The Arabian Nights II (24 page)

At last Princess Badr al-Budur broke her silence, with a deep sigh, and
cried out, “Ah! my lady and most honored mother, forgive me if I failed to show the respect I owe you. My mind is so full of the extraordinary things that happened to me last night that I have not yet recovered from my amazement and fright, and I scarcely know myself.” Then she told her in vivid details how, the instant after she and her husband were in bed, the bed was lifted up and transported in a moment into a dark, dirty room, where she found herself alone and separated from her husband, without knowing what became of him, and where she saw a young man, who, after saying a few words to her, which her fright prevented her from understanding, lay beside her in the place of her husband, after he put a sword between them; and how her husband was brought back to her, and the bed was transported back to its place, again in a very little time. She said, “All this had just happened, when the king my father entered my room. I was so overwhelmed with grief that I did not have the power to respond even with a simple word, and I have no doubt that he is offended by the manner in which I received the honor he did me, but I hope that he will forgive me when he knows my sad adventure and the pitiful state I am in at present.”

The queen listened very calmly to what the princess told her but did not believe it, and said to her, “Daughter, you did well not to speak of this to the king, your father. Be careful not to say anything about it to anyone, for people will think that you are mad if they hear you talk this way.” The princess replied, “My lady, I can assure you that I am in my right mind. Ask my husband, and he will tell you the same thing.” The queen said, “I will ask him, but if he talks like you, I will not believe it any more than I do now. Rise, and rid yourself of this delusion. It will be a fine story, if you spoil by such a dream the festivities planned for your wedding, which are supposed to continue for several days, not only in the palace, but in the entire kingdom. Do you not hear the fanfares and the sounds of trumpets, drums, and tambourines? All this should inspire you with joy and pleasure and make you forget all the fantasies you tell me of.” Then the queen called the princess's women, and, after seeing the princess get up and begin to groom herself, went to the king's apartment and told him that her daughter did actually entertain some delusions but that there was nothing to them. Then she sent for the grand vizier's son to inquire from him about what the princess had told her, but the grand vizier's son, who considered himself extremely honored by his alliance with the king, decided to be secretive. The queen said to him, “Son-in-law, are you as stubborn as your wife?” He said, “My lady, may I be so bold as to ask in what regard do you ask me this question?” The queen replied, “That is enough; I do not wish to inquire any further; you are wiser than she.”

The celebrations in the palace lasted all day, and the queen, who never left the princess, did all she could to entertain her and make her take part in the various diversions and shows prepared for her. But the princess was so struck by the recollection of what had happened the previous night that it was easy to see that her thoughts were preoccupied with it. The grand vizier's son suffered no less as a result of that bad night, but his ambition made him disguise his condition so well that no one who saw him doubted he was a happy bridegroom.

'Ala al-Din, who was well informed of what was going on in the palace, never doubted that the newlyweds would be together again that night, in spite of the misadventure of the previous night, and he had no desire to leave them in peace. Therefore, when it was night, he had recourse to the lamp, and the demon appeared immediately and paid 'Ala al-Din the usual compliments and offered his services. 'Ala al-Din said to him, “The grand vizier's son and Princess Badr al-Budur will lie together again tonight. Go, and as soon as they are in bed, bring it here, as you did yesterday.” The demon obeyed 'Ala al-Din as faithfully and punctually as on the previous day. The grand vizier's son spent the night as disagreeably as he did before, and the princess felt the same humiliation to have 'Ala al-Din as her bedfellow, with the sword placed between them. The next morning, the demon, following 'Ala al-Din's orders, came back and, bringing the bridegroom and laying him beside his bride, lifted up the bed with the newlyweds and transported it back to the room in the palace from where he had taken it.

The king, who, after the reception Princess Badr al-Budur had given him the previous day, was anxious to know how she passed the second night and whether she would give him the same reception, went into her room as early as the previous morning. The grand vizier's son, more ashamed and humiliated by the ill success of the second night, no sooner heard the king coming than he got up and rushed into the closet. The king approached the princess's bed and wished her good morning, and after caressing her as he did the previous morning, he asked her, “Well, daughter, are you in a better mood than you were yesterday morning? Tell me how you passed last night.” But the princess was again silent, and the king saw that she was even more troubled and more despondent than before, and he had no doubt that something extraordinary must have happened to her. So, irritated by her for keeping him mystified, he said to her angrily, with his sword in his hand, “Daughter, either you tell me what you are hiding, or I will cut off your head immediately.”

At last, the princess, more frightened by the tone and menaces of the offended king than by the sight of the drawn sword, broke her silence. She cried out, with tears in her eyes, “My dear father and
king, I beg forgiveness of your majesty, if I have offended you; and I hope that out of your goodness and mercy, you will let your compassion replace your anger, when I give you the faithful account of the sad and miserable condition in which I spent last night and the night before.” After this preamble, which appeased the king and moved him a little, she related to him faithfully all that had happened to her during the two unfortunate nights. She spoke in a manner so touching that the king, who loved her and felt tenderness toward her, grieved deeply for her. She concluded with these words, “If your majesty has the slightest doubt concerning my account, you may inquire from the husband you gave me. I am sure that he will testify to the same thing.”

The king felt readily the extreme pain such a surprising misadventure must have caused the princess. He said to her, “Daughter, you made a great mistake by not telling me yesterday about the strange affair, which concerns me as much as yourself. I did not marry you to make you miserable, but with the intention of making you satisfied and happy and able to enjoy all the good fortune you deserve and expect with a husband who seemed to me to suit you. Forget these troublesome thoughts. I will see to it that you shall have no more such disagreeable and unbearable nights.”

As soon as the king returned to his own apartment, he sent for his grand vizier and said to him, “Vizier, have you seen your son, and has he said anything to you?” When the grand vizier replied that he had not seen him, the king repeated to him all that Princess Badr al-Budur had related to him, concluding, “I have no doubt that my daughter has told me the truth; nevertheless, I would feel better to have it confirmed by your son. Go and ask him about it.”

The grand vizier went immediately to his son, acquainted him with what the king had told him, and asked him to conceal nothing from him, but to tell him whether all this was true. The son said, “Father, I will hide nothing from you. Everything the princess said to the king is true, but she could not describe to him the ill treatment I myself received. Ever since my wedding, I have spent the two most cruel nights imaginable, and I do not have the words to describe to you in exact detail everything I have suffered. I will not describe to you my fright to feel my bed lifted up four times and transported from one place to another, without being able to see who was doing it or guess how it was done. I will leave it to you to judge the miserable condition I was in to spend two nights, standing in nothing but my shirt in a kind of small toilet, unable to stir from the place where I was put or make the slightest movement, although I could not see any obstacle to prevent me. More than this, there is no need to tell you of my sufferings. Yet I must tell you that none of this has in any way lessened my love, respect, and the gratitude that the princess, my wife,
deserves. But I must confess in all sincerity that in spite of all the honor and the splendor that attend me to have married the daughter of my sovereign, I would rather die than endure any longer such a high alliance, if I must undergo such a disagreeable treatment. I have no doubt that the princess feels the same way and that she will readily agree that our separation is no less necessary for her peace than it is for mine. Therefore, father, I beg you, by the same tenderness for me that led you to procure for me such a great honor, to get the king's consent to have our marriage declared annulled.”

Great as the grand vizier's ambition was for his son to be the son-in-law of the king, the firm resolution his son expressed to be separated from the princess convinced him that it was not a good idea to propose to him to have a little patience for a few more days, to see whether this predicament would not come to an end. He left him and went to report to the king, telling him in all candor that, according to what he had heard from his son, all was true. And without waiting until the king himself, whom he found very much disposed to it, spoke of breaking the marriage, the grand vizier begged him to permit his son to leave the palace and live with him, giving the king the excuse that it was not fair to leave the princess exposed a moment longer to such a terrible persecution for the sake of his son. The grand vizier had no difficulty in obtaining what he requested. The king, who had already made up his mind, immediately gave orders to stop the festivities in the palace, the city, and all parts of his kingdom, countermanding his first orders, and in a short time, all signs of rejoicing and public celebration in the city and the entire kingdom ceased.

This sudden and unexpected change gave rise to various speculations. People asked each other what caused this mishap, but none of them had any explanation except to say that they had seen the grand vizier leave the palace and retire to his home with his son, both seeming very dejected. Nobody but 'Ala al-Din knew the secret and he rejoiced within himself in the happy success his lamp brought him. Thus, having heard for certain that his rival had left the palace and that the marriage between him and the princess was broken off, he no longer had any need to rub the lamp to summon the demon in order to prevent the consummation of the marriage. But what is most peculiar is that neither the king nor the grand vizier, who had forgotten 'Ala al-Din and his demand, had the slightest idea that he had any hand in the enchantment that caused the dissolution of the marriage.

'Ala al-Din, however, waited for the expiration of the three months' period requested by the king before the marriage between him and Princess Badr al-Budur was to take place. He counted every day very carefully, and when the time came, he sent his mother the next day to the palace, to remind the king of his promise. She went to the palace,
as her son had asked her, and stood at the entrance of the audience hall, in the same place as before. As soon as the king saw her, he recognized her and remembered her proposal to him and the date to which he had put her off. He therefore interrupted the grand vizier, who was reporting to him on some matter, and said, “Vizier, I see the good woman who, a few months ago, made me such a fine present. Bring her to me, and after I hear what she has to say, you may resume your report.” The grand vizier, looking toward the entrance of the hall, saw 'Ala al-Din's mother and immediately called the chief of the officers and, pointing her out to him, ordered him to bring her.

'Ala al-Din's mother came to the foot of the throne and prostrated herself, as usual, and when she rose up again, the king asked her what she wished. She said to him, “My lord, I stand again before the throne of your majesty to point out, on behalf of my son 'Ala al-Din, that your three months' postponement of the proposal I had the honor to present to you has expired, and to beg you to remember your promise.” The king, when he demanded a three months' delay before fulfilling his promise to this good woman the first time he saw her, little thought of hearing any more of marriage, which he considered unsuitable to the princess his daughter, simply in view of the low class and poverty of 'Ala al-Din's mother, who had appeared before him in very ordinary clothes. Yet her urgent request to him to keep his promise was embarrassing to him, and he did not deem it appropriate to give an immediate reply. So he consulted his grand vizier, expressing to him his repugnance to marry the princess to a stranger whose fortune he supposed to be very mean. The grand vizier did not hesitate to tell him his thoughts on the matter and said to him, “My lord, I think that there is a sure way to avoid such an ill-matched union, without giving 'Ala al-Din, even if he were better known to your majesty, any grounds for complaint. Set such a high price on the princess that no matter how great his riches may be, he cannot meet it. This will make him desist from such a bold, not to say, rash pursuit, about which he undoubtedly did not think much before embarking on it.”

The king, approving of the grand vizier's advice, turned to 'Ala al-Din's mother and, after a few moments of reflection, said to her, “Good woman, kings ought to keep their word, and I am ready to keep mine and make your son happy by marrying the princess, my daughter, to him. But since I cannot marry her before I know that she will be better provided for, tell your son that I will fulfill my promise as soon as he sends me forty large basins of heavy gold, full to the brim of the same things you have already given me on his behalf, and carried by a similar number of black slaves, led by forty white slaves, young, handsome, well-built, and magnificently dressed. These are the
conditions on which I am ready to give him the princess, my daughter. Go, good woman, and I will wait until you bring me his response.”