The Story of the Young King of the Black Islands

My father was king of the city which was here situate:
his name was JMahnuid, and he was lord of the Black Islands,
and of the four mountains. After a reign of seventy years.
he died, and I succeeded to his throne ; whereupon I took
as my wife the daughter of my uncle; and she loved me
excessively, so that when I absented myself from her, she
would neither eat nor drink till she saw me again. She
remained under my protection five years. After this, she
went one day to the bath; and I had commanded the cook
to prepare the supper, and entered this palace, and slept in
my usual place. I had ordered two maids to fan me ; and
one of them sat at my head, and the other at my feet ; but I
was restless, because my wife was not with me; and I could
not sleep. My eyes were closed, but my spirit was awake ;
and I heard the maid at my head say to her at my feet, O
Mes'udeh, verily our lord is unfortunate in his youth, and
what a pity is it that it should be passed with our depraved,
wicked mistress ! — Perdition to unfaithful wives ! replied the
other: but (added she) such a person as our lord, so en-
dowed by nature, is not suited to this profligate woman, who
passes every night absent from his bed. — Verily, rejoined she
at my head, our lord is careless in not making any inquiry
respecting her. — Wo to thee ! said the other : hath our lord
any knowledge of her conduct, or doth she leave him to his
choice? Nay, on the contrary, she contriveth to defraud
him by means of the cup of wine which he drinketh every
night before he sleepeth, putting benj^ into it ; in conse-
quence of which he sleepeth so soundly that he knoweth not
what happeneth, nor whither she goeth, nor what she doeth ;
for, after she hath given him the wine to drink, she dresseth
herself, and goeth out from him, and is absent until day-
break, when she returneth to him, and burneth a perfume
under his nose, upon which he awaketh from his sleep.

When I heard this conversation of the maids, the light
became darkness before my face, and I was hardly conscious
of the approach of night, when my cousin returned from
the bath. The table was prepared, and we ate, and sat a
while drinking our wine as usual. I then called for the
wine which I was accustomed to drink before I lay down to
sleep, and she handed to me the cup; but I turned away,
and, pretending to drink it as I was wont to do, poured it
into my bosom, and immediately lay down : upon which
she said, Sleep on ; I wish that thou wouldst never wake
again ! By Allah, I abhor thee, and abhor thy person, and
my soul is weary of thy company ! — She then arose, and
attired herself in the most magnificent of her apparel, and,
having perfumed herself, and slung on a sword, opened the
door of the palace, and went out. I got up immediately,
and followed her until she had quitted the palace, and
passed through the streets of the city, and arrived at the
city-gates, when she pronounced some words that I under-
stood not; whereupon the locks fell off, and the gates
opened, and she went out, I still following her, without her
knowledge. Thence she proceeded to a space among the
mounds, and arrived at a strong edifice, in which was a
kubbeh" constructed of mud, with a door, which she entered.
I then climbed upon the roof of the kubbeh, and, looking
down upon her through an aperture, saw that she was
visiting a black slave, whose large lips, one of which over-
lapped the other, gathered up the sand from the pebbly
floor, while he lay, in a filthy and wet condition, upon a
few stalks of sugar-cane.

She kissed the ground before this slave ; and he raised
his head towards her, and said, Wo to thee ! Wherefore
hast thou remained away until this hour? The other blacks
have been here drinking wine, and each of them has gone
away with his mistress ; and I refused to drink on thy
account. — She answered, O my master, and beloved of my
heart, knowest thou not that I am married to my cousin,
and that I abhor every man who resembles him, and hate
myself while I am in his company? If I did not fear to
displease thee, I would reduce the city to ruins, so that the
owl and the raven should cry in it, and would transport its
stones beyond Mount Kaf.^" — Thou liest, thou infamous
woman, replied the slave; and I swear by the generosity
of the blacks (and if I speak not truth, may our valour be as
the valour of the whites), that if thou loiter as thou hast
now done till this hour, I will no longer give thee my
company, nor approach thy person, thou faithless one ?
Dost thou inconvenience me for the sake of thine ovn
pleasure, thou filthy wretch, and vilest of the whites? —
When I heard (continued the King) their words, and wit-
nessed what passed between them, the world became dark
before my face, and I knew not where I was. — My cousin still
stood weeping, and abasing herself before him, and said,
my beloved, and treasure of my heart, there remaineth
to me none but thee for whom I care, and if thou cast me
off, alas for me ! O my beloved ! O light of mine eye ! —
Thus she continued to weep, and to humble herself before
him, until he became pacified towards her; upon which
she rejoiced, and arose, and, having disrobed herself, said
to him, O my master, hast thou here anything that thy maid
may eat ? He answered. Uncover the dough-pan ; it con-
tains some cooked rats' bones : eat of them, and pick them ;
and take this earthen pot: thou wilt find in it some buzah"
to drink. So she arose, and ate and drank, and washed her
hands ; after which she lay down by the side of the slave,
upon the stalks of sugar-cane, and covered herself with his
tattered clothes and rags.

When I saw her do this, I became unconscious of my
existence, and, descending from the roof of the kubbeh,
entered, and took the sword from the side of my cousin,
with the intention of killing them both. I struck the slave
upon his neck, and thought that he was killed ; but the
blow, which I gave with the view of severing his head, only
cut the gullet and skin and flesh; and when I thought that

1 had killed him, he uttered a loud snore, upon which my
cousin started up, and, as soon as I had gone, took the
sword, and returned it to its scabbard, and came back to
the city and to the palace, and lay down again in my bed,
in which she remained until the morning.

On the following day, I observed that my cousin had
cut off her hair, and put on the apparel of mourning; and
she said to me, O my cousin, blame me not for what I do;
for I have received news that my mother is dead, and that
my father hath been slain in a holy war, and that one of my
two brothers hath died of a poisonous sting, and the other
by the fall of a house: it is natural, therefore, that I should
"vveep and mourn. On hearing these words, I abstained
from upbraiding her, and said, Do what seemeth fit to thee ;
for I will not oppose thee. Accordingly, she continued
mourning and weeping and wailing a whole year; after
which she said to me, I have a desire to build for myself,
in thy palace, a tomb, with a kubbeh, that I may repair
thither alone to mourn, and I will call it the House of
Lamentations. I replied. Do what thou seest fit. So she
built for herself a house for mourning, with a kubbeh in the
middle of it, like the tomb of a saint; after which she
removed thither the slave, and there she lodged him. He
was in a state of excessive weakness, and unable to render
her any service, though he drank wine; and from the day
on which I had wounded him, he had never spoken; yet
he remained alive, because the appointed term of his life
had not expired. My cousin every day visited him in this
tomb early and late, to weep and mourn over him, and took
to him wine to drink, and boiled meats; and thus she con-
tinued to do, morning and evening, until the expiration of
the second year, while I patiently suffered her, till, one day,
I entered her apartments unawares, and found her weeping,
and slapping her face, and repeating these verses : —

I have lost my existence among mankind since your absence ; foF

my heart loveth none but you.
Take my body, then, in mercy, to the place where you are laid ;

and there bury me by your side :
And if, at my grave, you utter my name, the moaning of my bones

shall answer to your call.

As soon as he had finished the recitation of these verses,
I said to her, holding my drawn sword in my hand. This is
the language of those faithless women who renounce the
ties of aflSnity, and regard not lawful fellowship ! — and I
was about to strike her with the sword, and had lifted up my
arm to do so, when she rose — for she knew that it was I
who had wounded the slave — and, standing before me,
pronounced some words which I understood not, and said,
May God, by means of my enchantment, make thee to be
half of stone, and half of the substance of man ! — whereupon
I became as thou scest, unable to move, neither dead nor
alive; and when I had been reduced to this state, she
iiaiited the city and its markets and fields. The inhab-.
i',jnts of our city were of four classes ; Muslims and
Christians, and Jews and Magians; and she transformed
them into fish : the white are the Muslims ; the red, the
Magians ; the blue, the Christians ; and the yellow, the Jews.
She transformed, also, the four islands into four mountains,
and placed them around the lake; and from that time she
has continued every day to torture me, inflicting upon me a
hundred lashes with a leathern whip, until the blood flows
from my wounds; after which she puts on my upper half a
vest of hair-cloth, beneath these garments. — Having said thus,
the young man wept, and ejaculated the following verses: —

Give me patience, O Allah, to bear what Thou decreest ! I will

be patient, if so I may obtain thine approval.
I am straitened, indeed, by the calamity that hath befallen me : but

the Family of the favoured Prophet shall intercede for me !

LTpon this, the King, looking towards the young man,
said to him, O youth, thou hast increased my anxiety. And
where (he added) is this woman? — The young man answered,
She is in the tomb where the slave is lying, in the kubbeh ;
and every day, before she visits him, she strips me of my
clothing, and inflicts upon me a hundred lashes with the
whip, while I weep and cry out, unable to move so as to
repulse her. After thus torturing me, she repairs early to
the slave, with the wine and boiled meat. — By Allah, O
youth, said the King, I will do thee an act of kindness for
which I shall be remembered, and a favour which historians
shall record in a biography after me.

He then sat and conversed Avith him until the approach
of night, upon which he arose, and waited till the first dawn
of day, when he took off his clothes, and slung on his sword,
and went to the place where the slave lay. After remarking
the candles and lamps, and perfumes and ointments, he ap-
proached the slave, and with a blow of his sword slew him ;
he then carried him on his back, and threw him into a well
which he found in the palace, and returning to the kubbeh,
clad himself with the slave's clothes, and lay down with the
drawn sword by his side. Soon after, the vile enchantress -]
went to her cousin, and, having pulled off his clothes, took
whip and beat him, while he cried, Ah ! it is euOLt.e ;enQ
for me to be in this state! Have pity on me then! — Di«.edf-
thou shew pity to me, she exclaimed, and didst thou spar,!
my lover? — She then put on him the hair-cloth vest and his
outer garments, and repaired to the slave with a cup of wine,
and a bowl of boiled meat. Entering the tomb, she wept
and wailed, exclaiming, O my master, answer me ! O my
master, speak to me ! — and poured forth her lamentation in
the words of this verse : —

How long shall this aversion and harshness continue ? Sufficient
is the evil which my passion hath brought upon me I

Then, weeping, as before, she exclaimed again, O my master,
answer me and speak to me ! Upon this the King, speak-
ing in a low voice, and adapting his tongue to the pronuncia-
tion of the blacks ejaculated. Ah! Ah! there is no strength
nor power but in God ! On hearing these words, she screamed
with joy, and fell down in a swoon; and when she recovered,
she exclaimed. Possibly my master is restored to health !
The King, again lowering his voice, as if from weakness,
replied. Thou profligate wretch, thou deservest not that I
should address thee. — Wherefore? said she. He answered,
Because all the day long thou tormentest thy husband, while
he calleth out, and imploreth the aid of God, so that thou
hast prevented my sleeping from the commencement of dark-
ness untjl morning: thy husband hath not ceased to humble
himself, and to imprecate vengeance upon thee, till he hath
distracted me ; and had it not been for this, I had recovered
my strength: this it is which hath prevented my answering
thee. — Then, with thy permission, she replied, I will liberate
him from his present sufferings. — Liberate him, said the
King, and give us ease.

She replied, I hear and obey; — and immediately arose,
and went out from the kubbeh to the palace, and, taking a
cup, filled it with water, and pronounced certain words over
it, upon which it began to boil like a cauldron. She then
sprinkled some of it upon her cousin, saying, By virtue of
what I have uttered, be changed from thy present state to
that in which thou wast at first !— and instantly he shook,
and stood upon his feet, rejoicing in his liberation, and
exclaimed, I testify that there is no deity but God, and that
Mohammad is God's Apostle ; God bless and save him !
She then said to him, Depart, and return not hither, or I
will kill thee : — and she cried out in his face : so he departed
from before her, and she returned to the kubbeh, and said, O
my master, come forth to me that I may behold thee. He
replied, with a weak voice. What hast thou done ? Thou hast
relieved me from the branch, but hast not relieved me from
the root. — O my beloved, she said, and what is the root ? He
answered. The people of this city, and of the four islands:
every night, at the middle hour, the fish raise their heads, and
imprecate vengeance upon me and upon thee; and this is the
cause that preventeth the return of vigour to my body ; there-
fore, liberate them, and come, and take my hand, and raise
me ; for vigour hath already in part returned to me.

On hearing these words of the King, whom she imagined
to be the slave, she said to him with joy, O my master, on
my head and my eye ! In the name of Allah ! — and she
sprang up, full of happiness, and hastened to the lake, where,
taking a little of its water, she pronounced over it some un-
intelligible words, whereupon the fish became agitated, and
raised their heads, and immediately became converted into
men as before. Thus was the enchantment removed from
the inhabitants of the city, and the city became repeopled,
and the market-streets re-erected, and every one returned to
his occupation : the mountains also became changed into
islands as they were at the first. The enchantress then re-
turned immediately to the King, whom she still imagined to
be the slave, and said to him, O my beloved, stretch forth
thy honoured hand, that I may kiss it. — Approach me, said
the King in a low voice. So she drew near to him ; and
he, having his keen-edged sword ready in his hand, thrust
it into her bosom, and the point protruded from her back:
he then struck her again, and clove her in twain, and went
forth.

He found the young man who had been enchanted waiting
his return, and congratulated him on his safety; and the
young prince kissed his hand, and thanked him. The King
then said to him. Wilt thou remain in thy city, or come with
me to my capital? — O King of the age, said the young man,
dost thou know the distance that is between thee and thy
city? The King answered. Two days and a half. — O King,
replied the young man, if thou hast been asleep, awake: be-
tween thee and thy city is a distance of a year's journey to
him who travelleth with diligence; and thou camest in two
days and a half only because the city was enchanted: but,
O King, I will never quit thee for the twinkling of an eye.
The King rejoiced at his words, and said. Praise be to God,
who hath in his beneficence given thee to me: thou art my
son; for during my whole life, I have never been ble^t with
a son: — and they embraced each other, and rejoiced exceed-
ingly. They then went together into the palace, where the
King who had been enchanted informed the officers of his
court that he was about to perform the holy pilgrimage : so
they prepared for him everything that he required; and he
departed with the Sultan ; his heart burning with reflections
upon his city, because he had been deprived of the sight of
it for the space of a year.

He set forth, accompanied by fifty memluks, and pro-
vided with presents, and tliey continued their journey night
and day for a whole year, after which they drew near to the
city of the Sultan, and the Wezir and the troops, who had
lost all hope of his return, came forth to meet him. The
troops, approaching him, kissed the ground before him, and
congratulated him on his safe return ; and he entered the
city, and sat upon the throne. He then acquainted the Wezir
with ajl that had happened to the young King; on hearing
which, the Wezir congratulated the latter, also, on his safety;
and when all things were restored to order, the Sultan be-
stowed presents upon a number of his subjects, and said to
the Wezir, Bring to me the fisherman who presented to me
the fish. So he sent to this fisherman, who had been the
cause of the restoration of the inhabitants of the enchanted
city, and brought him; and the King invested him with a
dress of honour, and inquired of him respecting his circum-
stances, and whether he had any children. The fisherman
informed him that he had a son and two daughters; and the
King, on hearing this, took as his wife one of the daughters,
and the young prince married the other. The King also con-
ferred upon the son the office of treasurer. He then sent
the Wezir to the city of the young prince, the capital of the
Black Islands, and invested him with its sovereignty, des-
patching with him the fifty memluks who had accompanied
him thence, with numerous robes of honour to all the Emirs;
and the Wezir kissed his hands, and set forth on his journey;
while the Sultan and the young prince remained. And as to
the fisherman, he became the wealthiest of the people of his
age ; and his daughters continued to be the wives of the Kings
until they died.

But this (added Shahrazad) is not more wonderful than
what happened to the porter.