Frivolous Cupid Part 20

"For all spoke with the greatest love of As.h.i.+mullah, and with the most dutiful respect."

"I do not see on what account they are so fond of As.h.i.+mullah," said the Sultan, frowning.

That night the Sultan did not once close his eyes, for he could think of nothing save the marvelous and varied beauty of the wives of the Vizier; and between the rival charms of the black, the brown, the ruddy, and the golden, his Majesty was so torn and tossed about that, when he rose, his brow was troubled and his cheek pale. And being no longer able to endure the torment that he suffered, he sent the Sultana again to visit the house of As.h.i.+mullah, bidding her observe most carefully which of the ladies was in truth most beautiful. But the Sultana, having returned, professed herself entirely unable to set any one of As.h.i.+mullah's wives above any other in any point of beauty. "For they are all," said she, "and each in her own way, houris for beauty."

"And this man was a Christian dog once!" murmured the Sultan. Then his brow suddenly grew smooth, and he observed:

"As.h.i.+mullah himself will know; and, indeed, it is time that I gave a new sign of my favor to my trusted servant As.h.i.+mullah."

Therefore he sent for As.h.i.+mullah, and spoke to him with unbounded graciousness.

"As.h.i.+mullah, my faithful servant," said he, "I am mindful to confer upon you a great and signal favor; desiring to recognize not only your services to my throne, but also and more especially your ready and willing obedience in the matter of your wives. Therefore I have decided to exalt you and your household in the eyes of all the Faithful, and of the whole world, by taking from your house a wife for myself."

When As.h.i.+mullah heard this he went very pale, although, in truth, what the Sultan proposed to do was always held the highest of honors.

"And since so good and loyal a servant," pursued the Sultan, "would desire to offer to his Sovereign nothing but the best of all that he has, tell me, O As.h.i.+mullah, which of your wives is fairest, that I may take her and exalt her as I have proposed."

As.h.i.+mullah was now in great agitation, and he stammered in his confusion:

"My wives are indeed fair; but, O Most Potent and Fearful Majesty, they have, one and all, most diabolical tempers."

"Surely by now I have learned how to deal with the tempers of women,"

said the Sultan, raising his brows. "Come, As.h.i.+mullah; tell me which is fairest."

Then As.h.i.+mullah, being at his wits' end, and catching at any straw in order to secure a little delay, declared that it was utterly impossible to say that any one of his wives was fairer than any other, for they were all perfectly beautiful.

"But describe them to me, one by one," commanded the Sultan.

So As.h.i.+mullah described his wives one by one to the Sultan, using most exalted eloquence, and employing every simile, metaphor, image, figure, and trope that language contains, in the vain attempt to express adequately the surpa.s.sing beauty of those ladies; yet he was most careful to set no one above any other and to distribute the said similes, metaphors, images, figures, and tropes, with absolute impartiality and equality among them.

"By Allah, it is difficult!" said the Sultan, pulling his beard fretfully. "I will consider your several descriptions, and send for you again in a few days, As.h.i.+mullah."

So As.h.i.+mullah went home and told Lallakalla all that had pa.s.sed between the Sultan and himself, and how the Sultan proposed to take one of his wives, but could not make up his mind which lady he should prefer.

"But, alas! it is all one to me, whichever he chooses," cried As.h.i.+mullah, in despair.

"It is all one to me also," cried Lallakalla. "But, be sure, dear As.h.i.+mullah, that the Sultan has some purpose in this delay. Let us wait and see what he does. It may be that we need not yet despair."

But As.h.i.+mullah would not be comforted, and cried out that he had done better never to forswear his religion, but to have died at once, as a holy martyr.

"It is too late to think of that," said Lallakalla.

Now, had not the Sultan been most lamentably bewildered and most amazingly dazzled by the conflicting charms of the wives of As.h.i.+mullah, beyond doubt he would not have entertained nor carried out a project so impious and irreligious as that which his curiosity and pa.s.sion now led him into. But being unable to eat or drink or rest until he was at ease on the matter, he determined, all piety and law and decorum to the contrary notwithstanding, to look upon the faces of As.h.i.+mullah's wives with his own eyes, and determine for himself to whom the crown of beauty belonged, and whether the brown or the black, or the golden or the ruddy, might most properly and truthfully lay claim to it. But this resolution he ventured to communicate to n.o.body, save to the faithful and dutiful wife whom he had sent before to visit the house of As.h.i.+mullah. She, amazed, tried earnestly to dissuade him, but seeing he was not to be turned, at last agreed to second his designs, and enable him to fulfill his purpose. "Though I fear no good will come of it," she sighed.

"I wonder which is in truth the fairest!" murmured the Sultan. And he sent word to As.h.i.+mullah that the Sultana would visit his wives on the evening of that day.

"All will be ready for her," said Lallakalla, when she received the message from her husband.

But in the afternoon the Sultan sent men into the bazaar, and these men caught Ha.s.san, As.h.i.+mullah's servant, as he came to make his daily purchases, and carried him to the Sultan, with whom he was closeted for hard on an hour. When he came out Ha.s.san returned home, shaking his head sorrowfully, but patting his purse comfortably; whence it appears that he suffered from a conflict of feelings, his mind being ill at ease, but his purse heavier. And when in the evening the Sultana came, attended only by one tall, formidable, and inky-black attendant, Ha.s.san ushered her into the reception room of the harem, telling her that Lallakalla, the first wife of his master, would attend her immediately.

Then he went out, and, having brought in the big black slave very secretly, set him in the antechamber of the room where the Sultana was, and hid him there, behind a high screen. And Ha.s.san pierced a hole in the screen, so that the big slave could see what pa.s.sed in the antechamber without being seen himself. Then Ha.s.san, still shaking his head, but also patting his purse, went to summon Lallakalla. But the big black slave lay quiet behind the screen.

Presently Lallakalla pa.s.sed through and entered the room where the Sultana was. A few moments later As.h.i.+mullah came in, carrying over one arm several robes of silk and in the other a large box or trunk.

As.h.i.+mullah looked round cautiously, but saw n.o.body; the big black slave held his breath, but laid his hand on the scimitar that he wore.

As.h.i.+mullah waited. Then Lallakalla came out.

"Yes, of a truth this brown-haired one is most lovely," thought the big slave. "It would seem impossible that the others can be so lovely.

Moreover, she looks amiable enough. Yet I must see the others. Which will come next?" And he composed himself to wait for the next, not caring whether she were the ruddy, the golden, or the black, so that she came quickly.

But, to the amazement of the slave, Lallakalla tore off the silken robe she wore and cried to her husband, "Give me the blue robe--yes, and the golden hair." And, having put on the blue robe, she took from As.h.i.+mullah's hand something that he had taken from the square box, and put it on her head. Then As.h.i.+mullah gave her a smaller box, and, taking out paints and brushes and a mirror, she made a complexion for herself. And thus she was transformed into a golden-haired lady with cheeks of rosy red, and in this guise she pa.s.sed in to the Sultana's presence.

"The dog!" thought the slave. "Then he took only two wives more!"

Presently Lallakalla came forth; and all happened as before, save that she stained her face to an olive tint and put on a wig of coal-black hair.

"By the Prophet!" thought the slave, "he took but one wife more!"

Yet again Lallakalla came out from visiting the Sultana, and on this occasion she hastily donned a robe of red, sprinkled white powder over her cheeks, and set on her head a most magnificent structure of ruddy hair. Thus arrayed she went again into the room where the Sultana was.

"By Allah, the dog took no other wife at all!" thought the slave, and, looking through his spy-hole, he saw As.h.i.+mullah making off in great haste, carrying the box and the robes with him. Then Ha.s.san came and led the slave back by the way they had come to the place where he awaited the Sultana.

"This wife of As.h.i.+mullah is a wonderful woman," said the Sultan to himself, as he lay awake that night. "Behold, she is in herself a mult.i.tude!"

Early the next morning As.h.i.+mullah was summoned to the palace, and at once ushered into the presence of the Sultan.

"O As.h.i.+mullah, I have reflected," said the Sultan, "and I desire that you will send me that wife of yours who has ruddy hair. For although the choice is difficult, yet I think that she must be the fairest of them all."

As.h.i.+mullah, knowing not what to say, prostrated himself and promised obedience; then, having withdrawn from the presence, he ran back home as fast as he could lay his feet to the ground, and sought out Lallakalla. With her he talked for some time; then he returned to the palace, weeping and wringing his hands.

"What ails you, As.h.i.+mullah?" asked the Sultan.

"Alas! O Light of the World, a pestilence has fallen on my house, and my wife with the ruddy hair lies dead."

"We must resign ourselves to the will of Heaven," said the Sultan.

"Yet I will not recall the favor I had destined for you. Send me the wife that has coal-black hair, As.h.i.+mullah."

"Alas! Most Mighty One, misfortunes crowd upon me. That graceless wife has fled from me in company with a fishmonger," groaned As.h.i.+mullah.

"You are well quit of her, and so also am I," remarked the Sultan.

"Yet I am not to be turned from my benevolent purpose, and rather than fail in doing you honor, I will accept the wife with the golden hair."

"Alas! and alas! High and Potent Majesty, Heaven has set its wrath upon me. As she rowed this morning, the boat upset, and she, my golden-haired beauty, was drowned!" And As.h.i.+mullah laid his head on the ground and sobbed pitifully.

"Of a truth you are afflicted. Yet do not despair, I will comfort you, my good As.h.i.+mullah," said the Sultan. "Weep no more. Send me the wife with the brown hair, and all shall be well. By Allah! I am a man that hears reason, and does not exact more than Fate will allow! A man can give only what he has. I shall be well pleased with her of the brown hair, As.h.i.+mullah."

Then As.h.i.+mullah crawled to the feet of the Sultan, and said:

"Ruler of the World, great is the honor that you purpose for the meanest of your servants. Yet behold, if I send my wife with the brown hair, I shall have no wife at all; for the others are gone, and my house will be altogether desolate."

The Sultan smiled down at As.h.i.+mullah. Then he bent and took him by the hands and raised him up. And he spoke to him in a tone of most tender and friendly reproach: