swell not his size. When thou hast mastered the Event, and
sent him forth shivering from thy blade like the shorn lamb, 'twill be
known how great a thing has been achieved, and a record for the
generations to come; choice is that historian destined to record it!'
Quoth he, looking eagerly at her, 'O Noorna, what is it in thy speech
affecteth me? Surely it infuseth the vigour of wine, old wine; and I
shiver with desire to shave Shagpat, and spin threads for the historian
to weave in order. I, wullahy! had but dry visions of the greatness
destined for me till now, my betrothed! Shall I master an Event in
shaving him, and be told of to future ages? By Allah and his Prophet
(praise be to that name!), this is greatness! Say, Noorna, hadst thou
foreknowledge of me and my coming to this city?'
So she said, 'I was on the roofs one night among the stars ere moonrise,
O my betrothed, and 'twas close on the rise of this very month's moon.
The star of our enemy, Shagpat, was large and red, mine as it were
menaced by its proximity, nigh swallowed in its haughty beams and the
steady overbearings of its effulgence. 'Twas so as it had long been,
when suddenly, lo! a star from the upper heaven that shot down between
them wildly, and my star took lustre from it; and the star of Shagpat
trembled like a ring on a tightened rope, and waved and flickered, and
seemed to come forward and to retire; and 'twas presently as a comet in
the sky, bright,--a tadpole, with large head and lengthy tail, in the
assembly of the planets. This I saw: and that the stranger star was
stationed by my star, shielding it, and that it drew nearer to my star,
and entered its circle, and that the two stars seemed mixing the
splendour that was theirs. Now, that sight amazed me, and my heart in
its beating quickened with the expectation of things approaching. Surely
I rendered praise, and pressed both hands on my bosom, and watched, and
behold! the comet, the illumined tadpole, was becoming restless beneath
the joint rays of the twain that were dominating him; and he diminished,
and lashed his tail uneasily, half madly, darting as do captured beasts
from the fetters that constrain them. Then went there from thy star--for
I know now 'twas thine--a momentary flash across the head of the tadpole,
and again another and another, rapidly, pertinaciously. And from thy
star there passed repeated flashes across the head of the tadpole, till
his brilliance was as 'twere severed from him, and he, like drossy
silver, a dead shape in the conspicuous heavens. And he became yellow as
the rolling eyes of sick wretches in pain, and shrank in his place like
pale parchment at the touch of flame; dull was he as an animal fascinated
by fear, and deprived of all power to make head against the foe,
darkness, that now beset him, and usurped part of his yet lively tail,
and settled on his head, and coated part of his body. So when this
tadpole, that was once terrible to me, became turbaned, shoed, and
shawled with darkness, and there was little of him remaining visible, lo!
a concluding flash shot from thy star, and he fell heavily down the sky
and below the hills, into the sea, that is the Enchanted Sea, whose Queen
is Rabesqurat, Mistress of Illusions. Now when my soul recovered from
amazement at the marvels seen, I arose and went from the starry roofs to
consult my books of magic, and 'twas revealed to me that one was
wandering to a junction with my destiny, and that by his means the great
aim would of a surety be accomplished--Shagpat Shaved! So my purpose was
to discover him; and I made calculations, and summoned them that serve me
to search for such a youth as thou art; fairly, O my betrothed, did I
preconceive thee. And so it was that I traced a magic line from the
sand-hills to the city, and from the outer hills to the sand-hills; and
whoso approached by that line I knew was he marked out as my champion, my
betrothed,--a youth destined for great things. Was I right? The egg
hatcheth. Thou art already proved by thwackings, seasoned to the
undertaking, and I doubt not thou art he that will finish with that
tadpole Shagpat, and sit in the high seat, thy name an odour in distant
lands, a joy to the historian, the Compiler of Events, thou Master of the
Event, the greatest which time will witness for ages to come.'
When she had spoken Shibli Bagarag considered her words, and the
knowledge that he was selected by destiny as Master of the Event inflated
him; and he was a hawk in eagerness, a peacock in pride, an ostrich in
fulness of chest, crying, 'O Noorna bin Noorka! is't really so? Truly it
must be, for the readers of planets were also busy with me at the time of
my birth, interpreting of me in excessive agitation; and the thing they
foretold is as thou foretellest. I am, wullahy! marked: I walk manifest
in the eye of Providence.'
Thereupon he exulted, and his mind strutted through the future of his
days, and down the ladder of all time, exacting homage from men, his
brethren; and 'twas beyond the art of Noorna to fix him to the present
duties of the enterprise: he was as feathered seed before the breath of
vanity.
Now, while the twain discoursed, she of the preparations for shaving
Shagpat, he of his completion of the deed, and the honours due to him as
Master of the Event, Feshnavat the Vizier returned to them from his
entertainment of the Cadi; and he had bribed him to silence with a mighty
bribe. So he called to them--
'Ho! be ye ready to commence the work? and have ye advised together as to
the beginning? True is that triplet:
"Whatever enterprize man hath,
For waking love or curbing wrath,
'Tis the first step that makes a path."
And how have ye determined as to that first step?'
Noorna replied, 'O my father! we have not decided, and there hath been
yet no deliberation between us as to that.'
Then he said, 'All this while have ye talked, and no deliberation as to
that! Lo, I have drawn the Cadi to our plot, and bribed him with a
mighty bribe; and I have prepared possible disguises for this nephew of
the barber; and I have had the witnesses of thy betrothal despatched to
foreign parts, far kingdoms in the land of Roum, to prevent tattling and
gabbling; and ye that were left alone for debating as to the great deed,
ye have not yet deliberated as to that! Is't known to ye, O gabblers,
aught of the punishment inflicted by Shahpesh, the Persian, on Khipil,
the Builder?--a punishment that, by Allah!'
Shibli Bagarag said, 'How of that punishment, O Vizier?'
And the Vizier narrated as followeth.
AND THIS IS THE PUNISHMENT OF SHAHPESH, THE PERSIAN, ON KHIPIL, THE
BUILDER
They relate that Shahpesh, the Persian, commanded the building of a
palace, and Khipil was his builder. The work lingered from the first
year of the reign of Shahpesh even to his fourth. One day Shahpesh went
to the riverside where it stood, to inspect it. Khipil was sitting on a
marble slab among the stones and blocks; round him stretched lazily the
masons and stonecutters and slaves of burden; and they with the curve of
humorous enjoyment on their lips, for he was reciting to them adventures,
interspersed with anecdotes and recitations and poetic instances, as was
his wont. They were like pleased flocks whom the shepherd hath led to a
pasture freshened with brooks, there to feed indolently; he, the
shepherd, in the midst.
Now, the King said to him, 'O Khipil, show me my palace where it
standeth, for I desire to gratify my sight with its fairness.'
Khipil abased himself before Shahpesh, and answered, ''Tis even here, O
King of the age, where thou delightest the earth with thy foot and the
ear of thy slave with sweetness. Surely a site of vantage, one that
dominateth earth, air, and water, which is the builder's first and chief
requisition for a noble palace, a palace to fill foreign kings and
sultans with the distraction of envy; and it is, O Sovereign of the time,
a site, this site I have chosen, to occupy the tongues of travellers and
awaken the flights of poets!'
Shahpesh smiled and said, 'The site is good! I laud the site! Likewise
I laud the wisdom of Ebn Busrac, where he exclaims:
"Be sure, where Virtue faileth to appear,
For her a gorgeous mansion men will rear;
And day and night her praises will be heard,
Where never yet she spake a single word."'
Then said he, 'O Khipil, my builder, there was once a farm servant that,
having neglected in the seed-time to sow, took to singing the richness of
his soil when it was harvest, in proof of which he displayed the
abundance of weeds that coloured the land everywhere. Discover to me now
the completeness of my halls and apartments, I pray thee, O Khipil, and
be the excellence of thy construction made visible to me!'
Quoth Khipil, 'To hear is to obey.'
He conducted Shahpesh among the unfinished saloons and imperfect courts
and roofless rooms, and by half erected obelisks, and columns pierced and
chipped, of the palace of his building. And he was bewildered at the
words spoken by Shahpesh; but now the King exalted him, and admired the
perfection of his craft, the greatness of his labour, the speediness of
his construction, his assiduity; feigning not to behold his negligence.
Presently they went up winding balusters to a marble terrace, and the
King said, 'Such is thy devotion and constancy in toil, Khipil, that
thou shaft walk before me here.'
He then commanded Khipil to precede him, and Khipil was heightened with
the honour. When Khipil had paraded a short space he stopped quickly,
and said to Shahpesh, 'Here is, as it chanceth, a gap, O King! and we can
go no further this way.'
Shahpesh said, 'All is perfect, and it is my will thou delay not to
advance.'
Khipil cried, 'The gap is wide, O mighty King, and manifest, and it is an
incomplete part of thy palace.'
Then said Shahpesh, 'O Khipil, I see no distinction between one part and
another; excellent are all parts in beauty and proportion, and there can
be no part incomplete in this palace that occupieth the builder four
years in its building: so advance, do my bidding.'
Khipil yet hesitated, for the gap was of many strides, and at the bottom
of the gap was a deep water, and he one that knew not the motion of
swimming. But Shahpesh ordered his guard to point their arrows in the
direction of Khipil, and Khipil stepped forward hurriedly, and fell in
the gap, and was swallowed by the water below. When he rose the second
time, succour reached him, and he was drawn to land trembling, his teeth
chattering. And Shahpesh praised him, and said, 'This is an apt
contrivance for a bath, Khipil O my builder! well conceived; one that
taketh by surprise; and it shall be thy reward daily when much talking
hath fatigued thee.'
Then he bade Khipil lead him to the hall of state. And when they were
there Shahpesh said, 'For a privilege, and as a mark of my approbation, I
give thee permission to sit in the marble chair of yonder throne, even in
my presence, O Khipil.'
Khipil said, 'Surely, O King, the chair is not yet executed.'
And Shahpesh exclaimed, 'If this be so, thou art but the length of thy
measure on the ground, O talkative one!'
Khipil said, 'Nay, 'tis not so, O King of splendours! blind that I am!
yonder's indeed the chair.'
And Khipil feared the King, and went to the place where the chair should
be, and bent his body in a sitting posture, eyeing the King, and made
pretence to sit in the chair of Shahpesh, as in conspiracy to amuse his
master.
Then said Shahpesh, 'For a token that I approve thy execution of the
chair, thou shalt be honoured by remaining seated in it up to the hour of
noon; but move thou to the right or to the left, showing thy soul
insensible of the honour done thee, transfixed thou shah be with twenty
arrows and five.'
The King then left him with a guard of twenty-five of his body-guard; and
they stood around him with bent bows, so that Khipil dared not move from
his sitting posture. And the masons and the people crowded to see Khipil
sitting on his master's chair, for it became rumoured about. When they
beheld him sitting upon nothing, and he trembling to stir for fear of the
loosening of the arrows, they laughed so that they rolled upon the floor
of the hall, and the echoes of laughter were a thousand-fold. Surely the
arrows of the guards swayed with the laughter that shook them.
Now, when the time had expired for his sitting in the chair, Shahpesh
returned to him, and he was cramped, pitiable to see; and Shahpesh said,
'Thou hast been exalted above men, O Khipil! for that thou didst execute
for thy master has been found fitting for thee.'
Then he bade Khipil lead the way to the noble gardens of dalliance and
pleasure that he had planted and contrived. And Khipil went in that
state described by the poet, when we go draggingly, with remonstrating
members,
Knowing a dreadful strength behind,
And a dark fate before.
They came to the gardens, and behold, these were full of weeds and
nettles, the fountains dry, no tree to be seen--a desert. And Shahpesh
cried, 'This is indeed of admirable design, O Khipil! Feelest thou not
the coolness of the fountains?--their refreshingness? Truly I am
grateful to thee! And these flowers, pluck me now a handful, and tell me
of their perfume.'
Khipil plucked a handful of the nettles that were there in the place of
flowers, and put his nose to them before Shahpesh, till his nose was
reddened; and desire to rub it waxed in him, and possessed him, and
became a passion, so that he could scarce refrain from rubbing it even in
the King's presence. And the King encouraged him to sniff and enjoy
their fragrance, repeating the poet's words:
Methinks I am a lover and a child,
A little child and happy lover, both!
When by the breath of flowers I am beguiled
From sense of pain, and lulled in odorous sloth.
So I adore them, that no mistress sweet
Seems worthier of the love which they awake:
In innocence and beauty more complete,
Was never maiden cheek in morning lake.
Oh, while I live, surround me with fresh flowers!
Oh, when I die, then bury me in their bowers!
And the King said, 'What sayest thou, O my builder? that is a fair
quotation, applicable to thy feelings, one that expresseth them?'
Khipil answered, ''Tis eloquent, O great King! comprehensiveness would be
its portion, but that it alludeth not to the delight of chafing.'
Then Shahpesh laughed, and cried, 'Chafe not! it is an ill thing and a
hideous! This nosegay, O Khipil, it is for thee to present to thy
mistress. Truly she will receive thee well after its presentation! I
will have it now sent in thy name, with word that thou followest quickly.
And for thy nettled nose, surely if the whim seize thee that thou
desirest its chafing, to thy neighbour is permitted what to thy hand is
refused.'
The King set a guard upon Khipil to see that his orders were executed,
and appointed a time for him to return to the gardens.
At the hour indicated Khipil stood before Shahpesh again. He was pale,
saddened; his tongue drooped like the tongue of a heavy bell, that when
it soundeth giveth forth mournful sounds only: he had also the look of
one battered with many beatings. So the King said, 'How of the
presentation of the flowers of thy culture, O Khipil?'
He answered, 'Surely, O King, she received me with wrath, and I am shamed
by her.'
And the King said, 'How of my clemency in the matter of the chafing?'
Khipil answered, 'O King of splendours! I made petition to my neighbours
whom I met, accosting them civilly and with imploring, for I ached to
chafe, and it was the very raging thirst of desire to chafe that was
mine, devouring eagerness for solace of chafing. And they chafed me, O
King; yet not in those parts which throbbed for the chafing, but in those
which abhorred it.'
Then Shahpesh smiled and said, ''Tis certain that the magnanimity of
monarchs is as the rain that falleth, the sun that shineth: and in this
spot it fertilizeth richness; in that encourageth rankness. So art thou
but a weed, O Khipil! and my grace is thy chastisement.'
Now, the King ceased not persecuting Khipil, under pretence of doing him
honour and heaping favours on him. Three days and three nights was
Khipil gasping without water, compelled to drink of the drought of the
fountain, as an honour at the hands of the King. And he was seven days
and seven nights made to stand with
stretched arms, as they were the branches of a tree, in each hand a
pomegranate. And Shahpesh brought the people of his court to regard the
wondrous pomegranate shoot planted by Khipil, very wondrous, and a new
sort, worthy the gardens of a King. So the wisdom of the King was
applauded, and men wotted he knew how to punish offences in coin, by the
punishment inflicted on Khipil the builder. Before that time his affairs
had languished, and the currents of business instead of flowing had
become stagnant pools. It was the fashion to do as did Khipil, and fancy
the tongue a constructor rather than a commentator; and there is a doom
upon that people and that man which runneth to seed in gabble, as the
poet says in his wisdom:
If thou wouldst be famous, and rich in splendid fruits,
Leave to bloom the flower of things, and dig among the roots.
Truly after Khipil's punishment there were few in the dominions of
Shahpesh who sought to win the honours bestowed by him on gabblers and
idlers: as again the poet:
When to loquacious fools with patience rare
I listen, I have thoughts of Khipil's chair:
His bath, his nosegay, and his fount I see,--
Himself stretch'd out as a pomegranate-tree.
And that I am not Shahpesh I regret,
So to inmesh the babbler in his net.
Well is that wisdom worthy to be sung,
Which raised the Palace of the Wagging Tongue!
And whoso is punished after the fashion of Shahpesh, the Persian, on
Khipil the Builder, is said to be one 'in the Palace of the Wagging
Tongue' to this time.
THE GENIE KARAZ
Now, when the voice of the Vizier had ceased, Shibli Bagarag exclaimed,
'O Vizier, this night, no later, I'll surprise Shagpat, and shave him
while he sleepeth: and he shall wake shorn beside his spouse. Wullahy!
I'll delay no longer, I, Shibli Bagarag.'
Said the Vizier, 'Thou?'
And he replied, 'Surely, O Vizier! thou knowest little of my dexterity.'
So the Vizier laughed, and Noorna bin Noorka laughed, and he was at a
loss to interpret the cause of their laughter. Then said Noorna, 'O my
betrothed, there's not a doubt among us of thy dexterity, nor question of
thy willingness; but this shaving of Shagpat, wullahy! 'tis longer work
than what thou makest of it.'
And he cried, 'How? because of the Chief of Identicals planted by thee in
his head?'
She answered, 'Because of that; but 'tis the smallest opposer, that.'
Then the Vizier said, 'Let us consult.'
So Shibli Bagarag gave ear, and the Vizier continued, 'There's first, the
Chief of Identicals planted by thee in the head of that presumptuous
fellow, O my daughter! By what means shall that be overcome?'
She said, 'I rank not that first, O Feshnavat, my father; surely I rank
first the illusions with which Rabesqurat hath surrounded him, and made
it difficult to know him from his semblances, whenever real danger
threateneth him.'
The Vizier assented, saying, 'Second, then, the Chief of Identicals?'
She answered, 'Nay, O my father; second, the weakness that's in man, and
the little probability of his finishing with Shagpat at one effort; and
there is but a sole chance for whoso attempteth, and if he faileth, 'tis
forever he faileth.'
So the Vizier said, 'Even I knew not 'twas so grave! Third, then, the
Chief of Identicals?'
She replied, 'Third! which showeth the difficulty of the task. Read ye
not, first, how the barber must come upon Shagpat and fix him for his
operation; second, how the barber must be possessed of more than mortal
strength to master him in so many strokes; third, how the barber must
have a blade like no other blade in this world in sharpness, in temper,
in velocity of sweep, that he may reap this crop which flourisheth on
Shagpat, and with it the magic hair which defieth edge of mortal blades?'
Now, the Vizier sighed at the words, saying, 'Powerful is Shagpat. I
knew not the thing I undertook. I fear his mastery of us, and we shall
be contemned--objects for the red finger of scorn.'
Noorna turned to Shibli Bagarag and asked, 'Do the three bonds of
enterprise--vengeance, ambition, and love--shrink in thee from this great
contest?'
Shibli Bagarag said, ''Tis terrible! on my head be it!'
She gazed at him a moment tenderly, and said, 'Thou art worthy of what is
in store for thee, O my betrothed! and I think little of the dangers, in
contemplation of the courage in thee. Lo, if vengeance and ambition spur
thee so, how will not love when added to the two?'
Then said she, 'As to the enchantments and spells that shall overreach
him, and as to the blade wherewith to shear him?'
Feshnavat exclaimed, 'Yonder 's indeed where we stumble and are tripped
at starting.'
But she cried, 'What if I know of a sword that nought on earth or under
resisteth, and before the keen edge of which all Illusions and Identicals
are as summer grass to the scythe?'
They both shouted, 'The whereabout of that sword, O Noorna!'
So she said, ''Tis in Aklis, in the mountains of the Koosh; and the seven
sons of Aklis sharpen it day and night till the adventurer cometh to
claim it for his occasion. Whoso succeedeth in coming to them they know
to have power over the sword, and 'tis then holiday for them. Many are
the impediments, and they are as holes where the fox haunteth. So they
deliver to his hand the sword till his object is attained, his Event
mastered, smitten through with it; and 'tis called the Sword of Events.
Surely, with it the father of the Seven vanquished the mighty Roc,
Kroojis, that threatened mankind with ruin, and a stain of the Roc's
blood is yet on the hilt of the sword. How sayest thou, O Feshnavat,--
shall we devote ourselves to get possession of that Sword?'
So the Vizier brightened at her words, and said, 'O excellent in wisdom
and star of counsel! speak further, and as to the means.'
Noorna bin Noorka continued, 'Thou knowest, O my father, I am proficient
in the arts of magic, and I am what I am, and what I shall be, by its
uses. 'Tis known to thee also that I hold a Genie in bondage, and can
utter ten spells and one spell in a breath. Surely my services to the
youth in his attainment of the Sword will be beyond price! Now to reach
Aklis and the Sword there are three things needed--charms: and one is a
phial full of the waters of Paravid from the wells in the mountain yon-
side the desert; and one, certain hairs that grow in the tail of the
horse Garraveen, he that roameth wild in the meadows of Melistan; and
one, that the youth gather and bear to Aklis, for the white antelope
Gulrevaz, the Lily of the Lovely Light that groweth in the hollow of the
crags over the Enchanted Sea: with these spells he will command the Sword
of Aklis, and nothing can bar him passage. Moreover I will expend in his
aid all my subtleties, my transformations, the stores of my wisdom. Many
seek this Sword, and people the realms of Rabesqurat, or are beasts in
Aklis, or crowned Apes, or go to feed the Roc, Kroojis, in the abyss
beneath the Roc's-egg bridge; but there's virtue in Shibli Bagarag:
wullahy! I am wistful in him of the hand of Destiny, and he will succeed
in this undertaking if he dareth it.'
Shibli Bagarag cried, 'At thy bidding, O Noorna! Care I for dangers?
I'm on fire to wield the Sword, and master the Event.'
Thereupon, Noorna bin Noorka arose instantly, and took him by the cheeks
a tender pinch, and praised him. Then drew she round him a circle with
her forefinger that left a mark like the shimmering of evanescent green
flame, saying, 'White was the day I set eyes on thee!' Round the Vizier,
her father, she drew a like circle; and she took an unguent, and traced
with it characters on the two circles, and letters of strange form,
arrowy, lance-like, like leaning sheaves, and crouching baboons, and
kicking jackasses, and cocks a-crow, and lutes slack-strung; and she
knelt and mumbled over and over words of magic, like the drone of a bee
to hear, and as a roll of water, nothing distinguishable. After that she
sought for an unguent of a red colour, and smeared it on a part of the
floor by the corner of the room, and wrote on it in silver fluid a word
that was the word 'Eblis,' and over that likewise she droned awhile.
Presently she arose with a white-heated face, the sweat on her brow, and
said to Shibli Bagarag and Feshnavat hurriedly and in a harsh tone, 'How?
have ye fear?'
They answered, 'Our faith is in Allah, our confidence in thee.'
Said she then, 'I summon the Genie I hold in bondage. He will be
wrathful; but ye are secure from him. He's this moment in the farthest
region of earth, doing ill, as is his wont, and the wont of the stock of
Eblis.'
So the Vizier said, 'He'll be no true helper, this Genie, and I care not
for his company.'
She answered, 'O my father! leave thou that to me. What says the poet?--
"It is the sapiency of fools,
To shrink from handling evil tools."'
Now, while she was speaking, she suddenly inclined her ear as to a
distant noise; but they heard nothing. Then, after again listening, she
cried in a sharp voice, 'Ho! muffle your mouths with both hands, and stir
not from the ring of the circles, as ye value life and its blessings.'
So they did as she bade them, and watched her curiously. Lo! she swathed
the upper and lower part of her face in linen, leaving the lips and eyes
exposed; and she took water from an ewer, and sprinkled it on her head,
and on her arms and her feet, muttering incantations. Then she listened
a third time, and stooped to the floor, and put her lips to it, and
called the name, 'Karaz!' And she called this name seven times loudly,
sneezing between whiles. Then, as it were in answer to her summons,
there was a deep growl of thunder, and the palace rocked, tottering; and
the air became smoky and full of curling vapours. Presently they were
aware of the cry of a Cat, and its miaulings; and the patch of red
unguent on the floor parted and they beheld a tawny Cat with an arched
back. So Noorna bin Noorka frowned fiercely at the Cat, and cried, 'This
is thy shape, O Karaz; change! for it serves not the purpose.'
The Cat changed, and was a Leopard with glowing yellow eyes, crouched for
the spring. So Noorna bin Noorka stamped, and cried again, 'This is thy
shape, O Karaz; change! for it serves not the purpose.'
And the Leopard changed, and was a Serpent with many folds, sleek,
curled, venomous, hissing.
Noorna bin Noorka cried in wrath, 'This is thy shape, O Karaz; change! or
thou'lt be no other till Eblis is accepted in Paradise.'
And the Serpent vanished. Lo! in its place a Genie of terrible aspect,
black as a solitary tree seared by lightning; his forehead ridged and
cloven with red streaks; his hair and ears reddened; his eyes like two
hollow pits dug by the shepherd for the wolf, and the wolf in them. He
shouted, 'What work is it now, thou accursed traitress?'
Noorna replied, 'I've need of thee!'
He said, 'What shape?'
She answered, 'The shape of an Ass that will carry two on its back, thou
Perversity!'
Upon that, he cried, 'O faithless woman, how long shall I be the slave of
thy plotting? Now, but for that hair of my head, plucked by thy hand
while I slept, I were free, no doer of thy tasks. Say, who be these that
mark us?'
She answered, 'One, the Vizier Feshnavat; and one, Shibli Bagarag of
Shiraz, he that's destined to shave Shagpat, the son of Shimpoor, the son
of Shoolpi, the son of Shullum; and the youth is my betrothed.'
Now, at her words the whole Genie became as live coal with anger, and he
panted black and bright, and made a stride toward Shibli Bagarag, and
stretched his arm out to seize him; but Noorna, blew quickly on the
circles she had drawn, and the circles rose up in a white flame high as
the heads of those present, and the Genie shrank hastily back from the
flame, and was seized with fits of sneezing. Then she said in scorn,
'Easily, O Karaz, is a woman outwitted! Surely I could not guess what
would be thy action! and I was wanting in foresight and insight! and I
am a woman bearing the weight of my power as a woodman staggereth under
the logs he hath felled!'
So she taunted him, and he still sneezing and bent double with the might
of the sneeze. Then said Noorna in a stern voice, 'No more altercation
between us! Wait thou here till I reappear, Karaz!'
Thereupon, she went from them; and the two, Feshnavat and Shibli Bagarag,
feared greatly being left with the Genie, for he became all colours, and
loured on them each time that he ceased sneezing. He was clearly
menacing them when Noorna returned, and in her hand a saddle made of
hide, traced over with mystic characters and gold stripes.
So she cried, 'Take this!' Then, seeing he hesitated, she unclosed from
her left palm a powder, and scattered
it over him; and he grew meek, and the bending knee of obedience was his,
and he took the saddle. So she said, ''Tis well! Go now, and wait
outside the city in the shape of an Ass, with this saddle on thy back.'
The Genie groaned, and said, 'To hear is to obey!' And he departed with
those words, for she held him in bondage. Then she calmed down the white
flames of the circles that enclosed Shibli Bagarag and the Vizier
Feshnavat, and they stepped forth, marvelling at the greatness of her
sorceries that held such a Genie in bondage.
THE WELL OF PARAVID
Now, there was haste in the movements of Noorna bin Noorka, and she
arrayed herself and clutched Shibli Bagarag by the arm, and the twain
departed from Feshnavat the Vizier, and came to the outside of the city,
and lo! there was the Genie by a well under a palm, and he standing in
the shape of an Ass, saddled. So they mounted him, and in a moment they
were in the midst of the desert, and naught round them save the hot
glimmer of the sands and the grey of the sky. Surely, the Ass went at
such a pace as never Ass went before in this world, resting not by the
rivulets, nor under the palms, nor beside the date-boughs; it was as if
the Ass scurried without motion of his legs, so swiftly went he. At last
the desert gave signs of a border on the low line of the distance, and
this grew rapidly higher as they advanced, revealing a country of hills
and rocks, and at the base of these the Ass rested.
So Noorna, said, 'This desert that we have passed, O my betrothed, many
are they that perish in it, and reach not the well; but give thanks to
Allah that it is passed.'
Then said she, 'Dismount, and be wary of moving to the front or to the
rear of this Ass, and measure thy distance from the lash of his tail.'
So Shibli Bagarag dismounted, and followed her up the hills and the
rocks, through ravines and gorges of the rocks, and by tumbling torrents,
among hanging woods, over perilous precipices, where no sun hath pierced,
and the bones of travellers whiten in loneliness; and they continued
mounting upward by winding paths, now closed in by coverts, now upon open
heights having great views, and presently a mountain was disclosed to
them, green at the sides high up it; and Noorna bin Noorka said to Shibli
Bagarag, 'Mount here, for the cunning of this Ass can furnish him no
excuse further for making thee food for the birds of prey.'
So Shibli Bagarag mounted, and they ceased not to ascend the green slopes
till the grass became scanty and darkness fell, and they were in a region
of snow and cold. Then Noorna bin Noorka tethered the Ass to a stump of
a tree and breathed in his ear, and the Ass became as a creature carved
in stone; and she drew from her bosom two bags of silk, and blew in one
and entered it, bidding Shibli Bagarag do likewise with the other bag;
and he obeyed her, drawing it up to his neck, and the delightfulness of
warmth came over him. Then said she, 'To-morrow, at noon, we shall reach
near the summit of the mountain and the Well of Paravid, if my power last
over this Ass; and from that time thou wilt be on the high road to
greatness, so fail not to remember what I have done for thee, and be not
guilty of ingratitude when thy hand is the stronger.'
He promised her, and they lay and slept. When he awoke the sun was half-
risen, and he looked at Noorna bin Noorka in the silken bag, and she was
yet in the peacefulness of pleasant dreams; but for the Ass, surely his
eyes rolled, and his head and fore legs were endued with life, while his
latter half seemed of stone. And the youth called to Noorna bin Noorka,
and pointed to her the strangeness of the condition of the Ass. As she
cast eyes on him she cried out, and rushed to him, and took him by the
ears and blew up his nostrils, and the animal was quiet. Then she and
Shibli Bagarag mounted him again, and she said to him, 'It is well thou
wert more vigilant than I, and that the sun rose not on this Ass while I
slept, or my enchantment would have thawed on him, and he would have
'scaped us.'
She gave her heel to the Ass, and the Ass hung his tail in sullenness and
drooped his head; and she laughed, crying, 'Karaz, silly fellow! do thy
work willingly, and take wisely thine outwitting.'
She jeered him as they journeyed, and made the soul of Shibli Bagarag
merry, so that he jerked in his seat upon the Ass. Now, as they ascended
the mountain they came to the opening of a cavern, and Noorna bin Noorka
halted the Ass, and said to Shibli Bagarag, 'We part here, and I wait for
thee in this place. Take this phial, and fill it with the waters of the
well, after thy bath. The way is before thee--speed on it.'
He climbed the sides of the mountain, and was soon hidden in the clefts
and beyond the perches of the vulture. She kept her eyes on the rocky
point when he disappeared, awaiting his return; and the sun went over her
head and sank on the yon-side of the mountain, and it was by the beams of
the moon that she beheld Shibli Bagarag dropping from the crags and
ledges of rock, sliding and steadying himself downward till he reached
her with the phial in his hand, filled; and he was radiant, as it were
divine with freshness, so that Noorna, before she spoke welcome to him,
was lost in contemplating the warm shine of his visage, calling to mind
the poet's words:
The wealth of light in sun and moon,
All nature's wealth,
Hath mortal beauty for a boon
When match'd with health.
Then said she, 'O Shibli Bagarag, 'tis achieved, this first of thy tasks;
for mutely on the fresh red of thy mouth, my betrothed, speaketh the
honey of persuasiveness, and the children of Aklis will not resist thee.'
So she took the phial from him and led forth the Ass, and the twain
mounted the Ass and descended the slopes of the mountain in moonlight;
and Shibli Bagarag said, 'Lo! I have marked wonders, and lived a life
since our parting; and this well, 'tis a miracle to dip in it, and by it
sit many maidens weeping and old men babbling, and youths that were idle
youths striking bubbles from the surface of the water. The well is
rounded with marble, and the sky is clear in it, cool in it, the whole
earth imaged therein.'
Then Noorna said, 'Hadst thou a difficulty in obtaining the waters of the
well?'
He answered, 'Surely all was made smooth for me by thy aid. Now when I
came to the well I marked not them by it, but plunged, and the depth of
that well seemed to me the very depth of the earth itself, so went I ever
downward; and when I was near the bottom of the well I had forgotten life
above, and lo! no sooner had I touched the bottom of the well when my
head emerged from the surface: 'twas wondrous! But for a sign that
touched the bottom of the well, see, O Noorna bin Noorka, the Jewel, the
one of myriads that glitter at the bottom, and I plucked it for a gift to
thee.'
So Noorna took the Jewel from his hand that was torn and crimson, and she
cried, 'Thou fair youth, thou bleedest with the plucking of it, and it
was written, no hand shall pluck a jewel at the bottom of that well
without letting of blood. Even so it is! Worthy art thou, and I was not
mistaken in thee.'
At her words Shibli Bagarag burst forth into praises of her, and he sang:
'What is my worthiness
Match'd with thy worth?
Darkness and earthiness,
Dust and dearth!
O Noorna, thou art wise above women: great and glorious over them.'
In this fashion the youth lauded her that was his betrothed, but she
exclaimed, 'Hush! or the jealousy of this Ass will be aroused, and of a
surety he'll spill us.'
Then he laughed and she laughed till the tail of Karaz trembled.
THE HORSE GARRAVEEN
Now, they descended leisurely the slopes of the mountain, and when they
were again in the green of its base, Noorna called to the Ass, 'Ho!
Karaz! Sniff now the breezes, for the end of our journey by night is the
meadows of Melistan. Forward in thy might, and bray not when we are in
them, for thy comfort's sake!'
The Ass sniffed, turning to the four quarters, and chose a certain
direction, and bore them swiftly over hills and streans eddying in
silver; over huge mounds of sand, where the tents of Bedouins stood in
white clusters; over lakes smooth as the cheeks of sleeping loveliness;
by walls of cities, mosques, and palaces; under towers that rose as an
armed man with the steel on his brows and the frown of battle; by the
shores of the pale foaming sea it bore them, going at a pace that the
Arab on his steed outstrippeth not. So when the sun was red and the dews
were blushing with new light, they struggled from a wilderness of barren
broken ground, and saw beneath them, in the warm beams, green, peaceful,
deep, the meadows of Melistan. They were meadows dancing with flowers,
as it had been fresh damsels of the mountain, fair with variety of
colours that were so many gleams of changing light as the breezes of the
morn swept over them; lavish of hues, of sweetness, of pleasantness, fir
for the souls of the blest.
Then, after they had gazed awhile, Noorna bin Noorka said, 'In these
meadows the Horse Garraveen roameth at will. Heroes of bliss bestride
him on great days. He is black to look on; speed quivers in his flanks
like the lightning; his nostrils are wide with flame; there is that in
his eye which is settled fire, and that in his hoofs which is ready
thunder; when he paws the earth kingdoms quake: no animal liveth with
blood like the Horse Garraveen. He is under a curse, for that he bore on
his back one who defied the Prophet. Now, to make him come to thee thou
must blow the call of battle, and to catch him thou must contrive to
strike him on the fetlock as he runs with this musk-ball which I give
thee; and to tame him thou must trace between his eyes a figure or the
crescent with thy forenail. When that is done, bring him to me here,
where I await thee, and I will advise thee further.'
So she said, 'Go!' and Shibli Bagarag showed her the breadth of his
shoulders, and stepped briskly toward the meadows, and was soon brushing
among the flowers and soft mosses of the meadows, lifting his nostrils to
the joyful smells, looking about him with the broad eye of one that
hungereth for a coming thing. The birds went up above him, and the trees
shook and sparkled, and the waters of brooks and broad rivers flashed
like waving mirrors waved by the slave-girls in sport when the beauties
of the harem riot and dip their gleaming shoulders in the bath. He
wandered on, lost in the gladness that lived, till the loud neigh of a
steed startled him, and by the banks of a river before him he beheld the
Horse Garraveen stooping to drink of the river; glorious was the look of
the creature,--silver-hoofed, fashioned in the curves of beauty and
swiftness. So Shibli Bagarag put up his two hands and blew the call of
battle, and the Horse Garraveen arched his neck at the call, and swung
upon his haunches, and sought the call, answering it, and tossing his
mane as he advanced swiftly. Then, as he neared, Shibli Bagarag held the
musk-ball in his fingers, and aimed at the fetlock of the
Horse Garraveen, and flung it, and struck him so that he stumbled and
fell. He snorted fiercely as he bent to the grass, but Shibli Bagarag
ran to him, and grasped strongly the tuft of hair hanging forward between
his ears, and traced between his fine eyes a figure of the crescent with
his forenail, and the Horse ceased plunging, and was gentle as a colt by
its mother's side, and suffered Shibli Bagarag to bestride him, and spurn
him with his heel to speed, and bore him fleetly across the fair length
of the golden meadows to where Noorna bin Noorka sat awaiting him. She
uttered a cry of welcome, saying, 'This is achieved with diligence and
skill, O my betrothed! and on thy right wrist I mark strength like a
sleeping leopard, and the children of Aklis will not resist thee.'
So she bade him alight from the Horse, but he said, 'Nay.' And she called
to him again to alight, but he cried, 'I will not alight from him! By
Allah! such a bounding wave of bliss have I never yet had beneath me, and
I will give him rein once again; as the poet says:
"Divinely rings the rushing air
When I am on my mettled mare:
When fast along the plains we fly,
A creature of the heavens am I"'
Then she levelled her brows at him, and said gravely, 'This is the
temptation thou art falling into, as have thousands before thy time.
Give him the rein a second time, and he will bear thee to the red pit,
and halt upon the brink, and pitch thee into it among bleeding masses and
skeletons of thy kind, where they lie who were men like to thee, and were
borne away by the Horse Garraveen.'
He gave no heed to her words, taunting her, and making the animal prance
up and prove its spirit.
And she cried reproachfully, 'O fool! is it thus our great aim will be
defeated by thy silly conceit? Lo, now, the greatness and the happiness
thou art losing for this idle vanity is to be as a dunghill cock matched
with an ostrich; and think not to escape the calamities thou bringest on
thyself, for as is said,
No runner can outstrip his fate;
and it will overtake thee, though thou part like an arrow from the bow.'
He still made a jest of her remonstrance, trying the temper of the
animal, and rejoicing in its dark flushes of ireful vigour.
And she cried out furiously, 'How! art thou past counsel? then will we
match strength with strength ere 'tis too late, though it weaken both.'
Upon that, she turned quickly to the Ass and stroked it from one
extremity to the other, crying, 'Karaz! Karaz!' shouting, 'Come forth in
thy power!' And the Ass vanished, and the Genie stood in his place,
tall, dark, terrible as a pillar of storm to travellers ranging the
desert. He exclaimed, 'What is it, O woman? Charge me with thy
command!'
And she said, 'Wrestle with him thou seest on the Horse Garraveen, and
fling him from his seat.'
Then he yelled a glad yell, and stooped to Shibli Bagarag on the horse
and enveloped him, and seized him, and plucked him from the Horse, and
whirled him round, and flung him off. The youth went circling in the
air, high in it, and descended, circling, at a distance in the deep
meadow-waters. When he crept up the banks he saw the Genie astride the
Horse Garraveen, with a black flame round his head; and the Genie urged
him to speed and put him to the gallop, and was soon lost to sight, as he
had been a thunderbeam passing over a still lake at midnight. And Shibli
Bagarag was smitten with the wrong and the folly of his act, and sought
to hide his sight from Noorna; but she called to him, 'Look up, O youth!
and face the calamity. Lo, we have now lost the service of Karaz! for
though I utter ten spells and one spell in a breath, the Horse Garraveen
will ere that have stretched beyond the circle of my magic, and the Genie
will be free to do his ill deeds and plot against us. Sad is it! but
profit thou by a knowledge of thy weakness.'
Then said she, 'See, I have not failed to possess myself of the three
hairs of Garraveen, and there is that to rejoice in.'
She displayed them, and they were sapphire hairs, and had a flickering
light; and they seemed to live, wriggling their lengths, and were as
snakes with sapphire skins. Then she said, 'Thy right wrist, O my
betrothed!'
He gave her his right wrist, and she tied round it the three hairs of
Garraveen, exclaiming, 'Thus do skilful carpenters make stronger what has
broken and indicated disaster. Surely, I confide in thy star? I have
faith in my foresight?'
And she cried, 'Eyes of mine, what sayest thou to me? Lo, we must part
awhile: it is written.'
Said he, 'Leave me not, my betrothed: what am I without thy counsel? And
go not from me, or this adventure will come to miserable issue.'
So she said, 'Thou beginnest to feel my worth?'
He answered, 'O Noorna! was woman like thee before in this world? Surely
'tis a mask I mark thee under; yet art thou perforce of sheer wisdom and
sweet manners lovely in my sight; and I have a thirst to hear thee and
look on thee.'
While he spake, a beam of struggling splendour burst from her, and she
said, 'O thou dear youth, yes! I must even go. But I go glad of heart,
knowing thee prepared to love me. I must go to counteract the
machinations of Karaz, for he's at once busy, vindictive, and cunning,
and there's no time for us to lose; so farewell, my betrothed, and make
thy wits keen to know me when we next meet.'
So he said, 'And I--whither go I?'
She answered, 'To the City of Oolb straightway.'
Then he, 'But I know not its bearing from this spot: how reach it?'
She answered, 'What! thou with the phial of Paravid in thy vest, that
endoweth, a single drop of it, the flowers, the herbage, the very stones
and desert sands, with a tongue to articulate intelligible talk?'
Said he, 'Is it so?'
She answered, 'Even so.'
Ere Slubli Bagarag could question her further she embraced him, and blew
upon his eyes, and he was blinded by her breath, and saw not her
departure, groping for a seat on the rocks, and thinking her still by
him. Sight returned not to him till long after weariness had brought the
balm of sleep upon his eyelids.
THE TALKING HAWK
Now, when he awoke he found himself alone in that place, the moon shining
over the low meadows and flower-cups fair with night-dew. Odours of
night-flowers were abroad, filling the cool air with deliciousness, and
he heard in the gardens below songs of the bulbul: it was like a dream to
his soul, and he lay somewhile contemplating the rich loveliness of the
scene, that showed no moving thing. Then rose he and bethought him of
the words of Noorna, and of the City of Oolb, and the phial of the waters
of Paravid in his vest; and he drew it forth, and dropped a drop of it on
the rock where he had reclined. A deep harmony seemed suddenly to awake
inside the rock, and to his interrogation as to the direction of Oolb, he
heard, 'The path of the shadows of the moon.'
Thereupon he advanced to a prominent part of the rocks above the meadows,
and beheld the shadows of the moon thrown forward into dimness across a
waste of sand. And he stepped downward to the level of sand, and went
the way of the shadows till it was dawn. Then dropped he a drop of the
waters of the phial on a spike of lavender, and there was a voice said to
him in reply to what he questioned, 'The path of the shadows of the sun.'
The shadows of the sun were thrown forward across the same waste of sand,
and he turned and pursued his way, resting at noon beneath a date-tree,
and refreshing himself at a clear spring beside it. Surely he was joyful
as he went, and elated with high prospects, singing:
Sun and moon with their bright fingers
Point the hero's path;
If in his great work he lingers,
Well may they be wroth.
Now, the extent of the duration of his travel was four days and an equal
number of nights; and it was on the fifth morn that he entered the gates
of a city by the sea, even at that hour when the inhabitants were rising
from sleep: fair was the sea beyond it, and the harbour was crowded with
vessels, ships stored with merchandise--silks, dates, diamonds, Damascus
steel, huge bales piled on the decks for the land of Roum and other
lands. Shibli Bagarag thought, 'There's scarce a doubt but that one of
those sails will set for Oolb shortly. Wullahy! if I knew which, I'd
board her and win a berth in her.' Presently he thought, 'I'll go to the
public fountain and question it with the speech-winning waters.'
Thereupon he passed down the streets of the city and came to an open
space, where stood the fountain, and sprinkled it with Paravid; and the
fountain spake, saying, 'Where men are, question not dumb things.'
Cried he, 'Faileth Paravid in its power? Have I done aught to baffle
myself?'
Then he thought, ''Twere nevertheless well to do as the fountain
directeth, and question men while I see them.' And he walked about among
the people, and came to the quays of the harbour where the ships lay
close in, many of them an easy leap from shore, and considered whom to
address. So, as he loitered about the quays, meditating on the means at
the disposal of the All-Wise, and marking the vessels wistfully, behold,
there advanced to him one at a quick pace, in the garb of a sailor. He
observed Shibli Bagarag attentively a moment, and exclaimed as it were in
the plenitude of respect and with the manner of one that is abashed,
'Surely, thou art Shibli Bagarag, the nephew of the barber, him we watch
for.'
So Shibli Bagarag marvelled at this recognition, and answered, 'Am I then
already famous to that extent?'
And he that accosted him said, ''Tis certain the trumpet was blown before
thy steps, and there is not a man in this city but knoweth of thy
destination to the City of Oolb, and that thou art upon the track of
great things, one chosen to bring about imminent changes.'
Then said Shibli Bagarag, 'For this I praise Noorna bin Noorka, daughter
of Feshnavat, Vizier of the King that ruleth in the city of Shagpat! She
saw me, that I was marked for greatness. Wullahy, the eagle knoweth me
from afar, and proclaimeth me; the antelope of the hills scenteth the
coming of one not as other men, and telleth his tidings; the wind of the
desert shapeth its gust to a meaning, so that the stranger may wot Shibli
Bagarag is at hand!'
He puffed his chest, and straightened his legs like the cock, and was as
a man upon whom the Sultan has bestowed a dress of honour, even as the
plumed peacock. Then the other said:
'Know that I am captain of yonder vessel, that stands farthest out from
the harbour with her sails slackened; and she is laden with figs and
fruits which I exchange for silks, spices, and other merchandise, with
the people of Oolb. Now, what says the poet?--
"Delay in thine undertaking
Is disaster of thy own making";
and he says also:
"Greatness is solely for them that succeed;
'Tis a rotten applause that gives earlier meed."
Therefore it is advisable for thee to follow me on board without loss of
time, and we will sail this very night for the City of Oolb.'
Now, Shibli Bagarag was ruled by the words of the captain albeit he
desired to stay awhile and receive the homage of the people of that city.
So he followed him into a boat that was by, and the twain were rowed by
sailors to the ship. Then, when they were aboard the captain set sail,
and they were soon in the hollows of deep waters. There was a berth in
the ship set apart for Shibli Bagarag, and one for the captain. Shibli
Bagarag, when he entered his berth, beheld at the head of his couch a
hawk; its eyes red as rubies, its beak sharp as the curve of a scimitar.
So he called out to the captain, and the captain came to him; but when he
saw the hawk, he plucked his turban from his head, and dashed it at the
hawk, and afterward ran to it, trying to catch it; and the hawk flitted
from corner to corner of the berth, he after it with open arms. Then he
took a sword, but the hawk flew past him, and fixed on the back part of
his head, tearing up his hair by the talons, and pecking over his
forehead at his eyes. And Shibli Bagarag heard the hawk scream the name
'Karaz,' and he looked closely at the Captain of the vessel, and knew him
for the Genie Karaz. Then trembled he with exceeding terror, cursing his
credulities, for he saw himself in the hands of the Genie, and nothing
but this hawk friendly to him on the fearful waters. When the hawk had
torn up a certain hair, the Genie stiffened, and glowed like copper in
the furnace, the whole length of him; and he descended heavily through
the bottom of the ship, and sank into the waters beneath, which hissed
and smoked as at a bar of heated iron. Then Shibli Bagarag gave thanks
to the Prophet, and praised the hawk, but the hawk darted out of the
cabin, and he followed it on deck, and, lo! the vessel was in flames,
and the hawk in a circle of the flames; and the flames soared with it,
and left it no outlet. Now, as Shibli Bagarag watched the hawk, the
flames stretched out towards him and took hold of his vestments. So he
delayed not to commend his soul to the All-merciful, and bore witness to
his faith, and plunged into the sea headlong. When he rose, the ship had
vanished, and all was darkness where it had been; so he buffeted with the
billows, thinking his last hour had come, and there was no help for him
in this world; and the spray shaken from the billows blinded him, the
great walls of water crumbled over him; strength failed him, and his
memory ceased to picture images of the old time--his heart to beat with
ambition; and to keep the weight of his head above the surface was
becoming a thing worth the ransom of kings. As he was sinking and
turning his eyes upward, he heard a flutter as of fledgling's wings, and
the two red ruby eyes of the hawk were visible above him, like steady
fires in the gloom. And the hawk perched on him, and buried itself among
the wet hairs of his head, and presently taking the Identical in its
beak, the hawk lifted him half out of water, and bore him a distance, and
dropped him. This the hawk did many times, and at the last, Shibli
Bagarag felt land beneath him, and could wade through the surges to the
shore. He gave thanks to the Supreme Disposer, kneeling prostrate on the
shore, and fell into a sleep deep in peacefulness as a fathomless well,
unruffled by a breath.
Now, when it was dawn Shibli Bagarag awoke and looked inland, and saw
plainly the minarets of a city shining in the first beams, and the front
of yellow mountains, and people moving about the walls and on the towers
and among the pastures round the city; so he made toward them, and
inquired of them the name of their city. And they stared at him, crying,
'What! know'st thou not the City of Oolb? the hawk on thy shoulder could
tell thee that much.' He looked and saw that the hawk was on his
shoulder; and its left wing was scorched, the plumage blackened. So he
said to the hawk, 'Is it profitable, O preserving bird, to ask of thee
questions?'
The hawk shook its wings and closed an eye.
So he said, 'Do I well in entering this city?'
The hawk shook its wings again and closed an eye.
So he said, 'To what house shall I direct my steps in this strange city
for the attainment of the purpose I have?'
The hawk flew, and soared, and alighted on the topmost of the towers of
Oolb. So when it returned he said, 'O bird! rare bird! my counsellor!
it is an indication, this alighting on the highest tower, that thou
advisest me to go straight to the palace of the King?'
The hawk flapped its wings and winked both eyes; so Shibli Bagarag took
forth the phial from his breast, remembering the virtues of the waters of
the Well of Paravid, and touched his lips with them, that he might be
endowed with flowing speech before the King of Oolb. As he did this the
phial was open, and the hawk leaned to it and dipped its beak into the
water; and he entered the city and passed through the long streets
towards the palace of the King, and craved audience of him as one that
had a thing marvellous to tell. So the King commanded that Shibli
Bagarag should be brought before him, for he was a lover of marvels. As
he went into the presence of the King, Shibli Bagarag listened to the
hawk, for the hawk spake his language, and it said, 'Proclaim to the King
a new wonder--"the talking hawk."'
So when he had bent his body to the King, he proclaimed the new wonder;
and the King seemed not to observe the hawk, and said, 'From what city
art thou?'
He answered, 'Native, O King, to Shiraz; newly from the City of Shagpat.'
And the King asked, 'How is it with that hairy wonder?'
He answered, 'The dark forest flourisheth about him.'
And the King said, 'That is well! We of the City of Oolb take our
fashions from them of the City of Shagpat, and it is but yesterday that I
bastinadoed a barber that strayed among us.'
Shibli Bagarag sighed when he heard the King, and thought to himself,
'How unfortunate is the race of barbers, once honourable and in esteem!
Surely it will not be otherwise till Shagpat is shaved!' And the King
called out to him for the cause of his sighing; so he said, 'I sigh, O
King of the age, considering how like may be the case of the barber
bastinadoed but yesterday, in his worth and value, to that of Roomdroom,
the reader of planets, that was a barber.'
And he related the story of Roomdroom for the edification of the King and
the exaltation of barbercraft, delivering himself neatly and winningly
and pointedly, so that the story should apply, which was its merit and
its origin.
GOORELKA OF OOLB
When Shibli Bagarag had finished his narration of the case of Roomdroom
the barber, the King of Oolb said, 'O thou, native of Shiraz, there is
persuasion and sweetness and fascination on thy tongue, and I am touched
with compassion for the soles of Baba Mustapha, that I bastinadoed but
yesterday, and he was from Shiraz likewise.'
Now, the heart of Shibli Bagarag leapt when he heard mention of Baba
Mustapha; and he knew him for his uncle that was searching him. He would
have cried aloud his relationship, but the hawk whispered in his ear.
Then the hawk said to him, 'There is danger in the King's muteness
respecting me, for I am visible to him. Proclaim the spirit of
prophecy.'
So he proclaimed that spirit, and the King said, 'Prophesy to me of
barbercraft.'
And he cried, 'O King of the age, the barber is abased, trodden
underfoot, given over to the sneers and the gibes of them that flatter
the powerful ones; he is as the winter worm, as the crocodile in the
slime of his sleep by the bank, as the sick eagle before moulting. But I
say, O King, that he will come forth like the serpent in a new skin,
shaming the old one; he slept a caterpillar, and will come forth a
butterfly; he sank a star, and lo! he riseth a constellation.'
Now, while he was speaking in the fervour of his soul, the King said
something to one of the court officers surrounding him, and there was
brought to the King a basin, a soap-bowl, and barber's tackle. When
Shibli Bagarag saw these, the uses of the barber rushed upon his mind,
and desire to sway the tackle pushed him forward and agitated him, so
that he could not keep his hands from them.
Then the King exclaimed, 'It is as I thought. Our passions betray
themselves, and our habits; so is it written. By Allah! I swear thou
art thyself none other than a barber, O youth.'
Shibli Bagwrag was nigh fainting with terror at this discovery of the
King, but the hawk said in his ear, 'Proclaim speech in the tackle.' So
he proclaimed speech in the tackle; and the King smiled doubtfully, and
said, 'If this be a cheat, Shiraz will not see thy face more.'
Then the hawk whispered in his ear, 'Drop on the tackle secretly a drop
from the phial.' This he did, spreading his garments, and commanded the
tackle to speak. And the tackle spake, each portion of it, confusedly as
the noise of Babel. So the King marvelled greatly, and said, ''Tis a
greater wonder than the talking hawk, the talking tackle. Wullahy! it
ennobleth barbercraft! Yet it were well to comprehend the saying of the
tackle.'
Then the hawk flew to the tackle and fluttered about it, and lo! the
blade and the brush stood up and said in a shrill tone, 'It is ordained
that Shagpat shall be shaved, and that Shibli Bagarag shall shave him.'
The King bit the forefinger of amazement, and said, 'What then ensueth, O
talking tackle?'
And the brush and the blade stood up, and said in a shrill tone, 'Honour
to Shibli Bagarag and barbers! Shame unto Shagpat and his fellows!'
Upon that, the King cried, 'Enough, O talking tackle; I will forestall
the coming thing. I will be shaved! wullahy, that will I!'
Then the hawk whispered to Shibli Bagarag, 'Forward and shear him!' So
he stepped forth and seized the tackle, and addressed himself keenly to
the shaving of the King of Oolb, lathering him and performing his task
with perfect skill. And the courtiers crowded to follow the example of
the King, and Shibli Bagarag shaved them, all of them. Now, when they
were shaved, fear smote them, the fear of ridicule, and each laughed at
the change that was in the other; but the King cried, 'See that order is
issued for the people of Oolb to be as we before to-morrow's sun. So is
laughter taken in reverse.' And the King said aside to Shibli Bagarag,
'Say now, what may be thy price for yonder hawk?'
And the hawk bade him say, 'The loan of thy cockleshell.'
The King mused, and said, 'That is much to ask, for it is that which
beareth the Princess my daughter to the Lily of the Enchanted Sea, which
she nourisheth; and if 'tis harmed, she will be stricken with ugliness,
as was the daughter of the Vizier Feshnavat, who tended it before her.
Yet is this hawk a bird of price. What be its qualities, besides the
gift of speech?'
Shibli Bagarag answered, 'To counsel in extremity; to forewarn; to
counteract enchantments and foul magic.'
Upon that the King said, 'Follow me!'
And the King led the way from the hall, through many spacious chambers
fair with mirrors and silks and precious woods, and smooth marble floors,
down into a vault lit by a lamp that was shaped like an eye. Round the
vault were hung helm-pieces, and swords, and rich-studded housings; and
there were silken dresses, and costly shawls, and tall vases and jars of
China, tapestries, and gold services. And the King said, 'Take thy
choice of these in exchange for the hawk.'
But Shibli Bagarag said, 'Nought save a loan of the cockle-shell, King!'
Then the King threatened him, saying, 'There is a virtue in each of the
things thou seest: the China jar is brimmed with wine, and remaineth so
though a thousand drink of it; the dress of Samarcand rendereth the
wearer invisible; yet thou refusest to exchange them for thy hawk!'
And the King swore by the beard of his father he would seize perforce the
hawk and shut up Shibli Bagarag in the vault, if he fell not into his
bargain. Shibli Bagarag was advised by the hawk to accept the China jar
and the dress of Samarcand, and handed the hawk to the King in exchange
for these things. So the King took the hawk upon his wrist and departed
with it to the apartments of his daughter, and Shibli Bagarag went to the
chamber prepared for him in the palace.
Now, when it was night, Shibli Bagarag heard a noise at his lattice, and
he arose and peered through it, and lo! the hawk was fluttering without;
so he let it in, and caressed it, and the hawk bade him put on his silken
dress and carry forth his China jar, and go the round of the palace, and
offer drink to the sentinels and the slaves. So he did as the hawk
directed, and the sentinels and slaves were aware of a China jar brimmed
with wine that was lifted to their lips, but him that lifted it they saw
not: surely, they drank deep of the draught of astonishment.
Then the hawk flew before him, and he followed it to a chamber lit with
golden lamps, gorgeously hung, and full of a dusky splendour and the
faint sparkle of gems, ruby, amethyst, topaz, and beryl; in it there was
the hush of sleep, and the heart of Shibli Bagarag told him that one
beautiful was near. So he approached on tiptoe a couch of blue silk,
bordered with gold-wire, and inwoven with stars of blue turquoise stones,
as it had been the heavens of midnight. On the couch lay one, a woman,
pure in loveliness; the dark fringes of her closed lids like living
flashes of darkness, her mouth like an unstrung bow and as a double
rosebud, even as two isles of coral between which in the clear
transparent watery beds the pearls shine freshly.
And the hawk said to Shibli Bagarag, 'This is the Princess Goorelka, the
daughter of the King of Oolb, a sorceress, the Guardian of the Lily of
the Enchanted Sea. Beneath her pillow is the cockle-shell; grasp it, but
gaze not upon her.'
He approached and slid his arm beneath the pillow of the Princess, and
grasped the cockle-shell; but ere he drew it forth he gazed upon her, and
the lustre of her countenance transfixed him as with a javelin, so that
he could not stir, nor move his eyes from the contemplation of her
sweetness of feature. The hawk darted at him fiercely, and pecked at him
to draw his attention from her, and he stepped back, yet he continued
taking fatal draughts from the magic cup of her beauty. Then the hawk
screamed a loud scream of anguish, and the Princess awoke, and started
half-way from the couch, and stared about her, and saw the bird in
agitation. As she looked at the bird a shudder passed over her, and she
snatched a veil and drew it over her face, murmuring, 'I dream, or I am
under the eye of a man.' Then she felt beneath the pillow, and knew that
the cockle-shell had been touched; and in a moment she leapt from her
couch, and ran to a mirror and saw herself as she was, a full-moon made
to snare the wariest and sit singly high on a throne in the hearts of
men. At the sight of her beauty she smiled and seemed at peace,
murmuring still, 'I am under the eye of a man, or I dream.' Now, while
she so murmured she arrayed herself, and took the cockle-shell, and
passed through the ante-room among her women sleeping; and Shibli Bagarag
tracked her till she came to the vault; and she entered it and walked to
the corner from which had hung the dress of Samarcand. When she saw it
gone her face waxed pale, and she gazed slowly at all points, muttering,
'There is no further doubt but that I am under the eye of a man!'
Thereupon she ran hastily from the vault, and passed between the
sentinels of the palace, and saw them where they lay drowsy with
intoxication: so she knew that the China jar and the dress of Samarcand
had been used that night, and for no purpose friendly to her wishes.
Then she passed down the palace steps, and through the gates of the
palace and the city, till she came to the shore of the sea; there she
launched the cockle-shell and took the wind in her garments, and sat in
it, filling it to overflowing, yet it floated. And Shibli Bagarag waded
to the cockle-shell and took hold of it, and was drawn along by its
motion swiftly through the waters, so that a foam swept after him; and
Goorelka marked the foam. Now, they had passage over the billows
smoothly, and soon the length of the sea was darkened with two high
rocks, and between them there was a narrow channel of the sea, roughened
with moonlight. So they sped between the rocks, and came upon a purple
sea, dark-blue overhead, with large stars leaning to the waves. There
was a soft whisperingness in the breath of the breezes that swung there,
and many sails of charmed ships were seen in momentary gleams, flapping
the mast idly far away. Warm as new milk from the full udders were the
waters of that sea, and figures of fair women stretched lengthwise with
the current, and lifted a head as they rushed rolling by. Truly it was
enchanted even to the very bed!
ETEXT EDITOR'S BOOKMARKS:
Delay in thine undertaking is disaster of thy own making
Lest thou commence to lie--be dumb!
No runner can outstrip his fate
'Tis the first step that makes a path
When to loquacious fools with patience rare I listen
End of this Project Gutenberg Etext of The Shaving of Shagpat, v2
by George Meredith
