Part 10 (2/2)
At last, when the king of the sea of _Kulzum_ was asked if he knew anything of them, he hung down his head, and remained silent. _Malik Shah Bal_ had a deference for him, and entreated him to give them up, and gave him hopes of future favour and even threatened him. Then he also joined his hands together, and said, ”Please your majesty, the particulars of that circ.u.mstance are as follows:--When the king [of Persia] came to the river _Kulzum_ to meet his son, and the prince from eagerness plunged his horse into the flood, it chanced that I had gone out that day to roam about and to hunt. I pa.s.sed by the place, and the cavalcade stopped to behold the scene. When the princess's mare carried her also into the stream, my looks met hers, and I was enchanted, and gave instant orders to the fairy race to bring her to me, together with the mare. _Bihzad Khan_ plunged in also after her on horseback; I admired his bravery and gallantry, and had him seized likewise; I took him with me, and returned home; so they are both safe, and with me.”
Saying this, he sent for them both before _Malik Shah Bal_. Great search had been made for the daughter of the king of Syria, and strict inquiries were put to all present, but no one acknowledged having her, or knowing anything about her. _Malik Shah Bal_ then asked if any king or chief was absent, and if all were arrived; the _jinns_ answered, ”Mighty sire, all are present except one named _Musalsal Jadu_, who has erected a fort on the mountain _Kaf_ by the means of magic; he, from haughtiness, is not come, and we, your majesty's slaves, are not able to bring him by force; the place is strong, and he himself also is a great devil.”
On hearing this, _Malik Shah Bal_ was very angry, and an army of _jinns, 'afrits_ and fairies were sent with orders, that if he came of his own accord, and brought the princess with him, well and good, but otherwise subdue him, and bring him tied by the neck and heels, and raze his fort to the ground, and drive the plough, drawn by an a.s.s, over it. Immediately, on the orders being given, such numbers of troops flew to the place, that in a day or two the rebellious haughty chief was brought in irons to the presence. _Malik Shah Bal_ repeatedly asked about the princess, but the haughty rebel gave no reply. The king at length got angry, and ordered him to be cut to pieces, and his skin stretched and filled with chaff; [406] a body of fairies were ordered to go to the mountain of _Kaf_, and search for the princess; they went and found her, and brought her to _Malik Shah Bal_. All these prisoners and the four _Darweshes_, seeing the strict orders and justice of the king _Shah Bal_, were greatly rejoiced, and admired him highly; the king _Azad Bakht_ was also much pleased. _Malik Shah Bal_ then ordered the men to the palace, and the women to the royal seraglio; the city was ordered to be illuminated, and the preparations for the marriages to be quickly completed; [all was instantly made ready], as if the order alone was wanted to be given.
One day, a happy hour being fixed upon, the prince _Bakhtiyar_ was married to the princess _Roshan Akhtar_; and the young merchant of _Yaman_ [407] was married to the princess of _Dimashk_; and the prince of Persia [408] was married to the princess of _Basra_; and the prince of _'Ajam_ [409] was married to the princess of the Franks; _Bihzad Khan_ was married to the daughter of the king of _Nimroz_; and the prince of _Nimroz_ was married to the _jinn's_ daughter; and the prince of China [410] was married to the daughter of the old blind man of _Hindustan_; she who had been in the possession of _Maliki Sadik_. Through the favour of _Malik Shah Bal_, every hopeless person gained his desires, and obtained his wishes; afterwards, they all enjoyed themselves for forty days, and pa.s.sed their time, night and day, in pleasures and festivity.
At last, _Malik Shah Bal_ gave to each prince rich and rare presents, and dismissed them to their different countries. All were pleased and satisfied, and set out and reached their homes in safety, and began their reigns; but _Bihzad Khan_, and the merchant's son of _Yaman_, of their own accord, remained with the king _Azad Bakht_, and in the end the young merchant of _Yaman_ was made head steward to his majesty, and _Bihzad Khan_ generalissimo of the army of the fortunate prince _Bakhtiyar_; whilst they lived, they enjoyed every felicity. O G.o.d! as these four _Darweshes_ and the king _Azad Bakht_ attained their wishes, in like manner grant to all hopeless beings the wishes of their hearts, through thy power and goodness, and by the medium of the five pure bodies, [411] the twelve _Imams_, and the fourteen innocents, [412]
on all of whom be the blessing of G.o.d! Amen, O G.o.d of the universe.
When this book was finished, through the favour of G.o.d, I took it into my mind to give it such a name, that the date should be thereby found out. [413] When I made the calculation, I found that I had begun to compose this work in the end of the year of the _Hijra_ 1215, and owing to want of leisure, it was not finished until the beginning of the year 1217; I was reflecting on this circ.u.mstance, when it occurred to me that the words _Bagh O Bahar_ formed a proper t.i.tle, as it answered to the date of the year when the work was finished; so I gave it this name. Whoever shall read it, he will stroll as it were through a garden; moreover, the garden is exposed to the blasts of winter, but this book is not; it will ever be in verdure.
When this _Bagh O Bahar_ was finished, the year was 1217; do you now stroll through it night and day, as its name and date is _Bagh O Bahar_; the blasts of winter can do it no injury; for this _Bahar_ [414] is ever green and fresh; it hath been nourished with the blood of my heart, and its (the heart's) pieces are its leaves and fruits;--all will forget me after death;--but this book will remain as a _souvenir_; whoever reads it, let him remember me. This is my agreement with the readers; if there is an error, excuse it; for amidst flowers lie concealed the thorns; man is liable to faults and errors, and he will fail, let him be ever so careful. I have no other wish except this, and it is my earnest prayer. O my Creator, that I may ever remain in remembrance of Thee, and thus pa.s.s my nights and days! That I may not be questioned with severity on the night of death, and the day of reckoning! O G.o.d, in both worlds shower thy favours on me, through the mediation of the great prophet!
SUPPLEMENTAL NOTE
It must be allowed, that the author has displayed great adroitness in the ”denouement” of his tale. In the course of a few pages all the princ.i.p.al characters, male and female, are suddenly produced, safe and unscathed, before the reader. To be sure, this is done by the aid of a little ”diablerie,” but then it is done very neatly,--much more so than in some of the clumsy fictions of the late Ettrick Shepherd, to say nothing of the edifying legends about the Romish saints which the good people of southern Europe are taught to swallow as gospel.
Finally, be it remembered, that Oriental story-tellers have never subscribed to Horace's precept,--
”Nec deus interait, nisi digens vindice nodus Inciderit”
On the contrary, their rule is, when, by a free use of the supernatural, you have got the whole of your characters into a regular _fix_, it is but fair that you should get them off by the same means.
THE END.
NOTES
[1] The proclamation of the Marquis Wellesley, after the formation of the college of Fort William; encouraging the pursuit of Oriental literature among the natives by original compositions and translations from the Persian, &c, into _Hindustani_.
[2] ”The _Bagh O Bahar_,” i.e. ”The Garden and Spring;” which may be better called, ”The Garden of Spring,” or the ”Garden of Beauty.” The less appropriate t.i.tle of ”_Bagh O Bahar_” was chosen merely in order that the Persian letters composing these words, might, by their numerical powers, amount to 1217, the year of the Hijra in which the book was finished.--Vide Hind. Gram., page 20.
[3] _Mir Amman_ himself explains the origin and derivation of these words in his preface, and we cannot appeal to a better authority.
[4] Literally, ”in consequence of its being traversed or walked over.”
[5] _Hakim Firdausi_, the Homer of Persia, who wrote the history of that country, in his celebrated epic ent.i.tled the ”_Shah-nama,”_ or Book of Kings.
[6] I have translated into plain prose all the verses occurring in the original. I have not the vanity to think myself a poet; and I have a horror of seeing mere doggrel rhymes--such as the following--
”Mighty toil I've borne for years thirty, I have revived Persia by this _Pursi_.”
These elegant effusions are of the ”Non hominies, non Di, &c.” description.
[7] That is to say, he has introduced the elegance and correctness of the _Urdu_ language, or that of the Upper Provinces, into _Bengal_. In fact, the _Bengalis_ who speak a wretched jargon of what they are pleased to call _Hindustani_, (in addition to their native tongue,) would scarcely be understood at _Agra_ or _Dilli_; and those two cities are the best sites to acquire the real _Urdu_ in perfection; there the inhabitants speak it not only correctly but elegantly.
<script>