The Story of the First Royal Mendicant

Know, O my mistress, that the cause of my having shaved
my beard, and of the loss of my eye, was this: — My father
was a King, and he had a brother who was also a King, and
who resided in another capital. It happened that my mother
gave birth to me on the same day on which the son of my
uncle was born; and years and days passed away until we
attained to manhood. Now, it was my custom, some years,
to visit my uncle, and to remain with him several months;
and on one of these occasions my cousin paid me great
honour; he slaughtered sheep for me, and strained the wine
for me, and we sat' down to drink ; and when the wine had
affected us, he said to me, O son of my uncle, I have need
of thine assistance in an affair of interest to me, and I beg
that thou wilt not oppose me in that which I desire to do. I
replied, I am altogether at thy service: — and he made me
swear to him by great oaths, and, rising immediately, absented
himself for a little while, and then returned, followed by a
woman decked with ornaments, and perfumed, and wear-
ing a dress of extraordinary value. He looked towards
me, while the woman stood behind him, and said, Take this
woman, and go before me to the burial-ground which is
in such a place: — and he described it to me, and I knew
it. He then added, Enter the burial-ground, and there wait
for me.

I could not oppose him, nor refuse to comply with his re-
quest, on account of the oaths which I had sworn to him ; so
I took the woman, and went with her to the burial-ground;
and when we had sat there a short time, my cousin came,
bearing a basin of water, and a bag containing some plaster,
and a small adze. Going to a tomb in the midst of the burial-
ground, he took the adze, and disunited the stones, which he
placed on one side ; he then dug up the earth with the adze,
and uncovered a flat stone, of the size of a small door, under
which there appeared a vaulted staircase. Having done this,
he made a sign to the woman, and said to her. Do according
to thy choice : — whereupon she descended the stairs. He then
looked towards me, and said, O son of my uncle, complete thy
kindness when I have descended into this place, by replacing
the trap-door and the earth above it as they were before:
then, this plaster which is in the bag, and this water which
is in the basin, do thou knead together, and plaster the stones
of the tomb as they were, so that no man may know it, and
say, This hath been lately opened, but its interior is old: — for,
during the space of a whole year I have been preparing this,
and no one knew it but God : this is what I would have thee
do. He then said to me. May God never deprive thy friends
of thy presence, O son of my uncle ! — and, having uttered
these words, he descended the stairs.

When he had disappeared from before my eyes, I replaced
the trap-door, and busied myself with doing as he had ordered
me, until the tomb was restored to the state in which it was
at first; after which I returned to the palace of my uncle, who
was then absent on a hunting excursion. I slept that night,
and when the morning came, I reflected upon what had oc-
curred between me and my cousin, and repented of what I
had done for him, when repentance was of no avail. I then
went out to the burial-ground, and searched for the tomb ; but
could not discover it. I ceased not in my search until the
approach of night ; and, not finding the way to it, returned
again to the palace ; and I neither ate nor drank ; my heart
was troubled respecting my cousin, since I knew not what had
become of him; and I fell into excessive grief. I passed the
night sorrowful until the morning, and went again to the
burial-ground, reflecting upon the action of my cousin, and
repenting of my compliance with his request ; and I searched
among all the tombs ; but discovered not that for which I
looked. Thus I persevered in my search seven days without
success.

My trouble continued and increased until I was almost
mad; and I found no relief but in departing, and returning
to my father ; but on my arrival at his capital, a party at
the city-gate sprang upon me and bound me. I was struck
with the utmost astonishment, considering that I was the son
of the Sultan of the city, and that these were the servants of
my father and of myself: excessive fear of them overcame
me, and I said witliin myself. What hath happened to my
father? I asked, of those who had bound me, the cause of
this conduct ; but they returned me no answer, till after a
while, when one of them, who had been my servant, said to
me. Fortune hath betrayed thy father, the troops have been
false to him, and the Wezir hath killed him; and we were
lying in wait to take thee. — They took me, and I was as one
dead, by reason of this news which I had heard respecting
my father; and I stood before the Wezir who had killed my
father.

Now, there was an old enmity subsisting between me and
him ; and the cause of it was this : — I was fond of shooting
with the crossbow ; and it happened, one day, that as I was
standing on the roof of my palace, a bird alighted on the
roof of the palace of the Wezir, who was standing there at
the time, and I aimed at the bird ; but the bullet missed it, and
struck the eye of the Wezir, and knocked it out, in accordance
with the appointment of fate and destiny, as the poet hath
said: —

We trod the steps appointed for us : and the man whose steps are

appointed must tread them.
He whose death is decreed to take place in one land will not die
in any land but that.

When I had thus put out the eye of the Wezir, he could say
nothing, because my father was King of the city. This was
the cause of the enmity between him and me : and when I
stood before him, with my hands bound behind me, he gave
the order to strike off my head. I said to him, Wouldst thou
kill me for no offence ? — What offence, he exclaimed, could be
greater than this? — and he pointed to the place of the eye
which was put out. I did that, said I, unintentionally. He
replied, If thou didst it unintentionally, I will do the same
to thee purposely: — and immediately he said, Bring him for-
ward to me : — and, when they had done so, he thrust his
finger into my left eye, and pulled it out. Thus I became
deprived of one eye, as ye see me. He then bound me firmly,
and placed me in a chest, and said to the executioner, Take
this fellow, and draw thy sword, and convey him without
the city; then put him to death, and let the wild beasts devour
him.

Accordingly, he went forth with me from the city, and,
having taken me out from the chest, bound hand and foot,
was about to bandage my eye, and kill me ; whereupon I wept,
and exclaimed, —

How many brothers have I taken as armour ! and such they were ;

but to guard my enemies.
I thought they would be as piercing arrows : and such they were ;

but to enter my heart I

The executioner, who had served my father in the same
capacity, and to whom I had shewn kindnesses, said, on
hearing these verses, O my master, what can I do, being a
slave under command? — but presently he added. Depart with
tliy life, and return not to this country, lest thou perish, and
cause me to perish with thee. The poet saith, —

Flee with thy life if thou fearest oppression, and leave the house to

tell its builder's fate.
Thou wilt find, for the land that thou quittest, another : but no

soul wilt thou find to replace thine own.

As soon as he had thus said, I kissed his hands, and be-
lieved not in my safety until I had fled from his presence.
The loss of my eye appeared light to me vv^hen I considered
my escape from death; and I journeyed to my uncle's capital,
and, presenting myself before him, informed him of what had
befallen my father, and of the manner in which I had lost
my eye : upon which he wept bitterly, and said, Thou hast
added to my trouble and my grief ; for thy cousin hath been
lost for some days, and I know not what hath happened to
him, nor can any one give me information respecting him.
Then he wept again, until he became insensible; and when
he recovered, he said, O my son, the loss of thine eye is better
than the loss of thy life.

Upon this I could no longer keep silence respecting his
son, my cousin; so I informed him of all that happened to
him; and on hearing this news he rejoiced exceedingly, and
said, Shew me the tomb. — By Allah, O my uncle, I replied,
I know not where it is ; for I went afterwards several times
to search for it, and could not recognize its place. We, how-
ever, went together to the burial-ground, and, looking to the
right and left, I discovered it; and both I and my uncle re-
joiced. I then entered the tomb with him, and when we had
removed the earth, and lifted up the trap-door, we descended
fifty steps, and, arriving at the bottom of the stairs, there
issued forth upon us a smoke which blinded our eyes; where-
upon my uncle pronounced those words which relieve from
fear him who uttereth them, — There is no strength nor power
but in God, the High, the Great ! — After this, we proceeded,
and found ourselves in a saloon, filled with flour and grain,
and various eatables; and we saw there a curtain suspended
over a couch, upon which my uncle looked, and found there
his son and the woman who had descended with him, lying
side by side, and converted into black charcoal, as if they had
been thrown into a pit of fire. And when he beheld this spec-
tacle, he spat in his son's face, and exclaimed, This is what
thou deservest, O thou wretch ! This is the punishment of
the present world, and there remaineth the punishment of the
other world, which will be more severe and lasting ! — and he
struck him with his shoes. Astonished at this action, and
grieved for my cousin, seeing him and the damsel thus con-
verted into charcoal, I said, By Allah, O my uncle, moderate
the trouble of thy heart, for my mind is perplexed by that
which hath happened to thy son, and bj' thinking how it hath
come to pass that he and the damsel are converted into black
charcoal. Dost thou not deem it enough for him to be in this
state, that thou beatest him with thy shoes?

O son of my brother, he replied, this my son was, from his
early years, inflamed with love for his [foster-] sister, and I
used to forbid him from entertaining this passion for her, and
to say within myself. They are now children, but when they
grow older a base act will be committed by them : — and, in-
deed, I heard that such had been the case, but I believed it
not. I, however, reprimanded him severely, and said to him,
Beware of so foul an action, which none before thee hath
committed, nor will any commit after thee : otherwise we shall
suffer disgrace and disparagement among the Kings until we
die, and our history will spread abroad with the caravans :
have a care for thyself that such an action proceed not from
thee ; for I should be incensed against thee, and kill thee. I
then separated him from her, and her from him : but the vile
woman loved him excessively ; the Devil got possession of
them both; and when my son saw that I had separated him,
he secretly made this place beneath the earth, and, having
conveyed hither the provisions which thou seest, took advan-
tage of my inadvertence when I had gone out to hunt, and
came hither: but the Truth (whose perfection be extolled, and
whose name be exalted!) was jealously vigilant over them,
and consumed them by fire ; and the punishment of the world
to come will be more severe and lasting. — He then wept, and
I wept with him ; and he said to me, Thou art my son in his
stead. — I remained a while reflecting upon the v/orld and its
vicissitudes, upon the murder of my father by the ezir, and
his usurping his throne, and the loss of my eye, and the strange
events which had happened to my cousin, and I wept again.

We then ascended, and, having replaced the trap-door and
the earth above it, and restored the tomb to its former state,
returned to our abode ; but scarcely had we seated ourselves
when we heard the sounds of drums and trumpets, warriors
galloped about, and the air was filled with dust raised by the
horses' hoofs. Our minds were perplexed, not knowing what
had happened, and the King, asking the news, was answered.
The Wezir of thy brother hath slain him and his soldiers
and guards, and come with his army to assault the city un-
awares; and the inhabitants, being unable to withstand, have
submitted to him: — whereupon I said within myself, If I fall
into his hand, he will slay me. — Griefs overwhelmed me, and I
thought of the calamities which had befallen my father and
my mother, and knew not what to do; for if I appeared, the
people of the city would know me, and the troops of my father
would hasten to kill and destroy me. I knew no way of es-
cape but to shave off my beard; so I shaved it, and, having
changed my clothes, departed from the city, and came hither,
to this abode of peace, in the hope that some person would
introduce me to the Prince of the Faithful, the Khalifeh of the
Lord of all creatures, that I might relate to him my story, and
all that had befallen me. I arrived in this city this night ; and
as I stood perplexed, not knowing whither to direct my steps,
I saw this mendicant, and saluted him, and said, I am a
stranger. He replied, And I, too, am a stranger: — and while
we were thus addressing each other, our companion, this third
person, came up to us, and, saluting us, said, I am a stranger.
We replied. And we, also, are strangers. So we walked on
together, and darkness overtook us, and destiny directed us
unto your abode : — This was the cause of the shaving of my
beard, and of the loss of my eye.

The lady then said to him. Stroke thy head, and depart ; — •
but he replied, I will not depart until I have heard the stories
of the others. And they wondered at his tale; and the
Khalifeh said to Ja'far, Verily I have never known the like of
that which hath happened to this mendicant.

The second mendicant then advanced, and, having kissed
the ground, said, The Story of the Second Royal Mendicant