Thousand & One Nights: 39th Night

The first dervish continues his story:

My lady, when my uncle struck his son's face with the shoe as he and the lady lay there in a charred heap, I said to him, "For God's sake, uncle, don't make me feel worse; I feel worried and sorry for what happened to your son; yet as if he has not suffered enough, you strike him on the face with your shoe."

He replied, " Nephew, you should know that this son of mine was madly in love with his sister, and I often forbade him from seeing her but went on saying to myself, 'they are only children.' But when they grew up, they did the ugly deed, and I heard about it, hardly believing my ears. I seized him, and beat him mercilessly, saying, 'Beware, beware of that deed, lest our story spread far and wide even to every remote province and town, and you be dishonoured and disgraced among the kings, to the end of time. Beware, beware, for this girl is your sister, and God has forbidden her to you.' Then, nephew, I secluded her from him, but the cursed girl was in love with him, for the devil had possessed her and made the affair attractive in her eyes.
When they saw that I had seperated them from each other, he built and prepared a subterranean place, dug up the well, and brought whatever they needed of provisions and the like, as you see. Then taking advantage of my going to the hunt, he took his sister and did what you saw him do. He believed that he would be enjoying her for a long time and that the Almighty, God would not be mindful of their deed."

Then he looked at me and said, "You are my son in his place," and when he thought of what had happened to his two children, his brother's murder, and the loss of my eye, he wept again and I wept with him over the trials of life and the misfortunes of the world. Then we climbed out of the tomb, and I replaced the iron plate cover over my cousin and his sister, and without being detected by anyone, we returned home.

But hardly had we sat down when we heard the sounds of kettledrums, little drums and trumpets, the din of men, the clanking of bits, the neighing of horses, and the orders to line up for battle, while the world became clouded with dust raised by the galloping of horses and the tramping of men. We were bewildered and startled, and when we asked we were told that the vizier who had usurped my father's kingdom had levied his soldiers and prepared his armies, and taking host of Bedouins into service, had invaded us with armies like the desert sand, whom no one could count and no one could withstand. They took the city by surprise, the citizens being unable to oppose them, surrendered the place to the vizier. My uncle was slain and I escaped to the outskirts of the city, thinking to myself, "If I fall into the vizier's hands, he will kill me and kill Sayir, my father's swordsman." My sorrows were renewed and my anxiety grew, as I pondered over what had happened to my uncle and my cousins, and over the loss of my eye, and I wept bitterly. I asked myself, 'what is to be done? If I show myself in public the people of my city and all the soldiers wil recognise me as they recognise sun and will try to win favour with the vizier by killing me." I could think of no way to escape and save my life except to shave my beard and eyebrows. I did so and changed my clothes for those of a medicant and assumed the life of dervish. Then I left the city, undetected by anyone, and journeyed to this country, with the intention of reaching Baghdad, hoping that I might be fortunate to find someone who would assist me to the presence of the Commander of the Faithful the Vice Regent of the Supreme Lord, so that I might tell him my tale and lay my case before him. I arrived this very night, and as I stood in doubt at the city gate, not knowing where I should go, this dervish by my side approached me, showing the sign of travel, and greeted me. I asked him, "Are you a stranger?"
He replied, "Yes."
"I too am a stranger," said I. As we were talking, this other dervish by our side joined us at the gate, greeted us, and said, "I am a stranger."  We replied, "We are strangers too." As the night overtook us, we walked, we did not know where to go. But the God drove us to your house, and you were kind and generous enough to let us in and help me forget the loss of my and shaving off of my beard.

The Dawn.


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