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FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.10/04/01*END* + + + + + +This etext was produced by Pat Castevans <Patcat@ctnet.net> +and David Widger <widger@cecomet.net> + + + + + +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 + diff --git a/4402.zip b/4402.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..a2e8981 --- /dev/null +++ b/4402.zip diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. 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