Tales of the Caliph Part 18

"'Tell me,' said she, 'whether you are capable of loving a woman like me, as a woman and a Queen should be loved?'

"'I love you,' he replied, 'with all the pa.s.sion of youth, with all my soul.'

"'But,' said she, 'a Queen must be loved alone. She cannot consent to divide the love of a man with any other woman.'

"'My charming and incomparable Queen,' he exclaimed, 'by Allah and the Prophet of G.o.d! there is no woman that can stand beside you. The man who is so happy as to possess you can want no other woman.'

"Ahesha laughed scornfully, and said, 'What an oath is that which you use! I laugh at your Allah and his Prophet.'

"Mubarek was a young man of very hot blood and fierce pa.s.sions, and being brought up a strict Moslim, he was so much enraged at the Queen's scoff, that no sooner were the words out of her mouth, than drawing instantly a jewelled dagger which she wore at her girdle, he plunged it into her heart.

"Then seeing the Queen lying at his feet with the blood gushing out of her breast, he repented of his hasty act, but it was too late. He perceived moreover that should he be discovered in that situation by the enraged attendants of the beautiful Queen, he would be put to death, probably with torture. At the same time, he knew neither where he could find a place of safety nor how he should manage to obtain food for the support of life in the midst of that city of idolaters.

"Wandering about the extensive gardens and groves surrounding the palace, and expecting every moment to fall in with some party of the royal guards who would seize him and take him prisoner, he came at length, in a very retired part of the woods, to a small cavern or grotto, and being very tired, he there laid himself down and very soon fell asleep.

"When he awoke the air was cool and fresh. The stars, still discernible, were fading in the light of the approaching dawn; and as he left the grotto he hastened, drawn by an indefinable and insensible impulse, to seek the place where he had left the body of the heathen Queen.

"With some difficulty he again found the spot which had been the scene of the love-making and the sudden tragedy on the previous day. The body of the Queen was no longer there. It had evidently been discovered and removed by her people. But precisely where her blood had streamed out upon the ground a small shrub was growing, which already bore a great number of bunches or cl.u.s.ters of a small fruit resembling currants. Feeling very hungry he gathered a quant.i.ty of this fruit and eat it as he walked. To his great surprise, notwithstanding that he had but just risen from a long rest and sound sleep, he began to feel excessively drowsy, and selecting a secluded and shady nook, he lay down and at once again fell asleep.

"He must have slept several hours, as when he recovered consciousness the sun was high in the heavens. But although it was apparently about midday he presently noticed that he did not experience any sensation of heat. It gradually dawned upon him, moreover, that, although perfectly conscious and able to reason and reflect and to distinguish clearly everything around him, this state of consciousness was wholly separate from and disconnected with the body. In fact, looking down he perceived his body lying stretched upon the gra.s.s, and still wrapped apparently in the total oblivion of the profoundest sleep.

"While he was yet lost in astonishment at the marvel of this strange condition, a fairy or spirit of the air stood beside him, and addressing him said--

"'Mubarek, why do you stand thus gazing upon the ground? Say, to what place shall we go? With so many lovely and charming scenes to which we can resort, we need not remain fettered to this earth.'

"'Fairy,' answered Mubarek, 'the choice rests with you. Take me with you wheresoever you will.'

"'Mubarek,' said the fairy, 'look up and tell me which star we shall visit.'

"Mubarek, looking up, found that the brightness of the noonday sun no longer obscured his vision, but that the stars also appeared clearly to him sparkling in all their myriad hosts throughout the heaven.

Selecting modestly one of the smaller stars, a mere point of light glistening in the distance, he said--

"'We will go there.'

"In a moment, not with the speed of lightning, for the lightning lags and travels slowly, but in a moment and with the speed of thought, the swiftest of all travellers known to man, they pa.s.sed at once through all the vast immeasurable s.p.a.ce which lay between that little world and this.

"On their arrival, after they had time to look about them and realize the peculiarities of their novel surroundings, Mubarek perceived that in this strange world the light was not derived from any one fixed point, such as our sun, but came in a steady and evenly diffused brightness from every part of the clear and luminous vault of heaven.

But, notwithstanding that the heat under that cloudless sky and glowing firmament must have been very great, yet to the inhabitants of that world, whose bodies are composed of quite other elements than ours and have a much higher temperature, the atmosphere, hot as it would appear to us, seems always cool and refreshing.

"At the place where Mubarek and his fairy companion had alighted there was situated a great and populous city. Its arrangements and magnificence were such that no city that has ever existed on our earth could be compared with it. In its wide thoroughfares and ample squares, planted with fine trees, gay with an infinite variety of many-tinted flowers, and adorned with lofty and ever-springing fountains of cool and sparkling liquid, which, as Mubarek afterwards discovered, was not water but the purest liquid gla.s.s, every dwelling was a palace. In that happy country there were no mean and squalid houses and no poor people.

"Mubarek and the fairy alighted in one of the n.o.ble squares of this great city, and after they had been standing only a few minutes looking about them in unfeigned wonder and admiration at all they saw, several of the inhabitants approached them, and bidding them welcome, offered to conduct them to the mansion which had been prepared for their reception.

"'How,' asked Mubarek, 'is it possible that any house can have been prepared for me, seeing that until this moment I have had no idea or intention of coming hither?'

"'Let not that surprise you,' said one of those who had addressed them: 'Allah, whose power and beneficence extends to every place, has ordained that we who are privileged to live in this delightful world, where it is always light, and where we are never weary and want for nothing that is necessary for our subsistence, should ever occupy ourselves with the happy task of preparing, not only all the luxuries and conveniences which we ourselves may desire, but also fair abodes for those whom he may from time to time allow to come among us.'

"Saying this, they conducted Mubarek and the fairy to a s.p.a.cious and beautiful palace which stood not far from the spot where they were standing.

"The house, like all those in this city, appeared to be composed of immense blocks of crystal or translucent marble of many hues. The great pillars that supported the arches, the ma.s.sive walls, the glistening roof with its domes and minarets, all were composed of the same unique and costly material.

"Entering the hall of the palace through the wide portal, on each side of which, standing open, were two curiously carved doors of some substance resembling mother-of-pearl, they pa.s.sed through the various apartments of the palace--all large, stately, and furnished handsomely.

"One peculiarity of this building which immediately attracted their attention was that there were no windows, sufficient of the perpetual and never-clouded brightness of the heavens pa.s.sing through the semi-translucent substance of the walls to afford a subdued and pleasant light to those within them.

"Mubarek, seating himself, at the invitation of his friendly conductors, on a couch covered with a fine soft fabric of a kind such as he had never seen before, expected that the slaves who attended in this superb palace would shortly appear to do his bidding, and prepare some kind of refreshment for himself and those who had brought him thither, and who declared him to be the owner of the place and themselves to be his guests.

"As, however, after sitting and conversing for some time, no servant made his appearance, he imagined that perhaps in that country no slave would dare to present himself even to tender his services without awaiting the signal from his lord. Mubarek therefore clapped his hands to summon the attendants. No one appeared, however, and those who sat with him looked surprised, and said--

"'What is the meaning of that action? Why do you clap your hands?'

"'I wish,' said he, 'to call the slaves, who, no doubt, are in attendance in some ante-chamber.'

"'What,' asked the others, 'are slaves?'

"'The servants, the attendants,' explained Mubarek, 'those who do the work of the house, who wait upon us, who cook our food and bring it to us.'

"'There are,' said the others, smiling, 'no such creatures in this world. All the inhabitants of these houses, no matter how large or fine they may be--and all our dwellings are s.p.a.cious and magnificent--do whatever work may be necessary, and are ever ready to exert themselves in the interest both of themselves and of others.

Besides,' the speaker continued, 'we have so many forces and contrivances, unknown perhaps in the region whence you come, that, although we have plenty of work, without which we might be dull, we have no drudgery.'

"'That is all very easy to say,' replied Mubarek, 'but who then kills the animals you eat, cooks them, and serves your table?'

"'What!' exclaimed the other, in surprise, 'do you kill and devour each other?'

"'No,' answered Mubarek; 'not each other, but other animals, such as the camel, the sheep, and the goat.'

"They heard this avowal with almost the same disgust as we should an avowal of man-eating, and explained that in their world they neither killed nor ate any living thing.

"'We have,' they said, 'fruits pleasing to the palate and nourishing to the body. These we gather, each one for himself, and should regard a man who required some one to gather his food for him very much as you would regard a man so lazy as to want some one to put it into his mouth for him.'

"Saying this, they rose, and Mubarek and the fairy with them, and taking each a plate or dish, every one of which was fashioned out of a single piece of the same beautiful and many-tinted crystal as composed the walls of their dwellings, they proceeded to gather in the garden which surrounded the palace all kinds of fruit.

"This fruit seemed to Mubarek to consist of all sorts of precious stones--the topaz, the jasper, the onyx, the carbuncle, the emerald, the ruby, and many others, and having brought their plates filled with this fruit into the house, these strange people sat down and ate them with much relish, praising highly their delicious flavour and nutritious qualities.

"They then replaced the plates, unsoiled by the repast they had contained, and prepared to show Mubarek and the fairy the beauties of their marvellous city.

"Instead of mounting on horseback like men, or being carried in litters like women, these singular beings had but to press a k.n.o.b or spring on a pillar standing before the house, and straightway a gentle breeze arose and carried them smoothly, and swiftly or slowly as they pleased, whithersoever they desired to go.

"In this easy and pleasant manner they journeyed through the city and were received by all they met with the most friendly and affectionate greetings. In every house they entered they were welcomed with frank cordiality, and at once, without ceremony or embarra.s.sment, fell to a.s.sisting the host in any work at which he might chance to be engaged, or discussing any topic of interest that might occur to them.

"After paying many of these visits and admiring the extraordinary richness and variety of architecture, furniture and utensils to be observed in every one of the dwellings of this happy and intelligent race, Mubarek said with some astonishment--

"'In all this vast and incomparable city through which you have so long conducted me, one thing I observe to be lacking. Among all this mult.i.tude of houses, every one of which is well worthy of being styled a palace, I have not seen, and you have not shown me, a single mosque, a single building that is,' he explained, 'dedicated to the service of Allah.'

"'Truly,' said they, looking upon him with amazement, 'some of your remarks and questions are more surprising to us than anything we can say or show can appear to you. Is it possible that any people can build any house that is not to be dedicated to the service of Allah, and if not, what can be the meaning or necessity of such a building as you allude to?'

"'Have you, then,' asked Mubarek, 'no religion?'

"'What is that?' said they; 'the word is new to us.'