Malayan Literature: Comprising Romantic Tales, Epic Poetry and Royal Chronicles
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Malayan Literature: Comprising Romantic Tales, Epic Poetry and Royal Chronicles
Malay literature -- Translations into English
The prince's letter reached the cadi. The latter gave all his efforts
to the good administration of the country, and, according to the words
of the prince, he avoided every negligence.
But one night while he was on watch near the fortifications of the
King's palace, Satan came to him and slid into his heart a temptation.
The cadi thought in his heart: "The King's daughter is of a marvellous
beauty; her name, Djouher-Mani-kam, is charming; and her face is
lovely. Since it is thus, I must marry this daughter of the King." The
cadi called the man who was guarding the gate, exclaiming:
"Ho! Guardian of the gate! Open unto me."
The guardian of the gate demanded, "Who is there?"
The cadi replied, "It is I, the cadi."
So the guardian promptly opened the gate, and the cadi entered within
the fortification, then went up into the palace and found the princess
there saying her evening prayers. He hid behind the lamp in a corner
which was dark. When her prayer was finished, the Princess Djouher-
Manikam cast her eyes in that direction and saw there was someone
standing there in the shadow, so three times again she said the "verse
of the Throne"; but she saw that the vision had not yet vanished from
her eyes.
Then the princess said in her heart: "What in the world is that? Is it
a ghost? Is it a demon? Is it a djinn? If it were, it would have
necessarily disappeared when I recited the 'verse of the Throne.'"
The cadi heard these words and said: "O Princess Djouher-Manikam, it is
I, the cadi."
"What are you doing here?" asked the princess. He answered, "I wish to
marry you."
The Princess Djouher-Manikam said: "O cadi! Why do you act so to me?
Have you then no fear of God the most high and worthy of all praise? Do
you not blush before the face of my ancestor the prophet Mahomet, the
envoy of God? May the peace and blessings of God be upon him! As for
me, I am the servant of the Lord and I belong to the religion of the
envoy of God. I fear to marry now. And you, cadi, why do you act so? My
father gave you a charge. He sent you a letter which commanded you to
protect the country and all who dwelt in his palace. Why do you conduct
yourself in this fashion toward me?"
The cadi, hearing these words of the Princess Djouher-Manikam, felt a
great confusion in his heart. He went out of the palace and returned
home full of trouble and emotion. When it was day, the cadi sent a
letter to the King Haroun-er-Raschid at Mecca. It was thus conceived:
"Your Majesty left me to be guardian of his kingdom, his palace, and
his daughter. Now, the Princess Djouher-Manikam desires to marry me.
This is the reason why I send this letter to your Majesty." Thus spake
the cadi in his letter.
When it reached the prince and he had read it, he immediately summoned
his son Minbah-Chahaz. He came in haste, and the King gave him a
cutlass and said, "Return to Bagdad and slay your sister, because she
will bring shame upon the family by marrying now."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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