Eastern Tales by Many Story Tellers Part 47

"'See,' said I, overturning the table, and treading the dishes under my feet, 'there is the estimation in which I hold your skill and diligence!'

"As he wanted to make a reply, I threw myself upon him to give him a hearty beating. His cries and screams soon brought my mother, who wished to tear from me the person at whom I was offended. She even ventured to add blows to her reproofs; and, in the blindness of my fury, I unfortunately struck her. When my father arrived, he was not more prudent, and I was at length put in chains. I recollect that, having put my hand across my mouth, it was covered with foam. In short, I lost my recollection, and only recovered it to behold myself an inhabitant of this mournful abode. I then learned that I was kept here by order of Giafar, the Grand Vizier.

"Many months have now elapsed since I groaned a miserable captive in this place. I have now recovered soundness of mind, in consequence of the solitude, but more especially the opportunity of indulging my unfortunate pa.s.sion, which I here enjoy without hearing the person whom I will ever love loaded with imprecations.

"Here, O respectable dervish! I am swayed by sadness, and not by pa.s.sion, and can discover in myself nothing for which I ought to be detained in this hospital. My friends, it would appear, have forgotten me; but it is the duty of the Grand Vizier, whose orders are here followed, to inspect this place, and endeavour to bring back to me my parents, since I only offended by one fit of madness, and have now sufficiently recovered my reason to regulate my conduct. This, venerable dervish, is the whole of my history. All my consolation is the Koran, and the hope that some time or other the Commander of the Faithful, who wishes to see everything himself, will direct his steps towards this mournful abode. I ask this from Allah a hundred times a day; but, alas! my supplications have never reached his throne."

"Cease not to pray, my dear son," replied the Caliph: "you will soon know the efficacy thereof, and your request will be heard."

After these words of consolation, Haroun returned with Giafar and Mesrour to the palace.

"What think you," said the Prince to the companions of his adventures, "of the story which has now been related? You were at hand, and must have heard everything which was spoken."

"I think," said Giafar, "that this young man, of whom I never heard before, though he accuses me of being the cause of his misfortunes, has been employing his invention to relate to you a collection of dreams or falsehoods."

"It is impossible that everything can be false in his relation,"

replied the Caliph; "and I command you to think on the means of ascertaining the truth. To-morrow I expect to hear from you."

Next day the Grand Vizier gave an account of the plan which he had devised for discovering what trust was to be placed in the history and complaints of Halechalbe.

"Those people," said the minister, "who are deranged in their mind, are never consistent in their accounts. Let your Highness therefore order the young man to be brought before you; and if he repeats his long story in the same connection he did yesterday, and without varying its circ.u.mstances, it will then be proper to make the necessary inquiries for ascertaining the truth of the facts."

The Vizier's opinion was highly approved of, and orders were instantly given to go for Halechalbe.

When the young man was at the foot of the throne, the Caliph thus addressed him: "Halechalbe, I have been informed that you have been confined in a madhouse, by a series of the most extraordinary adventures: recover your spirits, and be a.s.sured that I am anxious to do justice to all my subjects. But in the relation I demand from you, omit no circ.u.mstance, and consider the respect which is due to truth and to my presence."

Halechalbe, seeing the prediction of the dervish fulfilled, being inspired with confidence and affected with his subject, again began his history, and made not the smallest variations, even in the expressions.

Giafar was obliged to own that the recital which he had twice heard bore very striking marks of veracity. His sole object now was to discover Halechalbe's beloved but cruel enemy, in order to procure justice from her towards her injured husband; and his sagacity soon suggested the steps which were proper to be taken.

By calling together all the Cadis in Bagdad, in order to learn by whom the contract had been drawn up, the affair would be in danger of being divulged, without resolving the difficulty. For, if any of them had, contrary to law, drawn up a contract of so extraordinary a nature, he would not readily confess it; and besides, a man might have been suborned to act the part.

If Halechalbe's father was reconciled to him, and persuaded again to entrust his son with the management of his trade, it was probable that the old woman would be going about him, were it only from curiosity; and spies, properly placed, might apprehend her, and force her to disclose the name of her mistress.

The Caliph approved the scheme, and the syndic was immediately sent for. This unfortunate father, still supposing that his son was totally deranged in his mind, was greatly astonished to find himself in his company at the foot of the Caliph's throne, and still more to see Halechalbe treated by Haroun with the kindest attention.

Upon the first proposal of a reconciliation made by the Grand Vizier, the father stretched out his arms to receive his son. Measures were then agreed upon for unravelling the adventure, and Halechalbe's father promised to execute with fidelity the orders which he received.

The father and son returned to their house, after having received two rich robes from the munificent Caliph; and next day Halechalbe was re-established in his shop, which was as richly furnished as before.

The young man endeavoured, by submission, kindness, and attention, to make his parents forget the cause of complaint which he had given them. Though still inflamed by love, he strove to conceal from them its effects, and to get the better of his melancholy. He yielded to it only when free from every other business, and when left to himself in solitude and retirement.

Halechalbe's wife did not long enjoy the satisfaction of her revenge.

Having come to serious reflection on her conduct, she blamed herself for the excess of her cruelty, and at length became uneasy about the fate of the husband whom she had treated with too much severity, though she still supposed him criminal and ungrateful. Love soon regained the empire of her heart; and though she struggled for some days against a feeling which she durst not avow, silence at length became burdensome to her, and she ordered the old woman, as if solely through compa.s.sion, to make inquiry about the situation of her unfortunate husband.

"Alas, madam!" answered she, "my pity for him led me to his father's house, and I there learned from the inhabitants of that quarter, that the poor young man's life was in danger."

"His life in danger!" replied the lady. "Ah! unfortunate that I am! I have killed the only man in the world I ever loved, or can love! Can I not inform him that my life depends upon his? but everything prevents me from doing so. Go, however, and speedily get information concerning him, as far as you can, consistently with the safety of my honour."

The old woman received the order with great pleasure, and for some time was able to give her mistress good hopes of the recovery of her husband's health. But her inquiries soon became fruitless, for the neighbours were altogether silent concerning Halechalbe, from the moment when he was privately taken to a madhouse in a state of insanity.

Her mistress now yielded to despair, and shut herself up with her confidante, that she might indulge her sorrow and shed her tears without restraint. The musical instrument, which had formerly been employed to insult over the misfortune of Halechalbe, now served to express her own complaints. The lady, quite inconsolable, could no longer make verses, as she was wont to do when inspired by love or revenge, but only uttered a few broken words, intermingled with sighs and tears.

The good old woman was one day traversing the city, little thinking that she would have any agreeable news to carry to her mistress, when, as she pa.s.sed through the quarter where Halechalbe's shop was, she observed it open. Stopping to look at it, she discovered the master himself, seated on a sofa and lost in deep thought, and she determined to enter. As soon as she saw him she wished to throw herself into his arms, and Halechalbe was running to meet her when he perceived her approaching; but the Grand Vizier's spies, who had not lost sight of the slave, interposed, carried off the woman, and conducted her to Giafar.

Great was the astonishment of Giafar to find that the woman now brought before him was Nemana, the old governess of his beloved daughter Zerade.

"Is it possible," said he, "that you whom my daughter loads with her kindness should be engaged in the intrigue of Halechalbe's marriage?

Who is the woman you have given him for a wife?"

"O my Prince and master," answered Nemana, in great astonishment, "whom could I serve but your daughter, the Princess Zerade?"

Giafar was thunderstruck when he learned that his daughter had married without his knowledge and consent; but knowing that the Caliph was very anxious to get this affair unravelled, instead of returning to his own palace to get an explanation from Zerade, he instantly repaired to the Commander of the Faithful, followed by Nemana and the spies whom he had sent in pursuit of her.

"Wise Prince," said he "the old woman who was concerned in Halechalbe's marriage has been found: she is at the door, and I have put some questions to her. Halechalbe's wife," continued the Vizier, "has only availed herself of the law delivered in the Koran, by chastising her husband, who was surprised in a fault worthy of punishment. The duties of husband and wife are reciprocal, and Halechalbe had received the caresses of a strange woman."

"I think," said Haroun, "you strain the expressions of the law: you make it too sanguinary, and you would expose a great many in Bagdad to danger if the right of doing themselves justice was granted to all who really are, or think themselves, injured in this respect."

"Marriages of every kind," replied the Vizier, "will not admit of the rigorous application of the law; but when the lady who is married, while she subjects herself to the law in all its rigour, has it likewise in her power to demand the same subjection from the man whom she is to marry, and this condition is freely accepted, the injured person in avenging herself only makes use of her legal right."

"Notwithstanding all your fine arguments," said Haroun, "I am still inclined to favour the unfortunate Halechalbe: it yet remains that I be informed of the name of the woman in whose cause you are so eloquent."

"She is my daughter," answered the Vizier in great confusion.

"You have now," replied the Caliph, "let me into the secret. I see that the multiplicity of my affairs makes you neglect your own, and renders you perfectly ignorant of what pa.s.ses in your own house.

Marriages are contracted, and men's lives disposed of, without your knowing anything of the matter. Imagine the consequences which would result from allowing an arm directed by pa.s.sion to execute a rigorous law. I know the rights which are a.s.sumed by women in cases of unequal marriages. If conveniency and prudence, those powerful directors of human conduct, sometimes oblige them to give their hand to one of an inferior station, then they may avail themselves of these rights to a certain extent: they are a sort of compensation for the sacrifice which they make. But this is not the case with your daughter, who has made no sacrifice but to her own taste, and the son of the chief of trade is in every respect become her equal. He loves and adores her, notwithstanding all the cruelty which she has exercised against him, and she would certainly be too happy in having him again for her husband. You well know that with one word I can make my meanest subject a Prince. I will raise Halechalbe's father to that dignity, from a principle of justice, and I will take care of the son, from regard to himself and to you. Find out the name of the Cadi who drew up the contract, and why he ventured to do so without your consent, since without that the deed would be void; take care that nothing be wanting in the form." After this discourse with his Vizier, the Caliph ordered Halechalbe to approach.

"Young man," said he, "your wife shall be restored to you, and you shall have it in your power either to pardon or punish her. She is my Grand Vizier's daughter; but nothing ought to have any influence in preventing you from following the inclinations of your heart and the dictates of your mind."

"O Commander of the Faithful!" exclaimed the young Halechalbe, "can I retain any resentment against the person who is dearer to me than life? I aspire after nothing but the happiness of seeing her again, and if I can once more gain her heart, and the consent of her father, I vow to an affection which will terminate only with my existence."

"Giafar," replied the Caliph, "I recommend the interests of your daughter and son-in-law to your care. Henceforth consider him as a man connected with my service, and for whom I mean to provide."

The Grand Vizier returned to his palace, holding Halechalbe by the hand, and followed by the old woman, who perceiving herself at liberty, soon made her escape to go and inform her mistress of the visit which she might expect to receive. The Vizier, whom she had outrun, at length arrived at his house. Zerade arose to meet him, and to give the usual marks of her attachment and respect; but a signal with his hand, and a look of severity, forced her to desist.

"Suppress these demonstrations of attachment," said Giafar: "there can be no love without confidence, and no respect without obedience. You first married without my consent, and then, in a fit of delirium, abusing the authority which I gave you over my servants, you went to the most criminal excess against your husband, and committed a crime which exposed us to the wrath of the Caliph. When you gave your hand to the son of the chief of trade at Bagdad--a man esteemed and respected by everybody, and valued even by the Caliph himself--did you think that you were entering into a connection with the meanest slave?

And if the life even of these is to be spared, how could you imagine that you might dispose of your husband's according to your pleasure and caprice? I have brought him to you; he is your master, and in his turn has your life in his power. Fall at his feet, and be a.s.sured that you can never regain my esteem unless you obliterate from his mind, by submission and obedience, the undeserved and cruel treatment which he has received."

While the Vizier was speaking, the trembling Zerade would have fallen dead at his feet if she had not perceived in the eyes of Halechalbe something more than compa.s.sion for the confusion to which she was reduced. With pleasure did she throw herself at his feet, and kissed them with transport. The young husband, happy beyond expression, having raised Zerade, embraced her, and for some moments their tears were mingled together. This affecting scene made an impression on Giafar, who was pa.s.sionately fond of his daughter: the father and the minister were at once disarmed. But the Cadi must be called to correct the irregularity in the contract of marriage. He learned that his name was Yaleddin, and ordered him to be instantly sent for.

Yaleddin arrived, and did not allow Giafar time to ask why he agreed to marry Zerade in private, and without the concurrence of any one but the young lady.

"Your daughter," said the judge, "sent for me, and discovered the excess of her pa.s.sion. I thought it my duty to fulfil her wishes, that I might prevent, though by an irregular proceeding on my part, a conduct still more irregular in her. She proposed that I should be her guardian; and having undertaken this character, and not condemning her choice, I believed I was doing an important service to this fond couple, and I plainly foresaw that one day it would not meet your disapprobation."

Giafar, instead of showing dissatisfaction, generously expressed his grat.i.tude to the Cadi; but ordered the slave Zaliza to be delivered to him, that she might be punished, after a confession should be extorted from her of the odious stratagem which she had employed for separating her mistress and her husband.

The happy pair were then left to themselves, after the Vizier had a.s.sured Halechalbe that he would be as dear to him as his own son.

Magnificent feasts were afterwards given, that all possible splendour might accompany an union authorized and approved by the Caliph, and which diffused joy among all the inhabitants of Bagdad.