书城公版Volume Six
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第47章

'Thy rede is aright,'quoth the King,and seeking his treasury,he took thence a piece of concentrated Bhang,if an elephant smelt it he would sleep from year to year.This he put in his bosom pocket and waited till some little of the night went by,when he betook himself to the palace of Princess Abrizah,who seeing him stood up to receive him;but he bade her sit down.So she sat down,and he sat by her,and he began to talk with her of wine and wassail,whereupon she furnished the carousing table[219] and placed it before him.Then she set on the drinking vessels and lighted the candles and ordered to bring dried fruits and sweet meats and all that pertaineth to drinking.So they fell to tippling and the King ceased not to pledge her till drunkenness crept into her head; and seeing this he took out the bit of Bhang from his pocket and,holding it between his fingers,filled a cup with his own hand and drank it off.Then filling a second he said,'To thy companionship!'and dropped the drug into her cup,she knowing naught of it.She took it and drank it off;then she rose and went to her sleeping chamber.He waited for less than an hour till he was assured that the dose had taken effect on her and had robbed her of her senses,when he went in to her and found her thrown on her back: and she had doffed her petticoat trousers and the air raised the skirt of her shift and discovered what was between her thighs.When the King saw the state of things and found a lighted candle at her head and another at her feet,shining upon what her thighs enshrined he took leave of his five senses for lust and Satan seduced him and he could not master himself,but put off his trousers and fell upon her and abated her maiden head.Then he rose off her and went to one of her women,by name Marjanah,and said,'Go in to thy lady and speak with her.'So she went in to her mistress and found her lying on her back insensible,with the blood running down to the calves of her legs,whereupon she took a kerchief and wiped away the blood and lay by her that night.As soon as Almighty Allah brought the dawn,the handmaid Marjanah washed her mistress's hands and feet and brought rose water and bathed her face and mouth with it,where upon she sneezed and yawned and cast up from her inside that bit of Bhang like a bolus.[220] Then she revived and washed her hands and mouth and said to Marjanah,'Tell me what hath befallen me.'So she told her what had passed and how she had found her,lying on her back,with the blood running down,wherefore she knew that King Omar bin al-Nu'uman had lain with her and had undone her and taken his will of her.

At this she grieved with exceeding grief and retired into privacy,saying to her damsels,'Deny me to whoso would come in to me and say to him that I am ill,till I see what Allah will do with me.'Presently the news of her sickness came to the King; so he sent her sherbets and sugar electuaries.Some months she thus passed in solitude,during which time the King's flame cooled and his desire for her was quenched,so that he abstained from her.

Now she had conceived by him,and when the months of child breeding had gone by,her pregnancy appeared and her belly swelled,and the world was straitened upon her,so she said to her handmaid Marjanah,'Know that it is not the folk who have wronged me,but I who sinned against my own self[221] in that I left my father and mother and country.Indeed,I abhor life,for my spirit is broken and neither courage nor strength is left me.I used,when I mounted my steed,to have the mastery of him,but now I am unable to ride.If I be brought to bed among them I shall be dishonoured before my hand women and every one in the palace will know that he hath taken my maidenhead in the way of shame; and if I return to my father,with what face shall I meet him or with what face shall I have recourse to him?How well quoth the poet,'Say,what shall solace one who hath nor home nor stable stead Nor cup companion,nor a cup,nor place to house his head?'

Marjanah answered her,'It is thine to command;I will obey;'and Abrizah said,'I desire at once to leave this place secretly,so that none shall know of me but thou;and return to my father and my mother,for when flesh stinketh,there is naught for it but its own folk and Allah shall do with me e'en as He will.'O Princess,'Marjanah replied,'what thou wouldest do is well.'

Then she made matters ready and kept her secret and waited for some days till the King went out to chase and hunt,and his son Sharrkan betook himself to certain of the fortresses to sojourn there awhile.Then said she to Marjanah,'I wish to set out this night,but how shall I do against my destiny?For already I feel the pangs of labour and child birth,and if I abide other four or five days,I shall be brought to bed here,and I shall be unable to travel to my country.But this is what was written on my forehead.'Then she considered awhile,and said to Marjanah,'Look us out a man who will go with us and serve us by the way,for I have no strength to bear arms.'