Читать книгу 1001 Nights - Richard Francis Burton - Страница 98

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She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the Fire man and his wife agreed with Zau al-Makan to travel with him Damascus wards. Then the Stoker sold his goods and his wife’s gear and bought a camel and hired an ass for Zau al-Makan; and they set out, and ceased not wayfaring for six days till they reached Damascus. And they arrived there towards eventide; when the Fireman went forth and, as was his wont, bought some meat and drink. They had dwelt but five days in Damascus, when his wife sickened and, after a short illness, was translated to the mercy of Almighty Allah. Her death was a heavy matter to Zau al-Makan, for he was grown used to her as she had tended him assiduously; and the Fireman grieved for her with excessive grief. Presently the Prince turned to the Stoker and finding him mourning, said to him, “Grieve not, for at this gate we must all go in.” Replied he, “Allah make weal thy lot, O my son! Surely He will compensate us with His favours and cause our mourning to cease. What sayst thou, O my son, about our walking abroad to view Damascus and cheer thy spirits?” Replied Zau al-Makan, “Thy will is mine.” So the Fireman arose and placed his hand in that of Zau al — Makan and the two walked on till they came to the stables of the Viceroy of Damascus, where they found camels laden with chests and carpets and brocaded stuffs, and horses ready saddled and Bactrian dromedaries, while Mamelukes and negro slaves and folk in a hubbub were running to and fro. Quoth Zau al-Makan, “I wonder to whom belong all these chattels and camels and stuffs!” So he asked one of the eunuchs, “Whither this dispatching?’’ and he answered, “These are presents sent by the Emir of Damascus to King Omar bin al-Nu’uman, with the tribute of Syria.” Now when Zau al-Makan heard his father’s name his eyes brimmed over with tears, and he began repeating,

“Oh ye gone from the gaze of these ridded eyne,

Ye whose sight in my spirit shall ever dwell!

Your charms are gone, but this heart of me

Hath no sweet, and no pleasures its sour dispel;

If Allah’s grace make us meet again,

In long drawn love-tale my love I’ll tell.”

And when he had ended his verse, he wept and the Fireman said to him, “O my son, we hardly believed that thy health had returned;937 so take heart and do not weep, for I fear a relapse for thee.” And he ceased not comforting and cheering him, whilst Zau al-Makan sighed and moaned over his strangerhood and separation from his sister and his family; and tears streamed from his eyes and he recited these couplets,

“Get thee provaunt in this world ere thou wend upon thy way,

And know how surely Death descends thy life lot to waylay:

All thy worldly goods are pride and the painfullest repine;

All thy worldly life is vexing, of thy soul in vain display:

Say is not worldly wone like a wanderer’s place of rest,

Where at night he ‘nakhs’938 his camels and moves off at dawn of day?”

And he continued to weep and wail over his separation; whilst the Fireman also bewept the loss of his wife, yet ceased not to comfort Zau al-Makan till morning dawned. When the sun rose, he said to him, “Meseemeth thou yearnest for thy native land?” “Yes,” replied Zau al-Makan, “and I can no longer tarry here; so I will commend thee to Allah’s care and set out with these folk and journey with them, little by little, till I come to my mother land.” Said the Stoker, “And I with thee; for of a truth I cannot bear to part with thee. I have done thee kindly service and I mean to complete it by tending thee on thy travel.” At this, Zau al-Makan rejoiced and said, “Allah abundantly requite thee for me!” and was pleased with the idea of their travelling together. The Fireman at once went forth and bought another ass, selling the camel; and laid in his provaunt and said to Zau al-Makan, “This is for thee to ride by the way; and, when thou art weary of riding, thou canst dismount and walk.” Said Zau al-Makan, “May Allah bless thee and aid me to requite thee! for verily thou hast dealt with me more lovingly than one with his brother.” Then he waited till it was dark night, when he laid the provisions and baggage on that ass and set forth upon their journey. This much befel Zau al-Makan and the Fireman; but as regards what happened to his sister Nuzhat al-Zaman, when she left her brother in the Khan where they abode and, wrapped in the old camlet, went out to seek service with some one, that she might earn wherewithal to buy him the roast meat he longed for, she fared on, weeping and knowing not whither to go, whilst her mind was occupied with thoughts of her brother and of her family and her native land. So she implored Allah Almighty to do away with these calamities from them and began versifying,

“Dark falls the night and Passion comes sore pains to gar me

dree,

And pine upstirs those ceaseless pangs which work my tormentry,

And cease not separation flames my vitals to consume,

And drives me on destruction way this sorrow’s ecstacy

And longing breeds me restlessness; desire for ever fires,

And tears to all proclaim what I would keep in secrecy

No cunning shift is known to me a meeting to secure,

That I may quit this sickly state, may cure my malady:

The love which blazeth in my heart is fed with fancy fuel,

The lover from its hell of fire must bear Hell’s agony!939 O thou who blamest me for all befel me, ’tis enough, Patient I bear what ever wrote the Reed of Doom for me: By Love I swear I’ll never be consoled, no, never more; I swear the oath of Love’s own slaves who know no perjury: O Night, to chroniclers of Love the news of me declare; That sleep hath fed mine eyelids of thy knowledge witness bear!”

Then she walked on, weeping and turning right and left as she went, when behold, there espied her an old Badawi940 who had come into the town from the desert with wild Arabs other five. The old man took note of her and saw that she was lovely, but she had nothing on her head save a piece of camlet, and, marvelling at her beauty, he said to himself, “This charmer dazzleth men’s wits but she is in squalid condition, and whether she be of the people of this city or she be a stranger, I needs must have her.” So he followed her, little by little, till he met her face to face and stopped the way before her in a narrow lane, and called out to her, asking her case, and said, “Tell me, O my little daughter! art thou a free woman or a slave?” When she heard this, she said to him, “By thy life, do not add to my sorrows!” Quoth he, “Allah hath blessed me with six daughters, of whom five died and only one is left me, the youngest of all; and I came to ask thee if thou be of the folk of this city or a stranger; that I might take thee and carry thee to her, to bear her company so as to divert her from pining for her sisters. If thou have no kith and kin, I will make thee as one of them and thou and she shall be as my two children.” Nuzhat al-Zaman bowed her head in bashfulness when she heard what he said and communed with herself, “Haply I may trust myself to this old man.” Then she said to him, “O nuncle, I am a maiden of the Arabs and a stranger and I have a sick brother; but I will go with thee to thy daughter on one condition, which is, that I may spend only the day with her and at night may return to my brother. If thou strike this bargain I will fare with thee, for I am a stranger and I was high in honour among my tribe, and I awoke one morning to find myself vile and abject. I came with my brother from the land of Al–Hijaz and I fearless he know not where I am.” When the Badawi heard this, he said to himself, “By Allah, I have got my desire!” Then he turned to her and replied, “There shall none be dearer to me than thou; I wish thee only to bear my daughter company by day and thou shalt go to thy brother at earliest nightfall. Or, if thou wilt, bring him over to dwell with us.” And the Badawi ceased not to console her heart and coax her, till she trusted in him and agreed to serve him. Then he walked on before her and, when she followed him, he winked to his men to go in advance and harness the dromedaries and load them with their packs and place upon them water and provisions, ready for setting out as soon as he should come up with the camels. Now this Badawi was a base born churl, a highway thief and a traitor to the friend he held most fief, a rogue in grain, past master of plots and chicane. He had no daughter and no son and was only passing through the town when, by the decree of the Decreer, he fell in with this unhappy one. And he ceased not to hold her in converse on the highway till they came without the city of Jerusalem and, when outside, he joined his companions and found they had made ready the dromedaries. So the Badawi mounted a camel, having seated Nuzhat al-Zaman behind him and they rode on all night. Then she knew that the Badawi’s proposal was a snare and that he had tricked her; and she continued weeping and crying out the whole night long, while they journeyed on making for the mountains, in fear any should see them. Now when it was near dawn, they dismounted from their dromedaries and the Badawi came up to Nuzhat al-Zaman and said to her, “O city strumpet, what is this weeping? By Allah, an thou hold not thy peace, I will beat thee to death, O thou town filth!” When she heard this she loathed life and longed for death; so she turned to him and said, “O accursed old man, O gray beard of hell, how have I trusted thee and thou hast played me false, and now thou wouldst torture me?” When he heard her reply he cried out, “O lazy baggage, dost thou dare to bandy words with me?” And he stood up to her and beat her with a whip, saying, “An thou hold not thy peace, I will kill thee!” So she was silent awhile, then she called to mind her brother and the happy estate she had been in and she shed tears secretly. Next day, she turned to the Badawi and said to him, “How couldst thou play me this trick and lure me into these bald and stony mountains, and what is thy design with me?” When he heard her words he hardened his heart and said to her, “O lazy baggage of ill omen and insolent! wilt thou bandy words with me?” and he took the whip and came down with it on her back till she felt faint. Then she bowed down over his feet and kissed941 them; and he left beating her and began reviling her and said, “By the rights of my bonnet,942 if I see or hear thee weeping, I will cut out thy tongue and stuff it up thy coynte, O thou city filth!” So she was silent and made him no reply, for the beating pained her; but sat down with her arms round her knees and, bowing her head upon her collar, began to look into her case and her abasement after her lot of high honour; and the beating she had endured; and she called to mind her brother and his sickness and forlorn condition, and how they were both strangers in a far country, which crave her tears down her cheeks and she wept silently and began repeating,

“Time hath for his wont to upraise and debase,

Nor is lasting condition for human race:

In this world each thing hath appointed turn;

Nor may man transgress his determined place:

How long these perils and woes? Ah woe

For a life, all woeful in parlous case!

Allah bless not the days which have laid me low

I’ the world, with disgrace after so much grace!

My wish is baffled, my hopes cast down,

And distance forbids me to greet his face:

O thou who passeth that dear one’s door,

Say for me, these tears shall flow evermore!”

When she had finished her verses, the Badawi came up to her and, taking compassion on her, bespoke her kindly and wiped away her tears. Then he gave her a barley scone and said, “I love not one who answereth at times when I am in wrath: so henceforth give me no more of these impertinent words and I will sell thee to a good man like myself, who will do well with thee, even as I have done.” “Yes; whatso thou doest is right,” answered she; and when the night was longsome upon her and hunger burnt her, she ate very little of that barley bread. In the middle of the night the Badawi gave orders for departure — And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.