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the earth before her. Quoth she, What is the lading of thy ship
and whom hast thou with thee? O queen of the age, answered
he, I have with me a merchant who deals in slaves. And she
said, Bring him to me; whereupon Behram came ashore to her,
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followed by Asaad in a slave s habit, and kissed the earth before
her. What is thy condition? asked the queen; and Behram
answered, I am a slave-dealer. Then she looked at Asaad and
taking him for a slave, said to him, What is thy name? Quoth
he, Dost thou ask my present or my former name? Hast thou
then two names? asked she, and he answered (and indeed his voice
was choked with tears), Yes; my name aforetime was Asaad,[FN70]
but now it is Muterr. [FN71] Her heart inclined to him and she
said, Canst thou write? Yes, answered he; and she gave him
inkhorn and pen and paper and said to him, Write somewhat, that
I may see it. So he wrote the following verses:
Harkye, O thou that judgest, what can a mortal do, When fate, in
all conditions, doth him to death ensue?
It casts him in the ocean, bound hand and foot, and says, Beware
lest with the water you wet yourself, look you!
When she read this, she had compassion upon him and said to
Behram, Sell me this slave. O my lady, answered he, I
cannot sell him, for he is the only slave I have left. Quoth
she, I must have him of thee, either by purchase or as a gift.
But Behram said, I will neither sell him nor give him. Whereat
she was wroth and taking Asaad by the hand, carried him up to the
palace and sent to Behram, saying, Except thou set sail and
depart our city this very night, I will seize all thy goods and
break up thy ship. When the message reached the Magian, he was
sore troubled and said, Verily, this voyage is every way
unfortunate. Then he made ready and took all he needed and
awaited the coming of the night, to resume his voyage, saying to
the sailors, Provide yourselves and fill the waterskins, that we
may set sail at the last of the night. So the sailors did their
occasions and awaited the coming of the night.
To return to Queen Merjaneh. When she had brought Asaad into the
palace, she opened the windows overlooking the sea and bade her
handmaids bring food. Accordingly, they set food before Asaad
and herself, and they ate, after which the queen called for wine
and fell to drinking with him. Now God (may He be exalted and
glorified!) filled her heart with love for Asaad and she plied
him with wine, till his reason fled and presently he rose and
left the hall, to do an occasion. Seeing a door open, he went
out and walked on, till he came to a vast garden full of all
manner fruits and flowers and sitting down under a tree, did his
occasion. Then he went up to a fountain in the garden and made
the ablution and washed his hands and face, after which he would
have risen to go away; but the air smote him and he fell back,
with his clothes undone, and slept, and night overcame him thus.
Meanwhile, Behram, the night being come, cried out to the sailors
to spread sail and depart. We hear and obey, answered they;
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but give us time to fill our water-skins. Then they landed
with their water-skins and coasting the palace, found nothing but
walls: so they climbed over into the garden and followed the
track of feet, that led them to the fountain, where they found
Asaad lying on his back, asleep. They knew him and taking him
up, climbed the wall again with him, after they had filled their
skins, and carried him back in haste to Behram, to whom said
they, Beat thy drums and sound thy pipes; for we have found thy
prisoner, whom Queen Merjaneh took from thee by force, and have
brought him back to thee. And they threw Asaad down before
him. When Behram saw him, his heart leapt for joy and his
breast dilated with gladness. Then he bestowed largesse on
the sailors and bade them weigh anchor in haste. So they set
sail forthright, intending for the Mountain of Fire, and stayed
not their course till the morning.
As for Queen Merjaneh, she abode awhile, awaiting Asaad s return;
and when she saw that he came not, she rose and sought him, but
found no trace of him. Then she bade her women light flambeaux
and search for him, whilst she herself went forth and seeing the
garden-door open, knew that he had gone thither. So she went out
and finding his slippers lying by the fountain, searched the
garden in every part, but found no sign of him. Nevertheless,
she gave not over the search till morning, when she enquired for
the Magian s ship and was told that it had set sail in the first
watch of the night; wherefore she knew that they had taken Asaad
with them and this was grievous to her and she was angry. So she
bade equip ten great ships forthwith and arming herself, embarked
in one of them, with her guards and women and troops, richly
accoutred and armed for war. They spread the sails and she said
to the captain, If you overtake the Magian s ship, ye shall have
of me dresses of honour and largesse; but if ye let it escape, I
will kill you all. Whereat fear and great hope fell upon the
seamen, and they sailed three days and nights, till, on the
fourth day, they sighted Behram s ship. Ere ended day, they came
up with it and surrounded it on all sides, even as Behram had
taken Asaad forth of the chest and was beating and torturing him,
whilst the prince cried out for succour and relief, but found
neither helper nor deliverer; and indeed he was sorely tormented
with much beating. Presently Behram chanced to look up and
seeing himself encompassed by the queen s ships, as the white of
the eye encompasses the black, gave himself up for lost and
groaned and said to Asaad, Out on thee, O Asaad! This is all
thy doing; but, by Allah, I will kill thee ere I die myself.
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