"Fairy Tales from the Arabian Nights" - читать интересную книгу автора (Dixons Version)

She could not forbear admiring the prince, till at length, having kissed him gently on both cheeks and in the middle of the forehead without waking him, she took her flight into the air. As she mounted high to the middle region, she heard a great flapping of wings, which made her fly that way; and when she approached, she knew it was a genie who made the noise, but it was one of those that are rebellious. As for Maimoune, she belonged to that class whom the great Solomon compelled to acknowledge him.
This genie, whose name was Danhasch, knew Maimoune, and was seized with fear, being sensible how much power she had over him by her submission to the Almighty. He would fain have avoided her, but she was so near him that he must either fight or yield. He therefore broke silence first.
'Brave Maimoune,' said he, in the tone of a suppliant, 'swear to me that you will not hurt me; and I swear also on my part not to do you any harm.'
'Cursed genie,' replied Maimoune, 'what hurt canst thou do me? I fear thee not; but I will grant thee this favour; I will swear not to do thee any harm. Tell me then, wandering spirit, whence thou comest, what thou hast seen, and what thou hast done this night.'
'Fair lady,' answered Danhasch, 'you meet me at a good time to hear something very wonderful. I come from the utmost limits of China, which look on the last islands of this hemisphere. But, charming Maimoune,' said Danhasch, who so trembled with fear at the sight of this fairy that he could hardly speak, 'promise me at least that you will forgive me, and let me go on after I have satisfied your demands.'
'Go on, go on, cursed spirit,' replied Maimoune; 'go on and fear nothing. Dost thou think I am as perfidious an elf as thyself, and capable of breaking the solemn oath I have made? Be sure you tell nothing but what is true, or I shall clip thy wings, and treat thee as thou deservest.'
Danhasch, a little heartened at the words of Maimoune, said, 'My dear lady, I will tell you nothing but what is strictly true, if you will but have the goodness to hear me. The country of China, from whence I come, is one of the largest and most powerful kingdoms of the earth. The king of this country is at present Gaiour, who has an only daughter, the finest maiden that ever was seen in the world since it was a world. Neither you nor I, nor your class nor mine, nor all our respective genies, have expressions strong enough, nor eloquence sufficient to describe this brilliant lady. Any one that did not know the king, father of this incomparable princess would scarcely be able to imagine the great respect and kindness he shows her. No one has ever dreamed of such care as his to keep her from every one but the man who is to marry her: and, that the retreat which he has resolved to place her in may not seem irksome to her, he has built for her seven palaces, the most extraordinary and magnificent that ever were known.
'The first palace is of rock crystal, the second of copper, the third of fine steel, the fourth of brass, the fifth of touchstone, the sixth of silver, and the seventh of massy gold. He has furnished these palaces most sumptuously, each in a manner suited to the materials that they are built of. He has filled the gardens with grass and flowers, intermixed with pieces of water, water-works, fountains, canals, cascades, and several great groves of trees, where the eye is lost in the prospect, and where the sun never enters, and all differently arranged. King Gaiour, in a word, has shown that he has spared no expense.
'Upon the fame of this incomparable princess's beauty, the most powerful neighbouring kings sent ambassadors to request her in marriage. The King of China received them all in the same obliging manner; but as he resolved not to compel his daughter to marry without her consent, and as she did not like any of the suitors, the ambassadors were forced to return as they came: they were perfectly satisfied with the great honours and civilities they had received.'
'"Sir," said the princess to the king her father, "you have an inclination to see me married, and think to oblige me by it; but where shall I find such stately palaces and delicious gardens as I have with your majesty? Through your good pleasure I am under no constraint, and have the same honours shown to me as are paid to yourself. These are advantages I cannot expect to find anywhere else, to whatsoever husband I should give my hand; men love ever to be masters, and I do not care to be commanded."
'At last there came an embassy from the most rich and potent king of all. This prince the King of China recommended to his daughter as her husband, urging many powerful arguments to show how much it would be to her advantage to accept him, but she intreated her father to dispense with her accepting him for the same reasons as before, and at last lost all the respect due to the king her father: "Sir," said she, in anger, "talk to me no more of this or any other match, unless you would have me plunge this poniard in my bosom, to deliver myself from your importunities."
'The king, greatly enraged, said "Daughter, you are mad, and I must treat you as such." In a word, he had her shut up in a single apartment of one of his palaces, and allowed her only ten old women to wait upon her and keep her company, the chief of whom had been her nurse. And in order that the kings his neighbours, who had sent embassies to him on this account, might not think any more of her, he despatched envoys to them severally, to let them know how averse his daughter was to marriage; and as he did not doubt that she was really mad, he charged them to make known in every court that if there were any physician that would undertake to come and cure her, he should, if he succeeded, marry her for his pains.
'Fair Maimoune,' continued Danhasch, 'all that I have told you is true; and I have not failed to go every day regularly to contemplate this incomparable beauty, to whom I would be very sorry to do the least harm, notwithstanding my natural inclination to mischief. Come and see her, I conjure you; it would be well worth your while; I am ready to wait on you as a guide, and you have only to command me. I doubt not that you would think yourself obliged to me for the sight of a princess unequalled for beauty.'
Instead of answering Danhasch, Maimoune burst out into violent laughter, which lasted for some time; and Danhasch, not knowing what might be the occasion of it, was astonished beyond measure. When she had laughed till she could laugh no more, she cried, 'Good, good, very good! you would have me believe all you have told me: I thought you intended to tell me something surprising and extraordinary, and you have been talking all this while of a mad woman. What would you say, cursed genie, if you had seen the beautiful prince that I have just come from seeing? I am confident you would soon give up the contest, and not pretend to compare your choice with mine.'
'Agreeable Maimoune,' replied Danhasch, 'may I presume to ask you who is this prince you speak of?'
'Know,' answered Maimoune, 'the same thing has happened to him as to your princess. The king his father would have married him against his will; but, after much importunity, he frankly told him he would have nothing to do with a wife. For this reason he is at this moment imprisoned in an old tower which I make my residence, and whence I came but just now from admiring him.'
'I will not absolutely contradict you,' replied Danhasch; 'but, my pretty lady, you must give me leave to be of opinion, till I have seen your prince, that no mortal upon earth can come up to the beauty of my princess.'
'Hold thy tongue, cursed sprite,' replied Maimoune. 'I tell thee once more that that can never be.'
'I will not contend with you,' said Danhasch; 'but the way to be convinced whether what I say is true or false is to accept the proposal I made you to go and see my princess, and after that I will go with you to your prince.'
'There is no need I should take so much pains' replied Maimoune; 'there is another way to satisfy us both; and that is for you to bring your princess, and place her in my prince's room; by this means it will be easy for us to compare them together and determine the dispute.'
Danhasch consented to what Maimoune had proposed, and determined to set out immediately for China upon that errand. But Maimoune told him she must first show him the tower whither he was to bring the princess. They flew together to the tower, and when Maimoune had shown it to Danhasch, she cried, 'Go, fetch your princess, and do it quickly, for you shall find me here: but listen, you shall pay the wager if my prince is more beautiful than your princess, and I will pay it if your princess is more beautiful than my prince.'
Danhasch left Maimoune, and flew towards China, whence he soon returned with incredible speed, bringing the fair princess along with him, asleep. Maimoune received him, and introduced him into the tower of Prince Camaralzaman, where they placed the princess still asleep.
At once there arose a great contest between the genie and the fairy about their respective beauty. They were some time admiring and comparing them without speaking: at length Danhasch broke silence, and said to Maimoune, 'You see, as I have already told you, my princess is handsomer than your prince; now, I hope, you are convinced of it.'
'Convinced of it!' replied Maimoune; 'I am not convinced of it, and you must be blind if you cannot see that my prince is far handsomer. The princess is fair, I do not deny; but if you compare them together without prejudice, you will quickly see the difference.'
'Though I should compare them ever so often,' said Danhasch, 'I could never change my opinion. I saw at first sight what I see now, and time will not make me see differently: however, this shall not hinder my yielding to you, charming Maimoune, if you desire it.'
'Yield to me as a favour? I scorn it,' said Maimoune: 'I would not receive a favour at the hand of such a wicked genie; I refer the matter to an umpire, and if you will not consent I shall win by your refusal.'
Danhasch no sooner gave his consent than Maimoune stamped with her foot; the earth opened, and out came a hideous, humpbacked, squinting, and lame genie, with six horns on his head, and claws on his hands and feet. As soon as he had come forth, and the earth had closed up, he, perceiving Maimoune, cast himself at her feet, and then rising up on one knee asked her what she would please to do with him.
'Rise, Caschcasch,' said Maimoune, 'I brought you hither to determine a difference between me and Danhasch. Look there, and tell me, without partiality, which is the handsomest of those two that lie asleep, the young man or the young lady.'
Caschcasch looked at the prince and princess with great attention, admiration and surprise; and after he had considered them a good while, without being able to determine which was the handsomer, he turned to Maimoune, and said, 'Madam, I must confess I should deceive you and betray myself, if I pretended to say that one was a whit handsomer than the other: the more I examine them, the more it seems to me that each possesses, in a sovereign degree, the beauty which is betwixt them. But if there be any difference, the best way to determine it is to awaken them one after the other, and by their conduct to decide which ought to be deemed the most beautiful.'
This proposal of Caschcasch's pleased equally both Maimoune and Danhasch. Maimoune then changed herself into a gnat, and leaping on the prince's neck stung him so smartly that he awoke, and put up his hand to the place; but Maimoune skipped away, and resumed her own form, which, like those of the two genies, was invisible, the better to observe what he would do.
In drawing back his hand, the prince chanced to let it fall on that of the Princess of China, and on opening his eyes, was exceedingly surprised to perceive a lady of the greatest beauty. He raised his head and leaned on his elbow, the better to consider her. She was so beautiful that he could not help crying out, 'What beauty! my heart! my soul!' In saying which he kissed her with so little caution that she would certainly have been awaked by it, had she not slept sounder than ordinary, through the enchantment of Danhasch.
He was going to awaken her at that instant, but suddenly refrained himself. 'Is not this she,' said he, 'that the sultan my father would have had me marry? He was in the wrong not to let me see her sooner. I should not have offended him by my disobedience and passionate language to him in public, and he would have spared himself the confusion which I have occasioned him.'
The prince began to repent sincerely of the fault he had committed, and was once more upon the point of waking the Princess of China. 'It may be,' said he, recollecting himself, 'that the sultan my father has a mind to surprise me with this young lady. Who knows but he has brought her himself, and is hidden behind the curtains to make me ashamed of myself. I will content myself with this ring, as a remembrance of her.'
He then gently drew off a fine ring which the princess had on her finger, and immediately put on one of his own in its place. After this he fell into a more profound sleep than before through the enchantment of the genies.
As soon as Prince Camaralzaman was in a sound sleep, Danhasch transformed himself, and went and bit the princess so rudely on the lip that she forthwith awoke, started up, and opening her eyes, was not a little surprised to see a beautiful young prince. From surprise she proceeded to admiration, and from admiration to a transport of joy.
'What,' cried she, 'is it you the king my father has designed me for a husband? I am indeed most unfortunate for not knowing it before, for then I should not have made him so angry with me. Wake then, wake!'
So saying, she took Prince Camaralzaman by the arm and shook him so that he would have awaked, had not Maimoune increased his sleep by enchantment. She shook him several times, and finding he did not wake, she seized his hand, and kissing it eagerly, perceived he had a ring upon his finger which greatly resembled hers, and which she was convinced was her own, by seeing she had another on her finger instead of it. She could not comprehend how this exchange could have been made. Tired with her fruitless endeavours to awaken the prince, she soon fell asleep.
When Maimoune saw that she could now speak without fear of awaking the princess, she cried to Danhasch, 'Ah, cursed genie dost thou not now see what thy contest has come to? Art thou not now convinced how much thy princess is inferior to my prince? But I pardon thee thy wager. Another time believe me when I assert anything.' Then turning to Caschcasch, 'As for you,' said she, 'I thank you for your trouble; take the princess, you and Danhasch, and convey her back whence he has taken her.' Danhasch and Caschcasch did as they were commanded, and Maimoune retired to her well.
Prince Camaralzaman on waking next morning looked to see if the lady whom he had seen the night before were there. When he found she was gone, he cried out, 'I thought indeed this was a trick the king my father designed to play me. I am glad I was aware of it.' Then he waked the slave, who was still asleep, and bade him come and dress him, without saying anything. The slave brought a basin and water, and after he had washed and said his prayers, he took a book and read for some time.
After this, he called the slave, and said to him, 'Come hither, and look you, do not tell me a lie. How came that lady hither, and who brought her?'
'My lord,' answered the slave with great astonishment, 'I know not what lady your highness speaks of.'
'I speak,' said the prince, 'of her that came, or rather, that was brought hither.'
'My lord,' replied the slave, 'I swear I know of no such lady; and how should she come in without my knowledge, since I lay at the door?'
'You are a lying rascal,' replied the prince, 'and in the plot to vex and provoke me the more.' So saying, he gave him a box on the ear which knocked him down; and after having stamped upon him for some time, he at length tied the well-rope under his arms, and plunged him several times into the water, neck and heels. I will drown thee,' cried he, 'if thou dost not tell me speedily who this lady was, and who brought her.'
The slave, perplexed and half-dead, said within himself, 'The prince must have lost his senses through grief.' 'My lord, then,' cried he, in a suppliant tone, 'I beseech your highness to spare my life, and I will tell you the truth.'
The prince drew the slave up, and pressed him to tell him. As soon as he was out of the well, 'My lord,' said he trembling, 'your highness must perceive that it is impossible for me to satisfy you in my present condition; I beg you to give me leave to go and change my clothes first.'
'I permit you, but do it quickly,' said the prince, 'and be sure you conceal nothing.'
The slave went out, and having locked the door upon the prince, ran to the palace just as he was. The king was at that time in discourse with his prime vizier, to whom he had just related the grief in which he had passed the night on account of his son's disobedience and opposition to his will. The minister endeavoured to comfort his master by telling him that the prince himself had given him good cause to be angry. 'Sir,' said he, 'your majesty need not repent of having treated your son after this sort. Have but patience to let him continue a while in prison, and assure yourself his temper will abate, and he will submit to all you require.'
The grand vizier had just made an end of speaking when the slave came in and cast himself at the king's feet. 'My lord,' said he, 'I am very sorry to be the messenger of ill news to your majesty, which I know must create you fresh affliction. The prince is distracted, my lord; and his treatment to me, as you may see, too plainly proves it.' Then he proceeded to tell all the particulars of what Prince Camaralzaman had said to him, and the violence with which he had been treated.
The king, who did not expect to hear anything of this afflictive kind, said to the prime minister, 'This is very melancholy, very different from the hopes you gave me just now: go immediately, without loss of time, see what is the matter, and come and give me an account.'