Khaled, A Tale of Arabia Part 2

'He is come to ask you in marriage.'

'Another!' she exclaimed with a careless laugh. 'If it is the will of Allah I will marry him. If not, he will go away like the rest.'

'This man is not like the rest, my daughter. He is either a madman or some powerful prince in disguise.'

'Or both, perhaps,' laughed Zehowah. She laughed often, for although she was not inclined to love, she was of a gentle and merry temper.

'His message was a strange one,' said the Sultan. 'He says that he neither brings gifts nor asks them, that he has neither father nor mother, nor any possessions excepting a swift mare, a keen sword and a strong hand.'

'I see the mare, the sword and the hand,' answered Zehowah. 'But the hand is like any other hand--how can I tell whether it be strong? The sword is in its sheath, and I cannot see its edge, and though the mare is pretty enough, I have seen many of your own I liked as well. The elephants of the Indian prince were more amusing, and the prince himself was more beautiful than this stranger with his black beard and his solemn face.'

'That is true,' said the Sultan with a sigh.

'Do you wish me to marry this man?' Zehowah asked.

'My daughter, I wish you to choose of your own free will. Nevertheless I trust that you will choose before long, that I may see my child's children before I die.'

For the Sultan was old and white-bearded, and was already somewhat bowed with advancing years and with burden of many cares and the fatigues of many wars. Yet his eye was bright and his heart fearless still, though his judgment was often weak and vacillating.

'Do you wish me to marry this man?' Zehowah asked again. 'He will be a strange husband, for he is a strange suitor, coming without gifts and having neither father nor mother. But I will do as you command. If you leave it to me I shall never marry.'

'I did not say that I desired you to take this one especially,'

protested the Sultan, 'though for the matter of gifts I care little, since heaven has sent me wealth in abundance. But my remaining years are few, and the years of life are like stones slipping from a mountain which move slowly at first, and then faster until they outrun the lightning and leap into the dark valley below. And what is required of a husband is that he be a true believer, young and whole in every part, and of a charitable disposition.'

'Truly,' laughed Zehowah, 'if he have no possessions, charity will avail him little, since he has nothing to give.'

'There is other charity besides the giving of alms, my daughter, since it is charity even to think charitably of others, as you know. But I have not said that you should marry this man, for you are free. And indeed I have not yet talked with him. But I have sent for him and you shall hear him speak. See--they are just now conducting him to the hall of audiences. But indeed I think he is no husband for you, after all.'

The Sultan rose and went to receive Khaled, and Zehowah went to the secret window above her father's raised seat in the hall.

Khaled made the customary salutation with the greatest respect, and the Sultan made him sit down at his right hand as though he had been a prince, and asked him whence he had come. Then a refreshment was brought, and Khaled ate and drank a little, after which the Sultan inquired his business.

'I come,' said Khaled boldly, 'to ask your daughter Zehowah in marriage.

I bring no gifts, for I have none to offer, nor have I any inheritance.

My mare is my fortune, my sword is my argument and my wit is in my arm.'

'You are a strange suitor,' said the Sultan; but he kept a pleasant countenance, since Khaled was his guest. 'You are no doubt the sheikh of a tribe of the Red Desert, though I was not aware that any tribes dwelt there.'

'So far as being the sheikh of my tribe,' said Khaled with a smile, 'your majesty may call me so, for my tribe consists of myself alone, seeing that I have neither father nor mother nor any relations.'

'Truly, I have never talked with such a suitor before,' answered the Sultan. 'At least I presume that you are a son of some prince, and that you have chosen to disguise yourself as a rich traveller and to hide your history under an allegory.'

The Sultan would certainly not have allowed himself to overstep the bounds of courtesy so far, but for his astonishment at Khaled's daring manner. He was too keen, however, not to see that this man was something above the ordinary and that, whatever else he might be, he was not a common impostor. Such a fellow would have found means to rob a caravan of valuable goods, to offer as gifts, would have brought himself a train of camels and slaves and would have given himself out as a prince of some distant country from which it would not be possible to obtain information.

'Istaghfir Allah! I am no prince,' Khaled answered. 'I ask for the hand of your daughter. The will of Allah will be accomplished.'

He knew that Zehowah was watching and listening behind the lattice in her place of concealment, for the memory of such things had not been taken from him when he had lost the supernatural vision of the genii and had become an ordinary man. He was determined therefore to be truthful and to say nothing which he might afterwards be called upon to explain.

For he never doubted but that Zehowah would be his wife, since the angel had told him that it should be so.

'And what if I refuse even to consider your proposal?' inquired the Sultan, to see what he would say.

'If it is the will of Allah that I marry your daughter, your refusal would be useless, but if it is not his will, your refusal would be altogether unnecessary.'

The Sultan was much struck by this argument which showed a ready wit in the stranger and which he could only have opposed by a.s.serting that his own will was superior to that of heaven itself.

'But,' said he, defending himself, 'any of the previous suitors might have said the same.'

'Undoubtedly,' replied Khaled, unabashed. 'But they did not say it. Your majesty will certainly now consider the matter.'

'In the meanwhile,' the Sultan answered, very graciously, 'you are my guest, and you have come in time to take part in the third day of the feast, to which you are welcome in the name of Allah, the merciful.'

Thereupon the Sultan rose and Khaled was conducted to the apartments set apart for the guests. But the Sultan returned to the harem in a very thoughtful mood, and before long he found Zehowah who had returned to her seat in the balcony.

'This is a very strange suitor,' he said, shaking his head and looking into his daughter's face.

'He is at least bold and outspoken,' she answered. 'He makes no secret of his poverty nor of his wishes. Whatever he be, he is in earnest and speaks truth. I would like well to know the only secret which he wishes to keep--who he really is.'

'It may be,' said the Sultan thoughtfully, 'that if I threaten to cut off his head he will tell us. But on the other hand, he is a guest.'

'He is not of those who are easily terrified, I think. Tell me, my father, do you wish me to marry him?'

'How could you marry a man who has no family and no inheritance? Would such a marriage befit the daughter of kings?'

'Why not?' asked Zehowah with much calmness.

The Sultan stared at her in astonishment.

'Has this stranger enchanted your imagination?' he inquired by way of answer.

'No,' replied Zehowah scornfully. 'I have seen the n.o.blest, the most beautiful and the richest of the earth, ready to take me to wife, and I have not loved. Shall I love an outcast?'

'Then how can you ask my wishes?'

'Because there are good reasons why I should marry this man.'

'Good reasons? In the name of Allah let me hear them, if there are any.'

'You are old, my father,' said Zehowah, 'and it has not pleased heaven to send you a son, nor to leave you any living relation to sit upon the throne when your years are accomplished. You must needs think of your successor.'

'The better reason for choosing some powerful prince, whose territory shall increase the kingdom he inherits from me, and whose alliance shall strengthen the empire I leave behind me.'

'Istaghfir Allah! The worse reason. For such a prince would be attached to his own country, and would take me thither with him and would neglect the kingdom of Nejed, regarding it as a land of strangers whom he may oppress with taxes to increase his own splendour. And this is not unreasonable, since no king can wisely govern two kingdoms separated from each other by more than three days' journey. No man can have other than the one of two reasons for asking me in marriage. Either he has heard of me and desires to possess me, or he wishes to increase his dominions by the inheritance which will be mine.'

'Doubtless, this is the truth,' said the Sultan. 'But so much the more does this stranger in all probability covet my kingdom, since he has nothing of his own.'

'This is what I mean. For, having no other possessions to distract his attention, he will remain always here, and will govern your kingdom for its own advantage in order that it may profit himself.'

'This is a subtle argument, my daughter, and one requiring consideration.'