"More Fairy Tales from the Arabian Nights" - читать интересную книгу автора (Dixons Version)

More Fairy Tales from the Arabian Nights.
First Series.
Edited by E. Dixon

Illustrations by Mr. J. D. Batten.

J. M. Dent & Co.
London
1893

Note.
The text of the present selection from the Arabian Nights is that of Galland, 1821, somewhat abridged and edited. The edition is designed virginibus puerisque.
E. DIXON.
London,
Xmas, 1895.
THE STORY OF THE ENCHANTED HORSE


he Nevrouz, or New Year's Day, is an ancient and solemn feast, which has been continued from the time of idolatry throughout all Persia, and celebrated with extraordinary rejoicings not only in the great cities, but in every little town, village, and hamlet. But the rejoicings are the most extraordinary at the court, owing to the variety of new and surprising sights; insomuch that strangers are invited from the neighbouring states and the most remote parts, and by the liberality of the king rewards are given to those who most excel in their inventions.
On one of these feast days, after the most skilful inventors of the country had repaired to Schiraz, where the court then resided, had entertained the king and all the court with their shows, and had been bountifully and liberally rewarded according to their merit by the king, just as the assembly was breaking up, an Indian appeared at the foot of the throne, with an artificial horse richly bridled and saddled, and so well made that at first sight he looked like a living horse.
The Indian prostrated himself before the throne; and, pointing to the horse, said to the king, 'Though, sir, I present myself last before your majesty, yet I can assure you that nothing that has been shown to-day is so wonderful as this horse, on which I beg your majesty will be pleased to cast your eyes.'
'I see nothing more in the horse,' said the king, 'than the natural appearance the workman has given him; which the skill of another workman may do as well or better.'
'Sir,' replied the Indian, 'it is not for his outward form and appearance that I recommend my horse to your majesty, but for the use I know how to make of him, and what any other person, when I have communicated the secret to him, may do as well. Whenever I mount him, be it where it will, if I wish to transport myself through the air to the most distant part of the world, I can do it in a very short time. This, sir, is the wonder of my horse; a wonder which nobody ever heard of, and which I offer to show your majesty, if you command me.'
The King of Persia, who was fond of everything that was curious, and, after the many wonderful things he had seen and desired to see, had never seen or heard of anything that came up to this, told the Indian that nothing but personal experience should convince him; and that he was ready to see him perform what he promised.
The Indian immediately put his foot into the stirrup, and mounted his horse with activity; and when he had got the other foot into the stirrup, and had fixed himself in the saddle, he asked the King of Persia where he was pleased to send him.
About three leagues from Schiraz there was a high mountain visible from the large square before the palace, where the king and his court, and a great concourse of people, then were.
'Do you see that mountain?' said the king, pointing to the hill: 'Go to it; it is not a great way off, but it is far enough for me to judge of the haste you can make in going and coming. But because it is not possible for the eye to follow you so far, for a certain sign that you have been there I expect you to bring me a branch of a palm tree that grows at the bottom of the hill.
The King of Persia had no sooner declared his will, than the Indian turned a peg which was in the hollow of the horse's neck just by the pummel of the saddle: and in an instant the horse rose off the ground and carried his rider into the air like lightning, to such a height that those who had the strongest sight could not discern him, to the wonder of the king and all the spectators. In less than a quarter of an hour they saw him come back with a palm branch in his hand: but, before he came quite down, he took two or three turns in the air, amid the acclamations of all the people: then descended upon the same spot of ground whence he had set off, without receiving the least shock from the horse to disorder him. He dismounted; and, going up to the throne, prostrated himself, and laid the branch of the palm tree at the king's feet.
The King of Persia, who was an eye-witness, with admiration and astonishment, of this unheard-of feat which the Indian had exhibited, conceived a great desire to have the horse, and persuaded himself that he should not find it a difficult matter to treat with the Indian for whatever sum of money he should value it at. 'To judge of thy horse by his outward appearance,' said he to the Indian, 'I did not think him so much worth my consideration. As you have showed me his merits, I am obliged to you for undeceiving me; and, to show you how much I esteem him, I will buy him of you, if he is to be sold.'
'Sir,' replied the Indian, 'I never doubted that your majesty, who has the character of being the most judicious prince on earth, would set a just value on my work as soon as I had shown you why he was worthy of your attention. I also foresaw that you would not only admire and commend him, but would desire to have him. For my part, sir, though I know the true value of him, and that my being master of him will render my name immortal in the world, yet I am not so fond of him that I could not resign him to gratify that noble desire of your majesty; but in making this declaration, I have a request to add, without which I cannot resolve to part with him, and perhaps you may not approve of it.'
'Your majesty will not be displeased,' continued the Indian, ' if I tell you that I did not buy this horse, but obtained him of the inventor and maker by giving him my only daughter in marriage, and promising at the same time never to sell him; but, if I parted with him, to exchange him for something that I should like.'
The Indian would have gone on; but at the word 'exchange,' the King of Persia interrupted him. 'I am willing,' said he, 'to give you what you will ask in exchange. You know my kingdom is large, and contains many great, rich, and populous cities; I will give you the choice of whichever you like best, in full sovereignty for the rest of your life.'
This exchange seemed royal and noble to the whole court, but was much below what the Indian proposed to himself. 'I am infinitely obliged to your majesty for the offer you make me, answered he, 'and cannot thank you enough for your generosity; yet I must beg of you not to be angry with me if I have the boldness to tell you that I cannot resign to you my horse, except on receiving the hand of the princess, your daughter, as my wife; this is the only price at which I can give him up.'
The courtiers could not forbear laughing aloud at this extravagant demand of the Indian; but Prince Firouz Schah, the king's eldest son and presumptive heir to the crown, could not hear it without indignation. The king was of a very different opinion, and thought he might sacrifice the Princess of Persia to the Indian, to satisfy his curiosity. He remained, however, undetermined, considering what he should do.
Prince Firouz Schah, who saw his father hesitate as to what answer he should make, began to fear lest he should comply with the Indian's demand, and looked upon it as injurious not only to the royal dignity and to his sister, but also to himself; therefore, to anticipate his father, he said, 'Sir, I hope your majesty will forgive me for daring to ask you if it is possible that your majesty should hesitate a moment about denying so insolent a demand from such an insignificant fellow and scandalous juggler, and that you should give him reason to flatter himself for a moment on being allied to one of the most powerful monarchs in the world? I beg of you to consider what you owe to yourself, and to your own flesh and blood, and the high rank of your ancestors.'
'Son,' replied the King of Persia, 'I very much approve of your remonstrance, and your zeal for preserving the lustre of your noble birth, but you do not enough consider the excellence of this horse, nor that the Indian, if I should refuse him, may make the offer somewhere else, where this nice point of honour may be waived. I shall be in the utmost despair if another prince should boast of having exceeded me in generosity, and deprived me of the glory of possessing a horse which I esteem as the most singular and wonderful thing in the world. I will not say I consent to grant him what he asks. Perhaps he has not made up his mind about this exorbitant demand; and, putting my daughter the princess out of the question, I may make another agreement with him that will answer his purpose as well. But before I strike the bargain with him, I should be glad if you would examine the horse, try him yourself, and give me your opinion. I doubt not he will allow it.'
As it is natural for us to flatter ourselves over what we desire, the Indian fancied, by what he heard the King of Persia say, that he was not entirely averse to the alliance by taking the horse at his price, and that the prince, instead of being against it, might become more favourable to him, and not oppose the desire the king seemed to have. So, to show that he consented to it with pleasure, he expressed much joy, ran before the prince to help him to mount, and showed him how to guide and manage the horse.
The prince mounted the horse with wonderful skill, without the Indian assisting him, and no sooner had he got his feet in both stirrups than, without waiting for the Indian's advice, he turned the peg he had seen him use, and mounted into the air as quick as an arrow shot out of a bow by the stoutest and most adroit archer, and in a few moments the king, court, and the numerous assembly lost sight of him. Neither horse nor prince was to be seen, and the King of Persia made vain efforts to discern them. The Indian, alarmed at what had happened, prostrated himself before the throne, and forced the king to pay attention to what he said. 'Sir,' said he, 'your majesty yourself saw that the prince was so hasty that he would not permit me to give him the necessary instructions how to govern my horse. From what he saw me do, he would show that he wanted not my advice. He was too willing to show his cleverness, but knows not how to turn the horse round and bring him back again. Therefore, sir, the favour I ask of your majesty is not to make me accountable for whatever accidents may befall him.'
This discourse of the Indian very much surprised and afflicted the King of Persia, who saw the danger his son was in if, as the Indian said, there was another secret to bring him back again different from that which carried him away, and asked, in a passion, why he did not call him back the moment he went.
'Sir,' answered the Indian, 'your majesty saw as well as I with what swiftness the horse and the prince flew away. The surprise in which I then was, and still am, deprived me of the use of my speech, and, if I could have spoken, he had got too far to hear me. If he had heard me, he knew not the secret to bring him back, which, through his impatience, he would not wait to learn. But, sir,' added he, 'there is room for hope that the prince, when he finds himself at a loss, will perceive another peg; and, as soon as he turns that, the horse will cease to rise, and will descend to the ground, and he may turn him to whatever place he pleases by guiding him with the bridle.'
Notwithstanding all these arguments of the Indian, the King of Persia was terribly frightened at the evident danger of his son. 'I suppose,' replied he, 'it is very uncertain whether my son perceives the other peg and makes a right use of it; may not the horse, instead of lighting on the ground, fall upon some rock, or tumble into the sea with him?'
'Sir,' replied the Indian, 'I can deliver your majesty from this fear by assuring you that the horse crosses seas without ever falling into them, and always carries his rider wherever he has a mind to go. And your majesty may assure yourself that, if the prince does but find out the other peg which I mention, the horse will carry him where he pleases to go. It is not to be supposed that he will go anywhere but where he can find assistance, and make himself known.
'Be it as it will,' replied the King of Persia, 'as I cannot depend upon the assurance you give me, your head shall answer for my son's life, if he does not return safe and sound in three days' time, or I hear certainly that he is alive.' Then he ordered his officers to secure the Indian, and keep him a close prisoner; after which he retired to his palace, extremely grieved that the feast of Nevrouz should afford him and his court so much sorrow.
In the mean time Prince Firouz Schah was carried through the air with prodigious swiftness, and in less than an hour's time he had got so high that he could not distinguish any thing on the earth; mountains and plains seemed confused together. It was then he began to think of returning from whence he came, and thought to do it by turning the same peg the contrary way, and pulling the bridle at the same time. But when he found that the horse still rose with the same swiftness, his astonishment was extreme. He turned the peg several times, one way and the other, but all in vain. It was then that he grew aware of his fault, in not taking the necessary precautions to guide the horse before he mounted him. He immediately apprehended the great danger he was in, but it did not deprive him of his reason. He examined the horse's head and neck with great attention, and perceived behind the horse's right ear another peg, smaller and less discernible than the other. He turned that peg, and immediately perceived that he descended in the same oblique manner as he mounted, but not so swiftly.
Night had overshadowed that part of the earth over which the prince then was for almost half an hour, when he found out and turned the small peg; and, as the horse descended, he lost sight of the sun by degrees, till it grew quite dark, insomuch that, instead of choosing what place he would go to, he was forced to let the bridle lie upon the horse's neck and wait patiently till he alighted, though not without dread lest it should be in the desert, a river, or the sea.
At last, after midnight, the horse alighted and stopped, and Prince Firouz Schah dismounted very faint and hungry, having eaten nothing since the morning, when he came out of the palace with his father to assist at the festival. The first thing he had to do in this darkness of the night was to endeavour to find out where he was. He found himself to be on the terrace of a magnificent palace, surrounded with a balustrade of white marble breast high, and groping about, found a flight of stairs, which led down into the palace, the door, of which was half open.
None but Prince Firouz Schah would have ventured to go down those stairs, dark as it was, and exposed to danger from friends or foes. But no consideration could stop him. 'I do not come,' said he to himself, 'to do anybody any harm, and certainly, whoever meets or sees me first, and finds that I have no arms in my hands, will not attempt anything against my life, before they hear what I have to say for myself.' After this reflection, he opened the door wider, without making any noise, and went softly down the stairs, that he might not wake anybody, and, when he came to a landing place on the staircase, he found the door open of a great hall, that had a light in it.
The prince stopped at the door, and listening, heard no other noise than the snoring of some people who were fast asleep. He advanced a little into the room, and, by the light of a lantern, saw that the persons whom he heard snore were black chamberlains, with naked sabres laid by them, which was enough to inform him that this was the guardchamber of some queen or princess; which latter it proved to be.
In the next room to this was the princess, as appeared by the light he saw, the door being open, and a thin silken curtain hanging before the doorway. Prince Firouz Schah advanced on tip-toe, without waking the chamberlains. He put by the curtain and looked in. The princess lay asleep on a sofa, and her women on the floor.
The prince immediately fell in love with her. He gently woke her, and the princess at once opened her eyes without fear. Seeing the prince on his knees as a suppliant, she asked him what was the matter.