Eastern Tales by Many Story Tellers Part 41

Nine days pa.s.sed in silence; our loss affected both, and Eloubrou was as little disposed as myself to forget the cause of her griefs. On the tenth morning, Eloubrou was called out by the Grand Vizier, who then had the command of my father's kingdom.

She returned in haste. "Princess of Ca.s.simir," said she, "one who calleth himself Mahoud inquires for thee; and the Grand Vizier, understanding that he was instrumental in your release, waits without to know your will."

At the name of Mahoud I started from my reverie. "Mahoud," said I, "O Eloubrou! deserves my notice; and the son of the jeweller of Delhi shall be rewarded for his services to your mistress."

"Alas!" answered Eloubrou, "my lovely mistress is distracted with sorrows, and supposes the Prince Mahoud to be the offspring of a slave!"

"If he be a Prince," answered I, "he has. .h.i.therto concealed his circ.u.mstances and birth from me, or he is not that Mahoud whom I remember in the deserts of Tarapajan."

"That," answered Eloubrou, "you will soon discover when you see him.

But," continued she, "he desires a private audience."

"Well, then," replied I, "introduce him, Eloubrou; but let my slaves be ready to enter at my call."

Eloubrou obeyed, and brought the merchant Mahoud into my presence, and then retired.

Mahoud fell at my feet, and said, "Forgive my presumption in approaching the throne of Ca.s.simir, and that I have added hypocrisy to my boldness, by a.s.suming the t.i.tle of a Prince."

"What, then," answered I, sternly, "has induced you to deceive my Court?"

"Let death," said Mahoud, falling again before me, "let death atone for my crime; but first permit me to explain the motives of my presumption."

"Proceed," said I.

He then informed me that, after a.s.suming his natural form, he visited Delhi, where he was spurned by Misnar and Horam, and had been compelled to beg his way to my dominions. A merchant of the city had furnished him with the robes in which he appeared. Then clapping my hands, Eloubrou appeared, and I said, "Eloubrou, let the Prince Mahoud be lodged in my father's palace, and let a proper number of slaves attend him; and do you acquaint the Vizier with his quality."

Eloubrou did as I commanded; and Mahoud, full of joy, fell down at my feet, and kissed the hem of my garment.

"Prince," said I, "arise; and Eloubrou shall conduct you to my father's palace."

A few days' experience made me repent my folly in giving credit to the falsehoods of Mahoud, for the insolent merchant got proud of his newly-a.s.sumed honours. He came daily, and was introduced to me, and every time a.s.sumed greater state; till at last he dared to declare his pa.s.sion for me, and talked of asking my father's consent as soon as the days of his sorrow should be accomplished. Astonished at his insolence, I bade him depart from my presence, which he did reluctantly, muttering revenge as he went.

As soon as he was gone, I acquainted Eloubrou with Mahoud's story, his ridiculous and insolent behaviour, and that he had even dared to threaten me with revenge.

"The threats of Mahoud," said Eloubrou, "are of little consequence, though prudence should never esteem the least enemy unworthy of its notice; care shall, therefore, be taken of this insolent merchant."

While Eloubrou was giving the necessary instructions, one of the slaves entered the apartment, and gave me notice that Zebenezer, my father, expected me in the tomb immediately. I put on the solemn veil, and followed the guard to the tomb of Chederazade. I entered the lonely mansions of the dead with fear and trembling, and, at the upper end of the vaulted tomb, saw my father kneeling before the embalmed corpse of my mother.

"Unhappy Hemjunah," said the aged man, "come hither, and behold the sad remains of my dearest Chederazade."

Although my heart sank with grief, and my limbs tottered, yet I went to reach the place where Chederazade lay embalmed, and fell at the feet of my father Zebenezer.

"Rise," said he, "O daughter!" and caught me suddenly in his arms; when, oh fearful sight! I perceived his visage alter, and that the villanous Mahoud held me in his embrace.

Struck with horror and despair, I endeavoured to cry out, but in vain--my voice was gone, and the power of speech was taken from me.

"No," said he, with a fierce air, "your struggles and resistance, O prudent Princess, are all vain; for she who would join to deceive others must expect to be deceived when there is none to help her; therefore speech, if you resist, is taken from you."

"What," said I, "cruel Mahoud! is this the return my friendship deserves, when, to save you from infamy and slavery, I gave way to your entreaties, and represented you otherwise than you really were?"

"Friendship, O Princess," said he, "is built on virtue, which Mahoud has disclaimed since he entered into the service of the sage Hapacuson; and by her advice it was that he told you a false tale to deceive you to your own destruction. Had you not yielded to that tale, I could have had no power over you or your father; but it is our triumph to circ.u.mvent the prudence of Mahomet's children; wherefore, seeing you would not yield openly to my wishes, I had no sooner left you with Eloubrou, than, by Hapacuson's a.s.sistance, I entered this tomb invisibly, and, by my enchantments, overpowered your father Zebenezer, and then, a.s.suming his person, I sent for my Princess, and she came obedient to my call. But, now," continued the false Mahoud, "your cries will profit you but little; for Hapacuson, who is ever hovering over Delhi, to watch the motions of the Sultan Misnar, has by this time placed us in a repository of the dead, where we shall have none to overhear or disturb us."

"Mahoud then showed me my father Zebenezer, whom, by his enchantment, he had deprived of all sensation: he lay in a coffin of black marble, in an inner apartment, and after that he vowed that he would desist from force; but, till I consented to love him, I must be content to live in the tomb.

"He, by his enchantments, obliged me to sleep in the place whence you delivered me, and what time has elapsed during my confinement I know not."

"Princess," said the Sultan, "we rejoice at your escape; but as it is probable, by your account, that your royal sire Zebenezer still sleeps in the tomb, we will pray for his deliverance from the chains of enchantment."

The Sultan then sent officers to search in the tomb for the body of Zebenezer, and also called together those who were skilled in magic, and desired them to use incantations to invoke the genius Macoma to their a.s.sistance. But the arts of the magicians were vain, and Macoma remained deaf to the entreaties of the Sultan and his sages.

In the meantime, while the Sultan and his Vizier Horam endeavoured to comfort the afflicted Hemjunah, the amba.s.sadors returned from Ca.s.simir, bringing advice that the grand Vizier Hobaddan had a.s.sumed the t.i.tle of Sultan, and that the whole kingdom of Ca.s.simir acknowledged his authority.

At this report, Hemjunah sank on the earth, and the Sultan Misnar ran to comfort her, declaring that he would march his whole army to recover her dominions from the rebel Hobaddan.

"Horam," said the Sultan, "let us be prudent as well as just: therefore, while you march to the a.s.sistance of the injured subjects of Ca.s.simir, and to restore that kingdom to its lawful Prince, I will keep strict discipline and order in the provinces of my empire; and I trust, in a short time, I shall see you return with the head of the rebel Hobaddan."

The Vizier Horam set out in a few days from Delhi with three hundred thousand troops of the flower of the Sultan's army, and by forced marches reached the confines of Ca.s.simir ere the pretended Sultan Hobaddan had notice of his arrival.

The Vizier Horam's intention to restore the Princess Hemjunah to the throne of her ancestors being proclaimed, numbers of the subjects of Ca.s.simir flocked to the standard of Horam; and the army, now increased to five hundred thousand troops, marched forthwith toward the capital of Ca.s.simir.

Hobaddan, having notice of the increase and progress of his enemies, and finding that to engage them upon equal terms was vain, sent an emba.s.sy to the Vizier Horam, a.s.suring him that he and his whole army would surrender themselves up to the mercy and clemency of his master's troops. Horam rejoiced at the success of his march; and desirous of regaining the kingdom of Ca.s.simir without bloodshed, sent an a.s.surance to Hobaddan in answer, that, if he fulfilled his promise, his own life should be saved.

The next morning Hobaddan appeared in front of his troops, with their heads dejected and their arms inverted toward the ground; and in this manner they came forward to the Vizier Horam's army.

Horam, to encourage the submission of Hobaddan, had placed the forces, which he had raised in the kingdom of Ca.s.simir, in the van of his army; and also to secure them from retreating, by the support which his own troops were to give them in the rear.

When Hobaddan was within hearing, instead of throwing his arms on the ground, he unsheathed his scimitar, and thus spake to the troops before him:

"Brethren and countrymen, suffer me to speak what my affection to you all, and my love for my country, requires me to say. Against whom, O my brethren, is this array of battle? and whose blood seek ye to spill on the plains which our forefathers have cultivated? Is it our own blood that must be poured forth over these lands to enrich them for a stranger's benefit? Is it not under pretence of fighting for the Princess of Ca.s.simir, who has been long since dead, that the Sultan of India's troops are now ravaging, not on our borders only, but penetrating even into the heart of our nation? But suppose ye that the conquerors will give up the treasures they hope to earn by their blood? Will they not rather, invited by the fruitfulness of our vales, and by the rich produce of our mountains, fix here the standard of their arms, and make slaves of us, who are become thus easily the dupes of their ambitious pretences? Then, farewell content! farewell pleasure! farewell the well-earned fruits of industry and frugality!

Our lands shall be the property of others, and we still tied down by slavish chains to cultivate and improve them. Our houses, our substance, shall be the reward of foreign robbers; our wives and our virgins shall bow down before conquerors; and we, like the beasts of the field, shall be drawn in the scorching midday to the furrow or the mine."

As Hobaddan began to utter these words, Horam, astonished at his malice and presumption, ordered the archers who attended him to draw forth their arrows, and pierce him to the heart; but the weapons of war were as straws on the armour of Hobaddan, and he stood dauntless and unhurt amidst ten thousand arrows.

"Friends and brethren!" continued Hobaddan, "you see the powers above are on our side; the arrows of Horam are as chaff on the plain, and as the dust which penetrates not the garments of the traveller. Halt not, therefore, but join your arms to the defender and supporter of your liberties and your possessions."

At these words the recruits of Horam filed off in a body and joined the party of Hobaddan; while the pretended Sultan, elated at his success, pushed forward to the Vizier Horam's troops, and charged them with the utmost impetuosity.

The weapons of the brave were foiled by the armour of Hobaddan; for the enchantress Hapacuson, studious of diverting the attention of the Sultan Misnar, had a.s.sisted Hobaddan with her counsel and with invulnerable arms; wherefore, seeing their labour vain and fruitless against the pretended and unconquerable Sultan, the hearts of Horam's warriors melted within them, and they fell away from the field of battle; and Hobaddan, sensible of his advantage, hastened after the troops of Horam all the day and night; and the Vizier himself barely escaped with his life, having none left behind him to send to Delhi with the unhappy report of his defeat.

But malicious Fame, ever indefatigable in representing the horrors of affliction and distress, soon spread her voice throughout the regions of Delhi; and Misnar heard from every quarter, that his faithful Horam and all his chosen troops were defeated or cut off by the victorious arm of Hobaddan. The Princess Hemjunah gave up herself to sighs and tears, and refused the consolation of the Court of Delhi; and the Sultan Misnar, enraged at his loss, resolved to a.s.semble the greatest part of his troops, and march to the a.s.sistance of Horam.

But first he gave orders that recruits should be raised, and that the number of his troops should be increased; and then, mixing his young raised soldiers with the veterans of his army, he left one half of his troops to guard his own provinces, and with the other he marched towards the confines of Ca.s.simir.

The Vizier Horam had concealed himself in the hut of a faithful peasant, and hearing that his master had arrived with a numerous army in the kingdom of Ca.s.simir, he went forward to meet him, and, falling down at his feet, besought his forgiveness.

"Horam," said the Sultan, "arise. I forgive thee, although thou hast lost so many of my troops; but I little suspected Hobaddan had been too artful for the experience and sagacity of my Vizier. However, Horam, he must not expect to deceive us again: we are more in number, and we are aware of his deceit. You, Horam, forced your marches and weakened your troops, but I will bring them on slowly and surely. Have we prevailed against Ulin, and Happuck, and Ollomand, and Tasnar--have we crushed Ahaback and Desra by our prudent arts--and shall we fear the contrivance of a poor Vizier, who leads a few rebels among the rocks of the province of Ca.s.simir? Let us but use prudence with resolution, and these enemies must soon fade away like the shadow that flieth from the noontide sun."