The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night — Volume 07 (of 10)
General
The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night — Volume 07 (of 10)
Fairy tales; Tales -- Arab countries
She resumed, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the two
hosts drew apart, Gharib and Mura’ash returned to their tents, after
wiping their weapons, and supper being set before them, they ate and
gave each other joy of their safety, and the loss of their Marids being
so small. As for Barkan, he returned to his tent, grieving for the
slaughter of his champions, and said to his officers, “O folk, an we
tarry here and do battle with them on this wise in three days’ time we
shall be cut off to the last wight.” Quoth they, “And how shall we do,
O King?” Quoth Barkan, “We will fall upon them under cover of night
whilst they are deep in sleep, and not one of them shall be left to
tell the tale. So take your arms and when I give the word of command,
attack and fall on your enemies as one.” Now there was amongst them a
Marid named Jandal whose heart inclined to Al-Islam; so, when he heard
the Kafirs’ plot, he stole away from them and going in to King Mura’ash
and King Gharib, told the twain what Barkan had devised; whereupon
Mura’ash turned to Gharib and said to him, “O my brother, what shall we
do?” Gharib replied, “To-night we will fall upon the Miscreants and
chase them into the wilds and the wolds if it be the will of the
Omnipotent King.” Then he summoned the Captains of the Jann and said to
them, “Arm yourselves, you and yours; and, as soon as ’tis dark, steal
out of your tents on foot, hundreds after hundreds, and lie in ambush
among the mountains; and when ye see the enemy engaged among the tents,
do ye fall upon them from all quarters. Hearten your hearts and rely on
your Lord, and ye shall certainly conquer; and behold, I am with you!”
So, as soon as it was dark Night, the Infidels attacked the camp,
invoking aid of the fire and light; but when they came among the tents,
the Moslems fell upon them, calling for help on the Lord of the Worlds
and saying, “O Most Merciful of Mercifuls, O Creator of all createds!”
till they left them like mown grass, cut down and dead. Nor did morning
dawn before the most part of the unbelievers were species without souls
and the rest made for the wastes and marshes, whilst Gharib and
Mura’ash returned triumphant and victorious; and, making prize of the
enemy’s baggage, they rested till the morrow, when they set out for the
City of Carnelian and Castle of Gold. As for Barkan, when the battle
had turned against him and most of his lieges were slain, he fled
through the dark with the remnant of his power to his capital where he
entered his palace and assembling his legionaries said to them, “O
folk, whoso hath aught of price, let him take it and follow me to the
Mountain Káf, to the Blue King, lord of the Pied Palace; for he it is
who shall avenge us.” So they took their women and children and goods
and made for the Caucasus-mountain. Presently Mura’ash and Gharib
arrived at the City of Carnelian and Castle of Gold to find the gates
open and none left to give them news; whereupon they entered and
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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