Thousand & One Nights: 43rd Night: The Tale of 2nd Dervish

Second dervish was the son of a King. The king himself taught him to read and write. Later he studied the jurisprudence of al-shatibi, and then Calligraphy. He was a poet. Another king of another city asked his father to send him to his city. On his journey to the host king he was robbed by highway men. He lost everything, which his father entrusted him to hand over to Host king. Many days after the robbery he happened to meet a tailor who gave him food and shelter. The tailor told him that the knowledge he gained in his father's city; Jurisprudence, calligraphy and poetry are not of much demand here, and he would pursue the trade of a wood cutter. The tailor gave him an axe and a rope, with which he started the life of a wood cutter. One day, in the forest, he found a stump of a tree. When he dug around it, and shoveled the earth away, he found a ring attached to a wooden plank. Beneath the wooden plank was a staircase leading to a solid and beautiful palace. He walked inside and saw a beautiful girl.

The dervish began to tell the remaining story:

The girl looked at me, and asked, "What are you? A man or a demon?"
I replied, "I am a human being."
"What brought you here? I lived here for the last twenty five years without seeing any human being." 
Her words were sweet and touching and her voice captivated my heart.
"My misfortune brought me here; or your good fortune to banish your sorrow."
Then I related my story. She felt sad for me. Then she began to tell her story:

I am the daughter of Aftimarus, the king of Ebony Island.[1] He married me to one of my cousins, but on my wedding night a demon snatched me up, flew away with me, and a while later, set me down in this place. Then he brought me all I needed of food and drink and sweets. Once every ten days he comes to spend a night with me - he had already another wife. If ever I need anything, I have only to touch the two lines engraved on the door step, he will be before me with that thing, before I lift my fingers. He has been away for four days. He will not be here for next five days. Would you like to spend with me for these days?

I replied, "Yes indeed, if only dreams wers true."

Smilingly she rose, and took me by hand through an arched doorway that led to a bath. First, she took off my clothes; then she took off her clothes; she entered the bath leading me to it. She bathed me. She washed me. Then we came out; dressed me with a new gown, seated me on a couch, gave me a large cup of juice to drink, made me sit and sat with me, talked to me for a while. She set some food for me, I ate my fill. She gave me a pillow and said, "Lie down and rest. You are tired."

I lay down and slept, forgetting everything. When I woke up she was massaging me. I sat up. Thanked her. I felt very much refreshed. Then she asked, "Young man, are you ready to drink?"
I said, "Let us drink." She went to a cupboard and took a sealed flask. It was old wine. Setting a sumptuous table she began to sing:

Had I known of your coming 
My dark eyes; my throbbing heart
I would have spread for you.
Our cheeks would have covered 
The earth. So that over my eye lids
You might have time to tread.

My love for her began to possess my whole being. We sat drinking till the nightfall. A delightful night, which I never spent in my life time, I spent with her. Delight followed delight till midday, that I almost lost myself and began to stagger right and left.

I said in my blissful moment, "My beautiful one, let me carry you up and deliver from this prison. She laughed and said, "O dear me, hold your peace and be content. For every ten days only one for the demon, and nine for you." The drink has got the better of me, and I said, "I shall smash inscriptions, let the demon come, so that I may kill him. She grew pale at my words, and said, "For God's sake, don't do it." Then she recited the following:
You seek separation, hold your reins
Horses are too swift and free.
Hold, betrayal is the rule of life 
Severance the end of amity.

In my intoxication I kicked the step with my foot.

The Dawn and the End of Story.







Note:-
1. The story is a repetition of the stories of 22nd night onwards, the story told by demon to the fisherman; the story of coloured fish; of the prince, half man upto his navel, and half stone below navel upto his feet; islands becoming mountains, with minor changes that suit the scheme of story tellers. The cardinal components of story, or any piece of art, are love, lust and sympathy to children to which secondary components like revenge, treachery, war etc. are added, and everything originated from hunter gatherers' entertainment: gossip and glorification.






Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

( 16 )CHARLES DICKENS: DAVID COPPERFIELD: CHAPTER 16: I AM A NEW BOY IN MORE SENSES THAN ONE

Next morning, after breakfast, I entered on school life again.  I went, accompanied by Mr Wickfield to the scene of my future studies- a grave building in a courtyard, with a learned air about it that suited very well to the stray rooks and jackdaws who came down from the Cathedral tower to walk with a clerkly bearing on the grass plot - and was introduced to my new master, Doctor Strong. Doctor Strong looked almost as rusty, to my thinking, as the tall iron rails and gates outside the house; and almost as stiff and heavy as the great stone urn that flanked them, and were set up, on the top of red brick wall, at regular distances all round the court, like sublimated skittles for Time to play at.  Doctor Strong was in his library, with his clothes not particularly well brushed, and his hair not particularly combed, his knee-small unbraced, his long black gaiters unbuttoned, and his shoes  yawning like two caverns on the hearth-rug.  Turning upon me a lustreless eye, t...
Read more

Sailing Around Erethraean Sea: Three

Updated 29/11/2024 Below the Calf-Eaters there is a little market-town on the shore after sailing about four thousand stadia from Berenice, called Ptolemais of Hunts, from which the hunters started for the interior under the dynasty of Ptolemies. This market town has true land to rtoise in small quantities; it is white and smaller in the shells. And here also is found a little ivory, like that of Adulis. But the place has no harbour, and is reached by small boats. 1. Calf-Eaters: Cattle rearing nomadic tribes. 2. Stadia is the plural of stadion. Ten  stadia= one mile. 3. Ptolemais of Hunts: Ptolemies Theron is the exact Greek term,  located at the Bay of Anfile or Amphila Bay on the coast of Eritrea. Facing the bay is Hando island. It is, in fact, a double bay, an inner bay within, between promontories M'edr and Lelisa. End of the Section 
Read more

Sailing Around Erythraean Sea: Seven

In Section six the unknown sailor was at Zula (ancient Adulis). He had been giving an account of imports and exports to Zula and other ports he covered earlier. From this place the Arabian Gulf trends toward the east and become narrow just before the Gulf of Avalites.  After about four thousand stadia [about four hundred miles or six hundred and forty kilometres] for those sailing eastward along the same coast there are other Berber market-towns, known as the "far-side ports; lying at intervals one after the other without harbours but having roadsteads where ships can anchor and lie in good weather. The first is called Avalites; to this place the voyage from Arabia to far-side coast is shortest. Here there is a small market-town called Avalites, which must be reached by boats and rafts. There are imported into this place, flint glass assorted, juice of sour grapes from Diospolis,  dressed cloth assorted, made for the Berbers; wheat, wine and a little tin. There are exported f...
Read more