Eastern Tales by Many Story Tellers Part 51

This insolent behaviour excited the indignation of the King. He went up to the knight who thus threatened him, with that air of confidence and that commanding tone, the habit of which he had acquired in the exercise of absolute power.

"Slave of my throne!" said he to him, "dost thou not know Bohetzad?

But, had I been only a common man, after speaking to you in so modest and friendly a manner, ought you to have threatened me with death?"

At the very name of Bohetzad, the knights alighted and prostrated themselves on the earth.

"Sire," said one of the oldest of them, "pardon an answer which we could not think addressed to the greatest monarch of the earth; for it was very possible not to recognize your Majesty in a hunting dress, and without attendants."

"Rise," said the King, "and gratify my curiosity. Who is the person in that litter, and whither are you conducting it?"

"Sire," answered the knight, "it is the daughter of Asphand, your Grand Vizier: we are conducting her to the Prince of Babylon, to whom she is going to be married."

During this, the daughter of the Vizier, uneasy on account of the delay, presented her head at the curtain of the litter, in order to get information, and was perceived by Bohetzad. Whatever pains she had taken to prevent herself from being seen, her extraordinary beauty struck the Sovereign. His heart received a fatal wound: his pa.s.sion, arrived at its height, aspired after gratification from the very moment of its existence; and Bohetzad, determined to make sure of the object of it, made use of his absolute authority, and spoke thus to the conductor of the litter:

"I command you to take the road to Issessara, and to conduct the daughter of my Grand Vizier to my palace."

The commander of the troop thought it necessary to make some reply to his Majesty.

"Sire," said he, "your Vizier is your slave as well as we; and therefore, if we return his daughter to his own palace, she will continue there in equal subjection to your will."

"But my Vizier has disposed of his daughter without my consent, and I do not owe him the attention which you propose I should pay him."

"Sire," replied the knight, "your Grand Vizier Asphand has always been held in the highest estimation, and has had the honour to enjoy the confidence of your Majesty. One instance of violence exercised against him may affect his reputation, and cause him to lose, in the opinion of the public, that credit which it is your interest that he should enjoy."

"All his credit depends on me, and I do not detract from it by doing him the honour to marry his daughter."

The oldest, and likewise the best informed of the knights, still ventured to speak.

"Sire," said he, "precipitation is dangerous; it often draws repentance after it: your slaves beseech your Majesty to reflect maturely on this."

"I have reflected already, audacious old man!" replied the Prince in anger; "what caution should I observe with my slave? Obey."

Being able to restrain his impatience no longer, he himself seized the bridle of the mules, and directed their steps towards that part of the forest where he presumed his people would be a.s.sembled at the appointed rendezvous. He soon found himself at the tent which they had set up, and he ordered all his suite to accompany the Princess in the litter to his palace. When the retinue was arrived, the King ordered the chief of his eunuchs to bring the Cadi, who instantly appeared, and drew up a contract of marriage between Bohetzad and the Princess Baherjoa, daughter of Asphand the Vizier.

While the King was taken up with the ceremonies of the marriage, the forty knights returned to the palace of the Grand Vizier, being forced to abandon the litter, and the Princess whom they were conducting to Babylon. The minister was confounded at so speedy a return. Having set out from the city of Issessara, how could they come back so soon from Babylon? He feared that some extraordinary accident had befallen them.

One of the knights came and told what had happened: he exaggerated the violence and despotic manner of Bohetzad, and filled the mind of the minister with fear and resentment, although he a.s.sured him that the monarch was that very night to marry his daughter.

"Thus to oppose himself to my disposal of my own family! to carry off my daughter! to marry her against my will!--in this manner to repay my services!" said the enraged minister.

Full of a desire of vengeance, he immediately ordered expresses to be sent to all his friends, the Princes and grandees of his family, to a.s.semble them at his house. When they were come, he represented to them the outrage which the King had committed against his daughter, the Prince of Babylon, and himself. Shame and resentment entered into every breast. Asphand perceived, from the effect of the relation which he had made them, that it would be easy to a.s.sociate them with him in his schemes of revenge.

"Princes and lords!" said he to them, "the King, occupied with his pleasures, is not delicate about the means of gratification; and, as a recompense for my labours, he hesitates not to expose me to the disgrace of an irreparable insult. I am nothing but a vile slave in his eyes. Thinks he that my daughter is obliged to share his unsteady attachment? You yourselves will not be safe from this dishonour; your wives and daughters will not be spared. His torrent of iniquity will discharge itself on you, if we endeavour not to stop its course."

The relations and friends of the Vizier entered into his interests, and a deliberation was held concerning the measures which were to be taken. One of them, deeply skilled in politics, thus gave his opinion:

"Vizier, write to the King, and express to him how sensible you are of the unexpected honour which he has done you, to which you could never have had the smallest pretensions. Along with this letter send another to your daughter, in which you must seem delighted with her good fortune. Supplicate Heaven with her, to pour down happiness upon a monarch so beloved by his people. Accompany these despatches with magnificent presents, and Bohetzad, blinded by his pa.s.sion, will readily believe everything which can flatter it. You will take advantage of this security to leave him at the first opportunity, under pretence of attending to his business; and, having secured yourself against any sudden attack from him, transmit to all the Princes, the Governors, and people entrusted with the management of the finances, alarming accounts of the situation of the kingdom.

Represent to them the danger of the State, while the government, is in the hands of a young Prince, addicted to the gratification of his pa.s.sions, and incapable of rewarding the services done him, which he only repays with violence and disgrace, being guided by no law but the dictates of a will as depraved as it is absolute."

The Grand Vizier and the rest of the a.s.sembly adopted this plan. They all agreed to embrace every opportunity which might present itself of preparing the minds of the people, without exposing themselves to danger, and to continue at Issessara when Asphand had left it, for the purpose of giving him information and directing his conduct. These resolutions being entered into, the a.s.sembly quickly broke up, that they might give no room for suspicion; and Asphand wrote to the King in the following terms:

"Mighty King, monarch of two seas! your slave, already elevated by you to the place of Grand Vizier, and honoured with the t.i.tle of Prince, did not expect the distinguished honour of becoming your relation.

Infinitely obliged by this new favour, I offer up to the G.o.d of heaven the most ardent wishes that He would continually heap on your Majesty new marks of His kindness; that He would prolong your days, and grant you all the blessings of a kingdom which shall not be shaken to the latest posterity. My duty hitherto has been to labour for maintaining both external and internal peace in your dominions, by the wise administration of justice, and by defending your frontiers from the enemy. I filled the station of your First Vizier; the duties thereof are now become more sacred to me; the honour of a connection with you gives me a personal interest in their success; and my daughter and I will only be slaves more faithfully attached to your person and interests."

The letter to Baherjoa contained congratulations on her good fortune, and was as artfully expressed as the one addressed to her spouse.

Asphand caused the first officer of his household to deliver these letters, and accompanied them with a magnificent present. The young son of the Vizier joined the envoy; they went together to the King's palace, and prostrated themselves before him.

Bohetzad, intoxicated with the good fortune which he enjoyed, did not in the least suspect the false declarations of the Vizier. He ordered his son to be clothed with the richest robe, and a thousand pieces of gold to be given to the officer who was entrusted with the message.

Scarcely were they gone out, when the oldest of the Viziers came to pay his court to the King. The monarch received him with his usual goodness, made him sit down, and communicated to him the happiness which he expected to enjoy in the possession of his lovely spouse; for, though he had gained her by an act of violence, he imagined that his happiness could be obscured by no cloud.

"The attachment shown me by Asphand," said he, "removes my fears concerning the resentment which I might suppose him to possess: here are his letters; read them, and you will see how well he is pleased with this alliance. Besides, the magnificence of his presents exceeds even the force of his expressions."

The old minister, after reading the letters, continued thoughtful, and with downcast eyes.

"Are you not satisfied with what you have read?" said the King.

"A dangerous reptile," replied the minister, "when it means to introduce itself anywhere, does not try to frighten by its odious hissings: it creeps in artfully under the folds of its flexible and thin body; its scales are glittering and smooth; its looks are soft and fawning, and it takes care to conceal its treacherous and venomous sting. The letters of Asphand are studied: doubt not that you have offended; and the pretended softness of his expressions only conceals a scheme of revenge, the consequences of which you ought to guard against and prevent."

Bohetzad, entirely occupied with his love, and supposing that the minister who thus spoke to him was influenced by motives of jealousy, paid no regard to the advice, which proceeded from attachment, zeal, and prudence, but allowed himself to be blinded concerning the conduct of Asphand. The latter, in prosecution of his plan, and under pretence of appeasing some rumours in certain parts of the kingdom, left the capital, in a few months after, with his whole retinue. As soon as he saw himself out of the reach of power, he communicated to the governors of the provinces the affront which he had received; he excited them to revolt, by inspiring them with a fear that they would all meet with a treatment similar to that which he had received; and to determine them, he calumniated, in every instance, the person and government of Bohetzad.

On receiving the messengers of the Grand Vizier, the grandees of the kingdom, enraged against a Prince whose administration was held forth in such odious colours, concerted together, from one province to another, and a.s.sured Asphand that, upon the first signal given by him, they would take the field with the troops under their command. The Vizier at the same time warned the Princes who remained at Issessara to hold themselves in readiness against the day on which he should come to complete his revenge, and to free the State from a tyrant who was sunk in effeminacy.

The plot was executed before Bohetzad had the smallest suspicion of it. The city of Issessara was completely invested by the army of Asphand. On receiving this news, the King armed in haste; he ordered the troops who were about his person to follow him; but they had been gained over, and were devoted to his enemy. He saw no safety for himself but in flight. He saddled, with his own hands, one of his finest coursers; and, taking Baherjoa behind him, endeavoured to gain the desert. He made a pa.s.sage for himself through the midst of his mutinous subjects, whom he trod under his feet. The young hero, whose courage seemed only to be increased by love, burst like a torrent through a troop of those who wished to interrupt his pa.s.sage; his invincible spear spared none of the rebels; and his horse, as vigorous as swift, soon carried him out of sight of his enemies.

He was now in the midst of the desert; and, night obliging him to allow some repose to his wife, fatigued with so violent an expedition, he stopped at the foot of a frightful mountain. On this spot the Queen, exhausted with weariness, gave birth to her first-born child, and the Prince received in his arms a young boy, no less beautiful than his mother.

The tender pair loaded him with caresses, and soon forgot, in their new joy, the fatigue, uneasiness, and horror of their situation. The child was wrapped in a part of the Queen's robes; and, in this solitude, they enjoyed a profound sleep. The returning day invited them, however, to pursue their journey. The affectionate mother nursed her infant tenderly, but it pined away, and the mother herself was in danger. Bohetzad then saw himself under the cruel necessity of sacrificing nature to duty. He perceived a limpid fountain, on the borders of which there was a green bank, defended from the rays of the sun by the neighbouring willows. Here the unhappy parents abandoned to the care of Providence the object of their affection, having first watered it with their tears.

"Great Allah!" said the afflicted mother, "Thou who formerly watched over the young Ishmael, take care of this innocent creature. Send the preserving angel to him. We have no hope but in Thy succour."

Sighs prevented her from saying more. They both tore themselves away from this dreadful sacrifice, and committed this sacred deposit into the hands of its Creator.

The noise they had made in coming thither had frightened away from the brink a hind, who, along with her fawns, was refres.h.i.+ng herself at this exuberant fountain. As soon as they were gone, she returned, and approached the languis.h.i.+ng creature, which seemed about to lose for ever the little strength which remained. A powerful instinct led this animal to give the child that nourishment which was reserved only for her young ones. She fed quietly around her nursling, and left the place no more. The wild beasts of the forest, it appeared, had abandoned to her the enjoyment of this happy spot, although so necessary to the supply of their wants, amid the burning sands and parched deserts with which they were surrounded. Nevertheless, men came to disturb their repose.

It was a band of robbers, whom thirst had brought into these places.

They saw a child wrapped in rich swaddling-clothes, but still more remarkable for the beauty of its features. The leader of the banditti approached it, took it up, and sent it straightway to his wife, that she might pay it the necessary attentions, and educate it as if it had been their own son. When the wife saw it she was moved with its innocent beauty, entered into the benevolent views of her husband, and immediately procured for their adopted son the best nurse in the horde.

Having seen the son of Bohetzad in safe hands, let us now follow the steps of those ill.u.s.trious travellers.

Full of grief for the sacrifice which they had been forced to make, the King and Queen continued their journey in sadness till they reached the capital of Persia, where Ka.s.sera then reigned.

This powerful monarch received the fugitive Prince and his charming spouse with the respect which was due from a crowned head to a great Sovereign, his ally, whose rebellious subjects had revolted under the standard of a criminal usurper. To Bohetzad he allotted an apartment in his palace as magnificent as his own, and to Baherjoa one equal to that of his favourite Sultana. Such were the riches and magnificence of the palace in which the King of Dineroux and his wife now were, that, besides the magnificent apartments in which they were lodged themselves, there were twenty-four others occupied by as many ladies belonging to the Sultan, each of whom was served by fifty slaves of their own s.e.x, in the bloom of youth and of the most exquisite beauty.

The treasures of the East seemed to have been exhausted in beautifying these stately dwellings. The gardens were full of the rarest and the most gaudy flowers; the waters, whose courses were distributed with great art, presented a magnificent scene to the eye; the trees gave at once, by the beauty of their fruit and the thickness of their foliage, the idea of plenty and the delight of repose; the birds, with the variety of their plumage and their song, enchanted the inhabitants of these happy regions. Everything, in short, concurred to display the riches of the great monarch of Persia, whose immense power was further displayed by an army of two hundred thousand men which const.i.tuted his life guard. A Prince so powerful and magnificent need spare nothing in treating, in a manner suitable to their rank, the ill.u.s.trious guests whom he had received into his palace.

At the same time that he ordered a powerful army to be a.s.sembled on the frontiers, with the necessary stores and military engines, he endeavoured to dispel the melancholy of the husband and wife by feasts, which displayed the greatest splendour and variety. But generosity and greatness of soul were not the only cause of his attentions; a less n.o.ble but more powerful feeling had taken possession of his heart. He was enamoured of Baherjoa, whose beauty was superior to that of all the wives in his seraglio. His pa.s.sion for her was disguised under the veil of friends.h.i.+p; but, from the profusion which he displayed on every occasion, the delicacy of his attentions, and the care which he took to antic.i.p.ate her wishes, it was easy to discover the love by which he was actuated. The sad Baherjoa, whose attention was occupied solely by the loss of her son and the misfortunes of her husband, was far from ascribing any of the attentions which she met with to this motive; her soul, weighed down with grief, was incapable of enjoying any of the pleasures which were presented to her; her heart, sincerely affected, was inaccessible to every impression but that with which it was already occupied. Her son abandoned in the desert to the care of Providence, and her husband reduced by her father to the necessity of asking succour from a foreign King, were the only objects which engrossed her thoughts.

In the meantime, the army which Bohetzad was to command was a.s.sembled.

He took leave of Ka.s.sera to put himself at the head of this formidable body, and soon penetrated into the heart of Syria. Asphand, the usurper, being informed of the danger which threatened him, communicated it to his a.s.sociates, a.s.sembled them as quickly as possible, and met his enemy at the head of two hundred thousand men.