The Arabian Nights Entertainments
as smooth and white as her face, was a mass of scars.
The Calenders and the Caliph looked at each other, and whispered
together, unheard by Zobeida and Sadie, who were tending their fainting
sister.
"What does it all mean?' asked the Caliph.
"We know no more than you," said the Calender to whom he had spoken.
"What! You do not belong to the house?"
"My lord," answered all the Calenders together, "we came here for the
first time an hour before you."
They then turned to the porter to see if he could explain the mystery,
but the porter was no wiser than they were themselves. At length the
Caliph could contain his curiosity no longer, and declared that he
would compel the ladies to tell them the meaning of their strange
conduct. The vizir, foreseeing what would happen, implored him to
remember the condition their hostesses had imposed, and added in a
whisper that if his Highness would only wait till morning he could as
Caliph summon the ladies to appear before him. But the Caliph, who was
not accustomed to be contradicted, rejected this advice, and it was
resolved after a little more talking that the question should be put by
the porter. Suddenly Zobeida turned round, and seeing their excitement
she said, "What is the matter--what are you all discussing so
earnestly?"
"Madam," answered the porter, "these gentlemen entreat you to explain
to them why you should first whip the dogs and then cry over them, and
also how it happens that the fainting lady is covered with scars. They
have requested me, Madam, to be their mouthpiece."
"Is it true, gentlemen," asked Zobeida, drawing herself up, "that you
have charged this man to put me that question?"
"It is," they all replied, except Giafar, who was silent.
"Is this," continued Zobeida, growing more angry every moment, "is this
the return you make for the hospitality I have shown you? Have you
forgotten the one condition on which you were allowed to enter the
house? Come quickly," she added, clapping her hands three times, and
the words were hardly uttered when seven black slaves, each armed with
a sabre, burst in and stood over the seven men, throwing them on the
ground, and preparing themselves, on a sign from their mistress, to cut
off their heads.
The seven culprits all thought their last hour had come, and the Caliph
repented bitterly that he had not taken the vizir's advice. But they
made up their minds to die bravely, all except the porter, who loudly
inquired of Zobeida why he was to suffer for other people's faults, and
declared that these misfortunes would never have happened if it had not
been for the Calenders, who always brought ill-luck. He ended by
imploring Zobeida not to confound the innocent with the guilty and to
spare his life.
In spite of her anger, there was something so comic in the groans of
the porter that Zobeida could not refrain from laughing. But putting
him aside she addressed the others a second time, saying, "Answer me;
who are you? Unless you tell me truly you have not another moment to
live. I can hardly think you are men of any position, whatever country
you belong to. If you were, you would have had more consideration for
us."
The Caliph, who was naturally very impatient, suffered far more than
either of the others at feeling that his life was at the mercy of a
justly offended lady, but when he heard her question he began to
breathe more freely, for he was convinced that she had only to learn
his name and rank for all danger to be over. So he whispered hastily
to the vizir, who was next to him, to reveal their secret. But the
vizir, wiser than his master, wished to conceal from the public the
affront they had received, and merely answered, "After all, we have
only got what we deserved."
Meanwhile Zobeida had turned to the three Calenders and inquired if, as
they were all blind, they were brothers.
"No, madam," replied one, "we are no blood relations at all, only
brothers by our mode of life."
"And you," she asked, addressing another, "were you born blind of one
eye?"
"No, madam," returned he, "I became blind through a most surprising
adventure, such as probably has never happened to anybody. After that
I shaved my head and eyebrows and put on the dress in which you see me
now."
Zobeida put the same question to the other two Calenders, and received
the same answer.
"But," added the third, "it may interest you, madam, to know that we
are not men of low birth, but are all three sons of kings, and of
kings, too, whom the world holds in high esteem."
At these words Zobeida's anger cooled down, and she turned to her
slaves and said, "You can give them a little more liberty, but do not
leave the hall. Those that will tell us their histories and their
reasons for coming here shall be allowed to leave unhurt; those who
refuse--" And she paused, but in a moment the porter, who understood
that he had only to relate his story to set himself free from this
terrible danger, immediately broke in,
"Madam, you know already how I came here, and what I have to say will
soon be told. Your sister found me this morning in the place where I
always stand waiting to be hired. She bade me follow her to various
shops, and when my basket was quite full we returned to this house,
when you had the goodness to permit me to remain, for which I shall be
eternally grateful. That is my story."
He looked anxiously to Zobeida, who nodded her head and said, "You can
go; and take care we never meet again."
"Oh, madam," cried the porter, "let me stay yet a little while. It is
not just that the others should have heard my story and that I should
not hear theirs," and without waiting for permission he seated himself
on the end of the sofa occupied by the ladies, whilst the rest crouched
on the carpet, and the slaves stood against the wall.
Then one of the Calenders, addressing himself to Zobeida as the
principal lady, began his story.
The Story of the First Calender, Son of a King
In order, madam, to explain how I came to lose my right eye, and to
wear the dress of a Calender, you must first know that I am the son of
a king. My father's only brother reigned over the neighbouring
country, and had two children, a daughter and a son, who were of the
same age as myself.
As I grew up, and was allowed more liberty, I went every year to pay a
visit to my uncle's court, and usually stayed there about two months.
In this way my cousin and I became very intimate, and were much
attached to each other. The very last time I saw him he seemed more
delighted to see me than ever, and gave a great feast in my honour.
When we had finished eating, he said to me, "My cousin, you would never
guess what I have been doing since your last visit to us! Directly
after your departure I set a number of men to work on a building after
my own design. It is now completed, and ready to be lived in. I
should like to show it to you, but you must first swear two things: to
be faithful to me, and to keep my secret."
Of course I did not dream of refusing him anything he asked, and gave
the promise without the least hesitation. He then bade me wait an
instant, and vanished, returning in a few moments with a richly dressed
lady of great beauty, but as he did not tell me her name, I thought it
was better not to inquire. We all three sat down to table and amused
ourselves with talking of all sorts of indifferent things, and with
drinking each other's health. Suddenly the prince said to me, "Cousin,
we have no time to lose; be so kind as to conduct this lady to a
certain spot, where you will find a dome-like tomb, newly built. You
cannot mistake it. Go in, both of you, and wait till I come. I shall
not be long."
As I had promised I prepared to do as I was told, and giving my hand to
the lady, I escorted her, by the light of the moon, to the place of
which the prince had spoken. We had barely reached it when he joined
us himself, carrying a small vessel of water, a pickaxe, and a little
bag containing plaster.
With the pickaxe he at once began to destroy the empty sepulchre in the
middle of the tomb. One by one he took the stones and piled them up in
a corner. When he had knocked down the whole sepulchre he proceeded to
dig at the earth, and beneath where the sepulchre had been I saw a
trap-door. He raised the door and I caught sight of the top of a spiral
staircase; then he said, turning to the lady, "Madam, this is the way
that will lead you down to the spot which I told you of."
The lady did not answer, but silently descended the staircase, the
prince following her. At the top, however, he looked at me. "My
cousin," he exclaimed, "I do not know how to thank you for your
kindness. Farewell."
"What do you mean?" I cried. "I don't understand."
"No matter," he replied, "go back by the path that you came."
He would say no more, and, greatly puzzled, I returned to my room in
the palace and went to bed. When I woke, and considered my adventure,
I thought that I must have been dreaming, and sent a servant to ask if
the prince was dressed and could see me. But on hearing that he had
not slept at home I was much alarmed, and hastened to the cemetery,
where, unluckily, the tombs were all so alike that I could not discover
which was the one I was in search of, though I spent four days in
looking for it.
You must know that all this time the king, my uncle, was absent on a
hunting expedition, and as no one knew when he would be back, I at last
decided to return home, leaving the ministers to make my excuses. I
longed to tell them what had become of the prince, about whose fate
they felt the most dreadful anxiety, but the oath I had sworn kept me
silent.
On my arrival at my father's capital, I was astonished to find a large
detachment of guards drawn up before the gate of the palace; they
surrounded me directly I entered. I asked the officers in command the
reason of this strange behaviour, and was horrified to learn that the
army had mutinied and put to death the king, my father, and had placed
the grand-vizir on the throne. Further, that by his orders I was
placed under arrest.
Now this rebel vizir had hated me from my boy-hood, because once, when
shooting at a bird with a bow, I had shot out his eye by accident. Of
course I not only sent a servant at once to offer him my regrets and
apologies, but I made them in person. It was all of no use. He
cherished an undying hatred towards me, and lost no occasion of showing
it. Having once got me in his power I felt he could show no mercy, and
I was right. Mad with triumph and fury he came to me in my prison and
tore out my right eye. That is how I lost it.
My persecutor, however, did not stop here. He shut me up in a large
case and ordered his executioner to carry me into a desert place, to
cut off my head, and then to abandon my body to the birds of prey. The
case, with me inside it, was accordingly placed on a horse, and the
executioner, accompanied by another man, rode into the country until
they found a spot suitable for the purpose. But their hearts were not
so hard as they seemed, and my tears and prayers made them waver.
"Forsake the kingdom instantly," said the executioner at last, "and
take care never to come back, for you will not only lose your head, but
make us lose ours." I thanked him gratefully, and tried to console
myself for the loss of my eye by thinking of the other misfortunes I
had escaped.
After all I had gone through, and my fear of being recognised by some
enemy, I could only travel very slowly and cautiously, generally
resting in some out-of-the-way place by day, and walking as far as I
was able by night, but at length I arrived in the kingdom of my uncle,
of whose protection I was sure.