The Story of Jullanar of the Sea - Part II

After this, Jullanar fulfilled her period, and she gave
birth to a boy, resembling the moon at the full, whereat
the King experienced the utmost happiness, because he had
not before been blest with a son nor a daughter during his
life. They continued the rejoicings, and the decorations [of
the city], for a period of seven days, in the utmost happiness
and enjoyment; and on the seventh day, the mother of the
Queen Jullanar, and her brother, and the daughters of her
uncle, all came, when they knew that Jullanar had given
birth to her child. The King met them, rejoicing at their
arrival, and said to them, I said I would not name my
son until ye should come, and that ye should name him
according to your knowledge. And they named him Bedr
Basim; all of them agreeing as to this name. They then
presented the boy to his maternal uncle, Salih, who took
him upon his hands, and, rising with him from among them,
walked about the palace to the right and left ; after which,
he went forth with him from the palace, descended with
him to the sea, and walked on until he became concealed
from the eye of the King. So when the King saw that he
had taken his son, and disappeared from him at the bottom
of the sea, he despaired of him, and began to weep and
wail. But Jullanar, seeing him in this state, said to him,

King of the age, fear not nor grieve for thy son; for

1 love my child more than thou, and my child is with my
brother; therefore care not for the sea, nor fear his being
drowned. If my brother knew that any injury would betide
the little one, he had not done what he hath done; and
presently he will bring thee thy son safe, if it be the will of
God, whose name be exalted ! — And but a short time had
elapsed when the sea was agitated and disturbed, and the
uncle of the little one came forth from it, having with him
the King's son safe, and he flew from the sea until he came
to them, with the little one on his arms, silent, and his face
resembling the moon in the night of its fulness. Then the
imcle of the little one looked towards the King, and said
to him, Perhaps thou fearedst some injury to thy son when
I descended into the sea, having him with me. So he
replied. Yes, O my master, I feared for him, and I did not
imagine that he would ever come forth from it safe. And
Salih said to him, O King of the Land, we applied to his
eyes a collyrium that we know, and repeated over him the
names engraved upon the seal of Suleyman the son of Da'ud
(on both of whom be peace!); for when a child is born
among us, we do to him as I have told thee. Fear not
therefore, on his account, drowning, nor suffocation, nor all
the seas if he descend unto them. Like as ye walk upon
the land, we walk in the sea.

He then took forth from his pocket a case, written upon,
and sealed; and he broke its seal, and scattered its contents,
whereupon there fell from it strung jewels, consisting of all
kinds of jacinths and other gems, together with three
hundred oblong emeralds, and three hundred oblong large
jewels, of the size of the eggs of the ostrich, the light of
which was more resplendent than the light of the sun and
the moon. And he said, O King of the age, these jewels
and jacinths are a present from me unto thee; for we never
brought thee a present, because we knew not the place of
Jullanar's abode, nor were acquainted with any trace or
tidings of her. So when we saw thee to have become
united to her, and that we all had become one, we brought
thee this present ; and after every period of a few days, we
will bring thee the like of it, if it be the will of God, whose
name be exalted! For these jewels and jacinths with us
are more plentiful than the gravel upon the land, and we
know the excellent among them, and the bad, and all the
ways to them, and the places where they are found, and
they are easy of access to us. — And when the King looked
at those jewels and jacinths, his reason was confounded and
his mind was bewildered, and he said, By Allah, one of
these jewels is worth my kingdom ! Then the King thanked
Salih of the Sea for his generosity, and, looking towards the
Queen JuUanar, he said to her, I am abashed at thy brother;
for he hath shewn favour to me, and presented me with this
magnificent present, which the people of the earth would
fail to procure. So Jullanar thanked her brother for that
which he had done; but her brother said, O King of the
age, thou hadst a prior claim upon us, and to thank thee
hath been incumbent on us ; for thou hast treated my sister
with beneficence, and we have entered thine abode, and
eaten of thy provision ; and the poet hath said, —

Had wept before she did, in my passion for So'da, I had healed

my soul before repentance came.
But she wept before / did : her tears drew mine ; and I said, The

merit belongs to the precedent.

Then Salih said, If we stood serving thee, O King of the
age, a thousand years, regarding nothing else, we could not
requite thee, and our doing so would be but a small thing
in comparison with thy desert. — The King therefore thanked
him eloquently. And Salih remained with the King, he
and his mother and the daughters of his uncle, forty days;
after which he arose and kissed the ground before the King,
the husband of his sister. So the King said to him. What
dost thou desire, O Salih? And he answered, O King of
the age, thou hast conferred favours upon us, and we desire
of thy goodness that thou wouldst grant us a boon, and give
us permission to depart ; for we have become desirous of
seeing again our family and our country and our relations
and our homes. We will not, however, relinquish the
service of thee, nor that of my sister nor the son of my
sister ; and by Allah, O King of the age, to quit you is not
pleasant to my heart ; but how can we act, when we have
been reared in the sea, and the land is not agreeable to us?
— So when the King heard his words, he rose upon his feet,
and bade farewell to Salih of the Sea and his mother and
the daughters of his uncle, and they wept together on
account of the separation. Then they said to the King, In
a short time we shall be with you, and we will never
relinquish you, but after every period of a few days we will
visit you. And after this, they flew towards the sea, and
descended into it, and disappeared.

The King treated Jullanar with beneficence, and honoured
her exceedingly, and the little one grew up well ; and his
maternal uncle, with his grandmother and the daughters of
his uncle, after every period of a few days used to come to
the residence of the King, and to remain with him a month,
and two months, and then return to their places. The boy
ceased not, with increase of age, to increase in beauty and
loveliness until his age became fifteen years ; and he was
incomparable in his perfect beauty, and his stature and his
justness of form. He had learned writing and reading, and
history and grammar and philology, and archery ; and he
learned to play with the spear ; and he also learned horse-
manship, and all that the sons of the Kings required. There
was not one of the children of the inhabitants of the city,
men and women, that talked not of the charms of that
young man ; for he was of surpassing loveliness and per-
fection ; and the King loved him greatly. Then the King
summoned the Wezir and the emirs, and the lords of the
empire, and the great men of the kingdom, and made them
swear by binding oaths that they would make Bedr Basim
King over them after his father ; so they swore to him by
binding oaths, and rejoiced thereat; and the King himself
was beneficent to the people, courteous in speech, of auspi-
cious aspect, saying nothing but what was for the good of
the people. And on the following day, the King mounted,
together with the lords of the empire and all the emirs, and all
the soldiers walked with him through the city and returned;
and when they drew near to the palace, the King dismounted
to wait upon his son, and he and all the emirs and the lords
of the empire bore the ghashiyeh before him. Each one of
the emirs and the lords of the empire bore the ghashiyeh a
while ; and they ceased not to proceed until they arrived at the
vestibule of the palace: the King's son riding. Thereupon
he alighted, and his father embraced him, he and the emirs,
and they seated him upon the throne of the kingdom, while
his father stood, as also did the emirs, before him. Then
Bedr Basim judged the people, displaced the tyrannical and
invested the just, and continued to give judgment until near
midday, when he rose from the throne of the kingdom, and
went in to his mother Jullanar of the Sea, having upon his
head the crown, and resembling the moon. So when his
mother saw him, and the King before him, she rose to him
and kissed him, and congratulated him on his elevation to
the dignity of Sultan; and she offered up a prayer in favour
of him and his father for length of life, and victory over
their enemies. He then sat wnth his mother and rested;
and when the time of afternoon-prayers arrived, he rode
with the emirs before him until he came to the horse-course,
where he played with arms till the time of nightfall, together
with his father and the lords of his empire ; after which
he returned to the palace, wnth all the people before him.
Every day he used to ride to the horse-course; and when
he returned, he sat to judge the people, and administered
justice between the emir and the poor man. He ceased
not to do thus for a whole year; and after that, he used to
ride to the chase, and to go about through the cities and
provinces that were under his rule, making proclamation
of safety and security, and doing as do the Kings; and he
was incomparable among the people of his age in glory and
courage, and in justice to the people.

Now it came to pass that the old King, the father «f
Bedr Basim, fell sick one day, whereupon his heart throbbed,
and he felt that he was about to be removed to the mansion
of eternity. Then his malady increased so that he was at
the point of death. He therefore summoned his son, and
charged him to take care of his subjects and his mother and
all the lords of his empire and all the dependants. He also
made them swear, and covenanted with them, that they
would obey his son, a second time; and he confided in
their oaths. And after this, he remained a few days, and
was admitted to the mercy of God, whose name be exalted !
His son Bedr Basim, and his wife Jullanar, and the emirs
and wezirs and the lords of the empire, mourned over him ;
and they made for him a tomb, and buried him in it, and
continued the ceremonies of mourning for him a whole
month. Salih, the brother of Jullanar, and her mother, and
the daughters of her uncle, also came, and consoled them
for the loss of the King; and they said, O Jullanar, if the
King hath died, he hath left this ingenuous youth, and he
who hath left such as he is hath not died. This is he who
hath not an equal, the crushing lion, and the splendid moon.
— Then the lords of the empire, and the grandees, went in
to the King Bedr Basim, and said to him, O King, there is
no harm in mourning for the King; but mourning becometh
not any save women; therefore trouble not thy heart and
ours by mourning for thy father, for he hath died and left
thee, and he who hath left such as thou art hath not died.
They proceeded to address him with soft words, and to
console him, and after that they conducted him into the
bath ; and when he came forth from the bath, he put on a
magnificent suit woven of gold, adorned with jewels and
jacinths, and he put the royal crown upon his head, seated
himself upon the throne of his kingdom, and performed the
affairs of the people, deciding equitably between the strong
and the weak, and exacting for the poor man his due from
the emir; wherefore the people loved him exceedingly.
Thus he continued to do so for the space of a whole year;
and after every short period, his family of the sea visited
him; so his life was pleasant, and his eye was cheerful: and
he ceased not to live in this state for a length of time.