The Arabian Nights Entertainments
then reported to the Cadi that they were fresh and good.
"You are mistaken," said he, "Ali Cogia declares he put them in that
vase seven years ago."
"My lord," returned the olive merchants, "we can assure you that the
olives are those of the present year. And if you consult all the
merchants in Bagdad you will not find one to give a contrary opinion."
The accused merchant opened his mouth as if to protest, but the Cadi
gave him no time. "Be silent," he said, "you are a thief. Take him
away and hang him." So the game ended, the children clapping their
hands in applause, and leading the criminal away to be hanged.
Haroun-al-Raschid was lost in astonishment at the wisdom of the child,
who had given so wise a verdict on the case which he himself was to
hear on the morrow. "Is there any other verdict possible?" he asked
the grand-vizir, who was as much impressed as himself. "I can imagine
no better judgment."
"If the circumstances are really such as we have heard," replied the
grand-vizir, "it seems to me your Highness could only follow the
example of this boy, in the method of reasoning, and also in your
conclusions."
"Then take careful note of this house," said the Caliph, "and bring me
the boy to-morrow, so that the affair may be tried by him in my
presence. Summon also the Cadi, to learn his duty from the mouth of a
child. Bid Ali Cogia bring his vase of olives, and see that two
dealers in olives are present." So saying the Caliph returned to the
palace.
The next morning early, the grand-vizir went back to the house where
they had seen the children playing, and asked for the mistress and her
children. Three boys appeared, and the grand-vizir inquired which had
represented the Cadi in their game of the previous evening. The eldest
and tallest, changing colour, confessed that it was he, and to his
mother's great alarm, the grand-vizir said that he had strict orders to
bring him into the presence of the Caliph.
"Does he want to take my son from me?" cried the poor woman; but the
grand-vizir hastened to calm her, by assuring her that she should have
the boy again in an hour, and she would be quite satisfied when she
knew the reason of the summons. So she dressed the boy in his best
clothes, and the two left the house.
When the grand-vizir presented the child to the Caliph, he was a little
awed and confused, and the Caliph proceeded to explain why he had sent
for him. "Approach, my son," he said kindly. "I think it was you who
judged the case of Ali Cogia and the merchant last night? I overheard
you by chance, and was very pleased with the way you conducted it.
To-day you will see the real Ali Cogia and the real merchant. Seat
yourself at once next to me."
The Caliph being seated on his throne with the boy next him, the
parties to the suit were ushered in. One by one they prostrated
themselves, and touched the carpet at the foot of the throne with their
foreheads. When they rose up, the Caliph said: "Now speak. This
child will give you justice, and if more should be wanted I will see to
it myself."
Ali Cogia and the merchant pleaded one after the other, but when the
merchant offered to swear the same oath that he had taken before the
Cadi, he was stopped by the child, who said that before this was done
he must first see the vase of olives.
At these words, Ali Cogia presented the vase to the Caliph, and
uncovered it. The Caliph took one of the olives, tasted it, and
ordered the expert merchants to do the same. They pronounced the
olives good, and fresh that year. The boy informed them that Ali Cogia
declared it was seven years since he had placed them in the vase; to
which they returned the same answer as the children had done.
The accused merchant saw by this time that his condemnation was
certain, and tried to allege something in his defence. The boy had too
much sense to order him to be hanged, and looked at the Caliph, saying,
"Commander of the Faithful, this is not a game now; it is for your
Highness to condemn him to death and not for me."
Then the Caliph, convinced that the man was a thief, bade them take him
away and hang him, which was done, but not before he had confessed his
guilt and the place in which he had hidden Ali Cogia's money. The
Caliph ordered the Cadi to learn how to deal out justice from the mouth
of a child, and sent the boy home, with a purse containing a hundred
pieces of gold as a mark of his favour.
The Enchanted Horse
It was the Feast of the New Year, the oldest and most splendid of all
the feasts in the Kingdom of Persia, and the day had been spent by the
king in the city of Schiraz, taking part in the magnificent spectacles
prepared by his subjects to do honour to the festival. The sun was
setting, and the monarch was about to give his court the signal to
retire, when suddenly an Indian appeared before his throne, leading a
horse richly harnessed, and looking in every respect exactly like a
real one.
"Sire," said he, prostrating himself as he spoke, "although I make my
appearance so late before your Highness, I can confidently assure you
that none of the wonders you have seen during the day can be compared
to this horse, if you will deign to cast your eyes upon him."
"I see nothing in it," replied the king, "except a clever imitation of
a real one; and any skilled workman might do as much."
"Sire," returned the Indian, "it is not of his outward form that I
would speak, but of the use that I can make of him. I have only to
mount him, and to wish myself in some special place, and no matter how
distant it may be, in a very few moments I shall find myself there. It
is this, Sire, that makes the horse so marvellous, and if your Highness
will allow me, you can prove it for yourself."
The King of Persia, who was interested in every thing out of the
common, and had never before come across a horse with such qualities,
bade the Indian mount the animal, and show what he could do. In an
instant the man had vaulted on his back, and inquired where the monarch
wished to send him.
"Do you see that mountain?" asked the king, pointing to a huge mass
that towered into the sky about three leagues from Schiraz; "go and
bring me the leaf of a palm that grows at the foot."
The words were hardly out of the king's mouth when the Indian turned a
screw placed in the horse's neck, close to the saddle, and the animal
bounded like lightning up into the air, and was soon beyond the sight
even of the sharpest eyes. In a quarter of an hour the Indian was seen
returning, bearing in his hand the palm, and, guiding his horse to the
foot of the throne, he dismounted, and laid the leaf before the king.
Now the monarch had no sooner proved the astonishing speed of which the
horse was capable than he longed to possess it himself, and indeed, so
sure was he that the Indian would be quite ready to sell it, that he
looked upon it as his own already.
"I never guessed from his mere outside how valuable an animal he was,"
he remarked to the Indian, "and I am grateful to you for having shown
me my error," said he. "If you will sell it, name your own price."
"Sire," replied the Indian, "I never doubted that a sovereign so wise
and accomplished as your Highness would do justice to my horse, when he
once knew its power; and I even went so far as to think it probable
that you might wish to possess it. Greatly as I prize it, I will yield
it up to your Highness on one condition. The horse was not constructed
by me, but it was given me by the inventor, in exchange for my only
daughter, who made me take a solemn oath that I would never part with
it, except for some object of equal value."
"Name anything you like," cried the monarch, interrupting him. "My
kingdom is large, and filled with fair cities. You have only to choose
which you would prefer, to become its ruler to the end of your life."
"Sire," answered the Indian, to whom the proposal did not seem nearly
so generous as it appeared to the king, "I am most grateful to your
Highness for your princely offer, and beseech you not to be offended
with me if I say that I can only deliver up my horse in exchange for
the hand of the princess your daughter."
A shout of laughter burst from the courtiers as they heard these words,
and Prince Firouz Schah, the heir apparent, was filled with anger at
the Indian's presumption. The king, however, thought that it would not
cost him much to part from the princess in order to gain such a
delightful toy, and while he was hesitating as to his answer the prince
broke in.
"Sire," he said, "it is not possible that you can doubt for an instant
what reply you should give to such an insolent bargain. Consider what
you owe to yourself, and to the blood of your ancestors."
"My son," replied the king, "you speak nobly, but you do not realise
either the value of the horse, or the fact that if I reject the
proposal of the Indian, he will only make the same to some other
monarch, and I should be filled with despair at the thought that anyone
but myself should own this Seventh Wonder of the World. Of course I do
not say that I shall accept his conditions, and perhaps he may be
brought to reason, but meanwhile I should like you to examine the
horse, and, with the owner's permission, to make trial of its powers."
The Indian, who had overheard the king's speech, thought that he saw in
it signs of yielding to his proposal, so he joyfully agreed to the
monarch's wishes, and came forward to help the prince to mount the
horse, and show him how to guide it: but, before he had finished, the
young man turned the screw, and was soon out of sight.
They waited some time, expecting that every moment he might be seen
returning in the distance, but at length the Indian grew frightened,
and prostrating himself before the throne, he said to the king, "Sire,
your Highness must have noticed that the prince, in his impatience, did
not allow me to tell him what it was necessary to do in order to return
to the place from which he started. I implore you not to punish me for
what was not my fault, and not to visit on me any misfortune that may
occur."
"But why," cried the king in a burst of fear and anger, "why did you
not call him back when you saw him disappearing?"
"Sire," replied the Indian, "the rapidity of his movements took me so
by surprise that he was out of hearing before I recovered my speech.
But we must hope that he will perceive and turn a second screw, which
will have the effect of bringing the horse back to earth."
"But supposing he does!" answered the king, "what is to hinder the
horse from descending straight into the sea, or dashing him to pieces
on the rocks?"
"Have no fears, your Highness," said the Indian; "the horse has the
gift of passing over seas, and of carrying his rider wherever he wishes
to go."
"Well, your head shall answer for it," returned the monarch, "and if in
three months he is not safe back with me, or at any rate does not send
me news of his safety, your life shall pay the penalty." So saying, he
ordered his guards to seize the Indian and throw him into prison.
Meanwhile, Prince Firouz Schah had gone gaily up into the air, and for
the space of an hour continued to ascend higher and higher, till the
very mountains were not distinguishable from the plains. Then he began
to think it was time to come down, and took for granted that, in order
to do this, it was only needful to turn the screw the reverse way; but,
to his surprise and horror, he found that, turn as he might, he did not
make the smallest impression. He then remembered that he had never
waited to ask how he was to get back to earth again, and understood the
danger in which he stood. Luckily, he did not lose his head, and set