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I was scarcely more than a baby, when the king my father, finding me
unusually quick and clever for my age, turned his thoughts to my
education. I was taught first to read and write, and then to learn the
Koran, which is the basis of our holy religion, and the better to
understand it, I read with my tutors the ablest commentators on its
teaching, and committed to memory all the traditions respecting the
Prophet, which have been gathered from the mouth of those who were his
friends. I also learnt history, and was instructed in poetry,
versification, geography, chronology, and in all the outdoor exercises
in which every prince should excel. But what I liked best of all was
writing Arabic characters, and in this I soon surpassed my masters, and
gained a reputation in this branch of knowledge that reached as far as
India itself.
Heading One
Now the Sultan of the Indies, curious to see a young prince with such
strange tastes, sent an ambassador to my father, laden with rich
presents, and a warm invitation to visit his court. My father, who was
deeply anxious to secure the friendship of so powerful a monarch, and
held besides that a little travel would greatly improve my manners and
open my mind, accepted gladly, and in a short time I had set out for
India with the ambassador, attended only by a small suite on account of
the length of the journey, and the badness of the roads. However, as was
my duty, I took with me ten camels, laden with rich presents for the
Sultan.
Heading Two
We had been travelling for about a month, when one day we saw a cloud
of dust moving swiftly towards us; and as soon as it came near, we found
that the dust concealed a band of fifty robbers. Our men barely numbered
half, and as we were also hampered by the camels, there was no use in
fighting, so we tried to overawe them by informing them who we were, and
whither we were going. The robbers, however, only laughed, and declared
that was none of their business, and, without more words, attacked us
brutally. I defended myself to the last, wounded though I was, but at
length, seeing that resistance was hopeless, and that the ambassador and
all our followers were made prisoners, I put spurs to my horse and rode
away as fast as I could, till the poor beast fell dead from a wound in
his side. I managed to jump off without any injury, and looked about to
see if I was pursued. But for the moment I was safe, for, as I imagined,
the robbers were all engaged in quarrelling over their booty.
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I found myself in a country that was quite new to me, and dared not
return to the main road lest I should again fall into the hands of the
robbers. Luckily my wound was only a slight one, and after binding it up
as well as I could, I walked on for the rest of the day, till I reached
a cave at the foot of a mountain, where I passed the night in peace,
making my supper off some fruits I had gathered on the way.
I wandered about for a whole month without knowing where I was going,
till at length I found myself on the outskirts of a beautiful city,
watered by winding streams, which enjoyed an eternal spring. My delight
at the prospect of mixing once more with human beings was somewhat
damped at the thought of the miserable object I must seem. My face and
hands had been burned nearly black; my clothes were all in rags, and my
shoes were in such a state that I had been forced to abandon them
altogether.
- Item one
- Item two
- Item three
I entered the town, and stopped at a tailor s shop to inquire where I
was. The man saw I was better than my condition, and begged me to sit
down, and in return I told him my whole story. The tailor listened with
attention, but his reply, instead of giving me consolation, only
increased my trouble.
"Beware," he said, "of telling any one what you have told me, for the
prince who governs the kingdom is your father's greatest enemy, and he
will be rejoiced to find you in his power."
I thanked the tailor for his counsel, and said I would do whatever he
advised; then, being very hungry, I gladly ate of the food he put before
me, and accepted his offer of a lodging in his house.
In a few days I had quite recovered from the hardships I had
undergone, and then the tailor, knowing that it was the custom for the
princes of our religion to learn a trade or profession so as to provide
for themselves in times of ill-fortune, inquired if there was anything I
could do for my living. I replied that I had been educated as a
grammarian and a poet, but that my great gift was writing.
"All that is of no use here," said the tailor. "Take my advice, put
on a short coat, and as you seem hardy and strong, go into the woods and
cut firewood, which you will sell in the streets. By this means you will
earn your living, and be able to wait till better times come. The
hatchet and the cord shall be my present."
This counsel was very distasteful to me, but I thought I could not do
otherwise than adopt it. So the next morning I set out with a company of
poor wood-cutters, to whom the tailor had introduced me. Even on the
first day I cut enough wood to sell for a tolerable sum, and very soon I
became more expert, and had made enough money to repay the tailor all he
had lent me.
I had been a wood-cutter for more than a year, when one day I
wandered further into the forest than I had ever done before, and
reached a delicious green glade, where I began to cut wood. I was
hacking at the root of a tree, when I beheld an iron ring fastened to a
trapdoor of the same metal. I soon cleared away the earth, and pulling
up the door, found a staircase, which I hastily made up my mind to go
down, carrying my hatchet with me by way of protection. When I reached
the bottom I discovered that I was in a huge palace, as brilliantly
lighted as any palace above ground that I had ever seen, with a long
gallery supported by pillars of jasper, ornamented with capitals of
gold. Down this gallery a lady came to meet me, of such beauty that I
forgot everything else, and thought only of her.
To save her all the trouble possible, I hastened towards her, and
bowed low.
"Who are you? Who are you?" she said. "A man or a genius?"
"A man, madam," I replied; "I have nothing to do with genii."
"By what accident do you come here?" she asked again with a sigh. "I
have been in this place now for five and twenty years, and you are the
first man who has visited me."
Emboldened by her beauty and gentleness, I ventured to reply,
"Before, madam, I answer your question, allow me to say how grateful I
am for this meeting, which is not only a consolation to me in my own
heavy sorrow, but may perhaps enable me to render your lot happier,"
and then I told her who I was, and how I had come there.
Continued
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