The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night — Volume 08 (of 10)
General
The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night — Volume 08 (of 10)
Fairy tales; Tales -- Arab countries
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the Jann said to
Hasan, "We cannot promise thee safety, O our lord, from this Islandry,
nor from the mischief of the Supreme King and his enchanters and
warlocks. It may be they will overcome us and take you from us and we
fall into affliction with them, and all to whom the tidings shall come
after this will say to us: 'Ye are wrong-doers! How could ye go
against the Supreme King and carry a mortal out of his dominions, and
eke the King's daughter with him?' adding, 'Wert thou alone with us the
thing were light; but He who conveyed thee hither is capable to carry
thee back to thy country and reunite thee with thine own people
forthright and in readiest plight. So take heart and put thy trust in
Allah and fear not; for we are at thy service, to convey thee to thy
country." Hasan thanked them therefor and said, "Allah requite you with
good! but now make haste with the horses;" they replied, "We hear and
we obey," and struck the ground with their feet, whereupon it opened
and they disappeared within it and were absent awhile, after which they
suddenly reappeared with three horses, saddled and bridled, and on each
saddle-bow a pair of saddle-bags, with a leathern bottle of water in
one pocket and the other full of provaunt. So Hasan mounted one steed
and took a child before him, whilst his wife mounted a second and took
the other child before her. Then the old woman alighted from the jar
and bestrode the third horse and they rode on, without ceasing, all
night. At break of day, they turned aside from the road and made for
the mountain, whilst their tongues ceased not to name Allah. Then they
fared on under the highland all that day, till Hasan caught sight of a
black object afar as it were a tall column of smoke a-twisting
skywards; so he recited somewhat of the Koran and Holy Writ, and sought
refuge with Allah from Satan the Stoned. The black thing grew plainer
as they drew near, and when hard by it, they saw that it was an Ifrit,
with a head like a huge dome and tusks like grapnels and jaws like a
lane and nostrils like ewers and ears like leathern targes and mouth
like a cave and teeth like pillars of stone and hands like winnowing
forks and legs like masts: his head was in the cloud and his feet in
the bowels of the earth had plowed. Whenas Hasan gazed upon him he
bowed himself and kissed the ground before him, saying, "O Hasan, have
no fear of me; for I am the chief of the dwellers in this land, which
is the first of the Isles of Wak, and I am a Moslem and an adorer of
the One God. I have heard of you and your coming and when I knew of
your case, I desired to depart from the land of the magicians to
another land, void of inhabitants and far from men and Jinn, that I
might dwell there alone and worship Allah till my fated end came upon
me. So I wish to accompany you and be your guide, till ye fare forth
of the Wak Islands; and I will not appear save at night; and do ye
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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