Eastern Tales by Many Story Tellers Part 31

Be prudent and vigilant, and fear them not. Only this is permitted against thee,--if thou canst not overpower and destroy them unawares, they may use their art to conceal their escape, and avoid thy arm; therefore be bold and quick, and yet cautious and discerning, lest, when force avails not, they employ fraud to destroy thee."

As Shemshelnar finished these words, Misnar arose in his natural form; but, ere he spake to the holy dervish who had released him, he fell prostrate, and adored the goodness of Allah, who had thus rescued him from the power of Ulin. Then, rising, he took Shemshelnar by the hand, and thanked him for his release and advice.

"Thou hast done right, O Misnar," said the dervish, "to give the greatest honour to Allah, for to Him alone belongs all honour."

"And may I not hope," continued the Sultan, "that it will please Him to release these my fellow-sufferers also?"

"Misnar alone can release them," answered the dervish. "Let Ulin perish, and these unfortunate persons shall be restored to thee and themselves; but in the meantime they must learn to bear their misfortunes with patience, and offer their prayers for thy safety. The road to Delhi is through this desert forest, and to the left is situated the palace of Ulin. She is already aware of thy re-transformation, and is studying to deceive thee a second time; but beware, O Misnar! for if she prevail, death and destruction await thee."

Misnar, having received the instructions of the dervish, took leave of his companions, a.s.suring them he was desirous of meeting the crafty Ulin as soon as possible, that he might either give up all pretensions to his kingdom, or deliver his subjects and his friends from the hands of the enchantress.

The Sultan of the Indies, having left the dervish and his friends, advanced into the forest, chewing some leaves which Shemshelnar had given him to support him till he should arrive at his palace. He had not advanced more than two days' journey in the forest before he heard the violent shrieks of a distressed woman, and at a distance saw four ruffians stripping a lady, and beating her inhumanly.

Misnar was enraged at what he saw, and, flying to the lady's a.s.sistance, he bade the ruffians defend themselves. They chose not to encounter the arm of Misnar, but, leaving the lady, fled; and the Prince, stepping up to her, desired to know by what accident she had fallen thus alone into the hands of the robbers.

"O n.o.ble sir!" said the lady in tears--"for I perceive by your mien I speak to no common friend--it was my fate to be beloved by the handsomest of the sons of the Faithful. I lived in Delhi, the daughter of an Emir; and Hazar, the captain of a thousand in the army of Misnar, the Sultan of the East, was my admirer; but, alas! his love has proved my destruction. The second son of the great Dabulcombar, a.s.sisted by Ulin the enchantress, aspired to his brother's throne; and the soldiers, who loved the hazardous chance of war, deserted frequently from Misnar our Sultan: among the rest Hazar, in spite of my utmost endeavours, revolted with his thousand men."

"'There is no preferment,' said he, 'in the peaceful reign of Misnar; I will follow the fortunes of his brother, whose throne must be gained and supported by arms.' In vain I remonstrated, and urged both love and duty. 'My love,' said Hazar, 'is still unalterable: thou wilt soon see me return the favourite of the new monarch, and it will then be in my power to raise thee to higher dignities than those which thy father now possesses.'

"Hazar then left me by night, and soon I heard that he had joined the rebel army; but, O generous stranger! what was my grief when I understood that Ulin, the detestable enchantress, was stricken with his appearance, and had deceived him! I set out without delay for the camp, and, studying to avoid the army of Misnar, travelled through this wood with four slaves.

"Being now arrived at the farther side, I struck into the thickest part of the forest, and, losing sight of my attendants, I wandered about for some time till morning, when on a sudden I heard several voices among the trees. In an instant four ruffians surrounded me, and, had not your powerful arm interposed, I should have suffered the vilest of deaths."

Misnar endeavoured to comfort the afflicted stranger, and asked her whether she thought it possible for any man to enter the palace of Ulin undiscovered.

"O Sultan," said she, "let me prevail upon you to follow me, and I will ensure your success."

Misnar besought her to walk before, and show him the path which led to the palace.

"We will reach it by night," said the stranger, "when the darkness shall protect thee."

The beautiful stranger then went forward, and Misnar followed after.

Ere they had proceeded twenty paces, Misnar said,

"It will be proper, O fair stranger, to draw my scimitar, lest we be set upon suddenly by the robbers."

"You are right," answered the fair stranger, "and your precaution is just."

The Sultan Misnar, having drawn his sabre, followed close behind the beautiful stranger, and suddenly with a blow smote her on the shoulders, and felled her to the ground.

She had no sooner fallen, than her countenance changed, and discovered to Misnar the features of the malicious enchantress Ulin, who, though nearly spent and exhausted by the blow, yet lived to utter the following imprecations:

"May the curse of our s.e.x light upon thee, thou traitor to manhood!

since neither the charms nor the afflictions of the fair have been able to soften thine heart. Thou hast, indeed, avoided my snares, by doing violence to the n.o.blest of pa.s.sions, and by trampling on the most sacred laws of humanity and hospitality. Idiot that I was to trust myself to thee, though guarded by the strongest appearances of innocence and distress! The injured and the helpless can find no protection in thy government, though thou boastest thyself the delegate of Allah and the friend of the oppressed; and I, trusting to thy specious virtues, have fallen a sacrifice to thy deceitful heart."

Her iniquitous spirit then fled from the body of Ulin, and the Sultan left her mangled and deformed corpse a prey to the beasts of the forest.

He travelled for several days backward, hoping to find the former companions of his misery, and at last came to the place which he had left, but could see no signs of them; wherefore, concluding that their enchantment was broken by the death of Ulin, the Sultan returned towards Delhi, subsisting on the leaves which the dervish had given him, and on the fruits of the earth, and in twelve days' time arrived at a small town in his own dominions. Here he lodged at a poor cottage, where he found an old woman and her son, and inquired whether she could procure him any horses or mules to carry him the next morning to Delhi.

"Alas!" answered the old woman, "we have no cattle with us; the army has stripped us of all."

"What!" answered Misnar, "has the rebel army been foraging so near Delhi?"

"Alack!" said the old woman, "I think all armies are rebels, for my part. Indeed, the soldiers told us that they were the Sultan's army, and that they were sent to guard us from the rebels; but in the meantime they took our cattle and provision, and paid us nothing for them; and still, every time they came, they called themselves our guardians and friends. If this is all the friends.h.i.+p great men can show us, we poor people should be best pleased to live as far from them as we can."

Although Misnar smiled at the poor woman's speech, yet, lifting up his eyes and hands secretly to heaven, as she went out for sticks to kindle a fire to dress his provisions, he said, "O just and merciful Allah, preserve me from the avarice of ambition! that, while the rich and the proud advise me to delight in blood, I may ever remember the severities which the poor must suffer; and that I may rather rejoice to relieve one oppressed slave, than to enrich ten thousand flattering Emirs of my Court!"

As soon as the old woman entered again into her house, the disguised Sultan advised her and her neighbours to join in a pet.i.tion, and present it to the Sultan in his divan.

"A pet.i.tion!" answered the old woman, "and for what?"

"To relieve your distresses," said Misnar.

"Alas! who is to relieve our distresses but Allah?" said the woman.

"Your Sultan, the servant of Allah, will relieve them," replied Misnar.

"What!" answered the old woman; "can he restore to these arms my dutiful first-born, who has been so long the joy of my aged heart, but was lately torn from me to fill up the armies of the Sultan? Can he call back the brave men he has caused to be destroyed, and give life and spirits and joy again to the widows and orphans of India? If he can, oh! let him hasten to relieve the afflicted hearts of his subjects, and become as a G.o.d upon earth!"

The Sultan was astonished at the words and the gestures of the poor old woman, and deeply stricken by her observations.

"How seldom," said he to himself, "do the rich feel the distresses of the poor! and in the midst of conquest and acclamation, who regardeth the tears and afflictions of those who have lost their friends in the public service?"

The Sultan Misnar rested that night in the cottage of the old woman; and the next morning he arose, and was conducted by her younger son to a town half a day's journey farther. Here he supplied himself with mules, and in one day more reached the city of Delhi.

The Sultan entered a caravanserai, where he found several merchants.

He asked them how they dared venture to trade, when the armies of the rebels were spread over the face of India.

"As to that," answered the first merchant, "we have lived here some time, in expectation that one party or the other would prevail. It little matters to us which, provided trade be encouraged. As to the Sultan's party, there was not, till within these few days, any hope of their success. The young man himself had retired from his throne, being fearful of encountering his enemies; and the captains of the army had destroyed the Prime Vizier Horam."

"And what," interrupted Misnar, "is the cause of this change in favour of the Sultan?"

"Ten days since," answered the merchant, "contrary to every one's belief, as we all thought him dead, the Vizier Horam appeared at the head of the army, and a.s.sured the officers that his lord Misnar was living, and had destroyed the enchantress Ulin, who espoused the cause of his brother Ahubal; that, in consequence of Ulin's death, Ahubal had fled, and his army had been dispersed; and that he expected his royal master would shortly appear among them."

The Sultan rejoiced at this news, and without delay hastened to the palace of his Vizier.

The slaves of Horam, seeing the disguised Sultan, asked him his business.

"I come," replied Misnar, "to communicate to thy lord tidings of our Sultan."

At this word, the slaves of Horam conducted Misnar to their master's presence; and Horam no sooner saw his master in the disguise with which he had furnished him, than he fell at the Sultan's feet, and congratulated him on his safe return.

"My faithful Horam," said Misnar, "arise. The day is not yet so far spent but that my Court may be a.s.sembled. Give orders, Horam, that the army be drawn up, and let thy slaves proceed to the palace, and bring the imperial robes. My people require my presence, and Misnar yearns to see the supporters of his throne."

Horam arose, and the Sultan, embracing him, said, "Horam, I am desirous of hearing the particulars of thy fate; but public advantage must not yield to private friends.h.i.+p."

The faithful Horam then hastened to call together the Princes and the Viziers of the Court of Delhi, and gave orders that the army should be drawn up in the royal square before the divan.

The Sultan Misnar, being arrayed in his imperial robes, delayed not to show himself to his people; and no sooner did he appear, than his subjects cried out, "Long live the Sultan of our hearts, who alone was able to conquer the powers of enchantment!"