1001 Arabian Nights (Season 1 : Episode 10 - The Tale of the Prince and the Ogress)

This king had a son much given to hunting and coursing, and he

had also a wazir whom he had commanded to accompany his

son wherever he went. One day the prince went out to hunt and

course, taking his father’s waz(r with him, and both as they went saw

a miraculous beast rise in their path. The wazir, who knew what

manner of thing it was, yet shouted to the prince: ‘Forward, forward,

after this noble beast and take her!’ So the prince rode after the

animal until it disappeared from view somewhere in the desert; and

the prince was at a loss, not knowing which way to go, until he saw

a young girl weeping above the track which he followed. He asked

her who she was and she answered: ‘I am the daughter of one of the

Kings of Hind. While I journeyed over the desert with a caravan,

sleep overcame me and I fell from my beast without any noticing.

Now I am lost and alone and very sorrowful.’ When the prince heard

this, he pitied her and, setting her on his saddle-bow, rode away withher. 

As they were passing a little deserted ruin, the girl said: ‘Master, I

must obey a call of nature.’ She went down into the ruin and the

prince, after waiting and noticing that she was taking longer than was

natural, went in after her without attracting her notice and behold!

she had become an ogress and was saying to her brood: To-day, my

dears, I have brought you a fine fat youth!’ On this they shouted:

‘Bring him in, mother, bring him in, that we may eat our bellyful!’

When the prince heard these terrifying words, he gave himself up for

lost. His muscles relaxed for very terror and he crawled from the ruin.

When the ogress came out in her turn, she noticed his fear and

trembling and said: ‘Why are you afraid?’ He answered that he had an

enemy and the ogress asked: ‘Did you not tell me that you were a

prince?’ ‘That is true,’ he replied, and she continued: ‘If you are a

prince, why do you not give money to your enemy and satisfy him?’

‘He would never be satisfied with money,’ answered the prince, ‘never,

I fear, with anything but my death. Thus it is I go in fear of my life and

am the victim of an evil chance.’ To this she said: ‘If that is so, you

have only to ask the help of Allah against your enemy and He will

save you and deliver you from the malice of those you fear.’ Then the

prince lifted up his head and prayed, saying: ‘O Thou, who answerest

the oppressed when they call upon Thee, give me to triumph over

my enemy and in Thy might remove him from about my way!’ When

the ogress heard this prayer, she disappeared; and the prince, returning

to his father the King, told him of the evil counsel of his wazir, and

the King put the wazir to death.

After this tale the waz(r of King Yunan continued in these subtle

terms:

‘But I fear, O King, that if you put your trust in this doctor, he will

make you die the worst of deaths. Even while you cover him with

favours and make him your friend he is plotting your death. Do you

not see why he has cured your illness from the outside of your body

by means of a thing to hold in the hand? Do you not see that it is simply

that he may later cause your death with another thing held in the hand?’

‘Indeed what you say is true,’ agreed Yunan. ‘Let all be done as you

advise, O waz(r of good counsel! It is more than likely that this doctor

has come in secret as a spy, to cause my death. Since he cured me with

a thing held in the hand, what is to prevent him killing me with some

other thing, perhaps some scent that he will give me to smell? What

should I do, O waz(r?’ ‘Send someone to fetch him at once,’ answered the 

wazir, ‘and, when he comes, have his head cut off at the neck; only

thus can you put a stop to his evil plans and be carefree as you were

before. Strike before he strikes, that is my advice!’ ‘You have spoken

well, O waz(r!’ said King Yunan, and he sent to fetch the doctor, who

came quickly and cheerfully, not knowing what the Compassionate had

in store for him. A poet has written these verses:

Go on your way and be comforted,

Child of the Faithful;

He who has moulded the world in His hands

Holds it and us in His hands forever.

What He has written you cannot alter,

What He has not written never shall be,

So go on your way and be comforted,

Child of the Faithful.

I keep the sweetness of my voice to sing to Him,

I make my fairest verses in His praise.

Rare and more rare fall His gifts about me,

Granted before I have the wit to ask them,

His kindness to me is greater than I can bear;

My voice is not sweet enough to sing of Him

And my verses are too little to hold His praise.

Walk on light-hearted, caring and carrying nothing

Leaving all to Him;

Fear not what man may do, grieve not at sorrow,

Especially plan not, for He has planned all things;

Walk on light-hearted, caring and carrying nothing,

Leaving all to Him.

When Rayy&n, the physician, presented himself before the King, the latter

asked him: ‘Do you know why I have sent for you?’ And the physician

answered: ‘None knows the unknown save All&h!’ Then said the King: ‘I

have sent for you that you may die.’ At these words Rayy&n was struck as

by thunder and exclaimed: ‘Why should you kill me, O King? What harm

have I done?’ ‘They say you are a spy and have come here to kill me,’

answered the King. ‘Therefore will I strike the blow first!’ Then raising his

voice he cried to his executioner: ‘Strike through the neck of this traitor

and rid me of his wiles!’ ‘Spare me, and so shall All&h spare you!’ cried the

unfortunate doctor. ‘Kill me not, lest He also rise up and slay!’He cried this 

prayer again and again, O Ifr(t, just as I did with you.

And you had no mercy upon me but continued hot for my death.

King Y*n&n said to the doctor: ‘Never will I have trust or peace

again until I have killed you; for if you cured me with a thing held in

the hand, doubtless you would kill me with a thing to smell, or in

some other way.’ ‘Is this how you reward me?’ asked the doctor. ‘Is

this how you return me evil for my good?’ But the King said: ‘You

must die, there are no two ways about it.’ When the physician saw

that the King was resolute for his death, he wept and repented bitterly

of all the services he had done to those not worthy to receive them.

Bearing on this subject, the poet said:

Although Maimunah was a fool

Her father kept the golden rule;

He had a torch to guide his feet

Through all the perils of the street.

After this the executioner advanced, bandaged the doctor’s eyes, and,

freeing his blade, asked leave of the King. But the doctor continued

to weep and to reiterate: ‘Spare me, and so shall All&h spare you! Kill

me not, lest He also rise up and slay!’ Also he intoned these lines of

the poet:

Fools take the prize

And cruelty lives on,

While wisdom dies

And kindness is undone.

If I come free

I’ll swear to change my ways,

And practise ignorance and cruelty

Through all my days.

Then he said to the King: ‘Is this my reward? You are treating me

after the manner of a certain crocodile.’ Then the King asked: ‘What

is this tale of the crocodile?’ And the doctor answered: ‘Indeed, indeed,

I cannot tell you tales while I am in this sorry state. I conjure you, by

All&h, save me and so shall All&h preserve you at the last.’ Then he

began to weep again, very sorrowfully.

At this point some of the King’s favourites rose and said to him:

‘Spare, we beseech you, O King, the life of this great and good

physician, for we have seen no fault in him against you; but ratherhave 

we seen him cure you of an evil which neither doctors nor

sages were able to touch.’

But the King answered them: ‘You know not the reason of this

doctor’s death; if I spared him I should myself be lost, for he who has

cured me by a thing held in the hand might well kill me by giving

me something to smell. Also I fear that he would kill me for some

reward set upon my life, for he is probably a spy come here for no

other reason but to kill me. His death is necessary. I shall have peace

again.’ Then the doctor called out again: ‘Spare me, and so shall All&h

spare you! Kill me not, lest He also rise up and slay!’

Now know, O Ifr(t, that when the physician was finally certain

that the King would kill him, he said: ‘King, if my death is really

necessary, at least allow me a delay for going down to my house. I

must put my affairs in order, instruct my family and my neighbours to

arrange my funeral, and, above all, I must give away my books of

medicine. Also, now that I think of it, I have indeed a book that is the

extract of extracts, the rarity of rarities in science, and I would offer it

to you that you may keep it carefully for ever among your chests of

books.’ So the King asked him what this book might be, and he

made answer: ‘It holds devices that are above price, the least of its

secrets being this: if, when my head is off, you turn three pages of the

book, then read three lines upon the left-hand page, my severed head

will speak and answer any manner of question!’ The King trembled

with joyful amazement at these words, and said: ‘Doctor, is this true?

Even if I cut your head off will you speak?’ ‘Indeed it is true, my

King,’ he answered. ‘It is one of the prodigies of my science.’ After

this, the King let him go down to his house between guards; and on

that day and the next he wound up his affairs. When he came back to

the d(w&n, it was like a garden full of flowers with the coloured clothes

of the am(rs, the waz(rs, the chamberlains, the naww&bs and all the

chief persons of the kingdom. First the physician stood before the

King, holding a very old book and a little kohl box in which there

was a powder. Then he sat down and said: ‘Let someone bring me a

plate!’ A plate was brought to him, and he poured the powder on to

it, smoothing it over the surface with his fingers. Finally he said: ‘Take

this book, my King, but do not use it until you have cut off my head.

When my head is off, set it upon this plate and have it pressed down

firm upon the powder to stop the bleeding. After that open the book.’

But the King in his haste hardly listened to him. He took thebook and, 

opening it, found that the pages were stuck together; so he

put his finger to his mouth, wetted it with his spittle, and succeeded

in opening the first leaf. He did the same with the second and the

third, experiencing great difficulty each time. When six single sheets

had been opened in this way, he tried to read but could find no

manner of writing in the book. ‘There is nothing written here,’ he

cried, and the doctor answered: ‘Go on turning.’ So the King went

on turning the leaves but hardly had a minute passed when the venom

(for the leaves of the book were indeed poisoned) began to work in

the blood and body of the King. He fell back in terrible convulsions,

crying: ‘Poisoned! Poisoned!’ And Rayy&n, the physician, addressed

him, extemporising these lines:

When the unjust judge

Without justice judges,

Horrible, horrible things are done;

But more horrible things are done

When justice judges

The unjust judge.

As Rayy&n made an end of his verses, the King fell back dead.

Learn from this, O you Ifr(t, that if King Y*n&n had preserved

Rayy&n, the physician, All&h would have preserved him in his turn.

But he refused and brought about his own death. And you, if you had

wished to preserve me, All&h would have preserved you.

At this point Shahraz&d saw the coming of morning and discreetly

fell silent. Then her sister Dunyaz&d said: ‘How pleasant are your

words!’ ‘They are nothing,’ she answered, ‘to that which I would

tell you to-morrow night if I were still alive and the King wished to

spare me.’ After this, they spent the night in complete joy and

happiness until the morning. Finally the King went up to his d(w&n;

also, when the d(w&n had risen, he returned to his own palace and

his people.

And when the sixth night had come

SHAHRAZ-D SAID:

It is related, O auspicious King, that the fisherman said to the Ifr(t:

‘If you had preserved me I would now preserve you, but, as you

wished my death, I shall throw you into the sea and leave you to 

dieimprisoned in this jar.’ Then the Ifr(t cried: For the love of Allah, do

not do this thing! Release me, out of your generosity, not blaming

me too much for what I did. If I was evil, be thou good. Does not the

proverb say: “He who requites a fault with kindness at the same time

pardons the evil”? Do not to me as Uman did to At(kah.’ ‘What was

their story?’ asked the fisherman. This jar is no place for telling tales

in,’ answered the Ifr(t. ‘When you let me out I will tell you what

happened between them.’ ‘No, no,’ said the fisherman, ‘I must cast

you into the sea, so that you shall never come up out of it again. For,

by your way of treating me, I know that you come of an evil race.’

But the Ifr(t cried: ‘Release me, and I will not only tell you the story,

but I will promise never to do you hurt and, moreover, I will bring

you into the way of great riches.’ Then the fisherman trusted him

and, being assured of his good faith, after making him swear in the

name of All&h, opened the jar.

Out rose the smoke from the jar and again became an Ifr(t of

immortal ugliness, who with a mighty kick sent the jar flying out to

sea. When he saw the jar disappearing in the water, the fisherman

piddled his garments in an ecstasy of fear, saying: ‘This is no good

sign!’ Then to reassure himself he thus addressed the Jinn(: ‘All&h the

Most-High has said, O Ifr(t: “Stand by your oaths or I will call you to

account!” You both promised and swore that you would not harm

me. Be certain, then, that if you do harm me, All&h will punish you;

for He is a jealous God and if He bides His time yet does He not

forget. Remember I said to you, as Rayy&n the physician said to

King Y*n&n: “Spare me, and All&h shall spare you!”’

At these words the Ifr(t burst out laughing and walked away, telling

the fisherman to follow him. Still in uncertainty the fisherman walked

behind, and in this order they left the city behind till it was out of

sight and, climbing a mountain, came down over the other side into

a great deserted valley, in the middle of which was a lake. Here the

Ifr(t stopped and ordered the fisherman to cast his net, and the latter,

looking down into the water, saw fish, white, red, blue, and yellow,

swimming about in it. Marvelling at this sight, he cast his net and

caught four fish, each of a different colour. As he was rejoicing at his

good fortune, the Ifr(t said: Take these fish to the Sult&n’s palace and

he will make you a rich man. In the meantime, I must ask you to

excuse me; I fear I have forgotten my manners during my long sojourn

below the sea, never looking upon the land for eighteen hundredyears. 

I advise you to come and fish here every day, but only once a

day. Finally, Allah be good to you, and farewell!’ With this the Ifr(t

stamped both his feet against the earth, which opened and swallowed

him up.

Marvelling at all that had befallen him, the fisherman returned

towards the city and, coming to his house with the fish, filled an

earthen pot with water and placed them in it. When they began to

swim about in the water, he put the pot upon his head and walked

with it to the palace, as the Ifrit had told him. When the fisherman

came into the presence of the King and offered him the fish, the

King, who had never seen the like either in size or colour, marvelled

exceedingly and commanded that they should be given to the black

cook-maid. You must know that this slave had been given him as a

present three days before by the King of R*m and that so far he had

had no occasion to sample her cookery. So the wazir took the fish to

the cook-maid and told her to fry them, adding: ‘Excellent negress,

the King my master sent you this message: “I have reserved you

specially, O tear of mine, for some great day. Give us proof, now, of

your excellence with the cookpots and the luxury of your dishes,

for to-day the Sultan entertains one who brings gifts to him.”’ Then

the waz(r returned to the King, who ordered him to give the

fisherman four hundred d(n&rs. Having received this sum, the

fisherman placed it in the tail of his robe and returned contentedly

to his wife at home. We will leave him buying all manner of necessities

for his children.

In the meanwhile the cook-maid cleaned the fishes, put them in

the pan and, when they were well cooked on one side, turned them

over. But suddenly the wall of the kitchen opened and through it

entered a young and slender girl with full smooth cheeks and delightful

features. Her eyelids were darkened with black kohl and her body

bent daintily with the weight of her breasts. On her head she wore a

kerchief of blue silk from which her hair escaped about her ears; she

had gold bracelets round her wrists, and on her fingers rich and

coloured stones sparkled from rings. She came forward to the fire

and, thrusting a bamboo wand she carried in her hand into the pan,

said: ‘Fish, fish, are you faithful?’ Seeing this the cookmaid fainted

away, and the young girl repeated her question a second and third

time. Then all the fish lifted their heads from inside the pan and

cried: ‘Yes, yes, we are!’ Then in chorus they intoned these lines:

Come back and so will we,

Keep faith and we’ll keep faith,

But if you show us treachery

It shall be to your scathe.

At these words the young girl upset the pan and passed out by the

way she had come, the wall of the kitchen coming together again

after her. When the cook-maid came out of her swoon, she saw that

the four fishes had fallen into the fire and been burnt to black cinders.

And calling out: ‘Oh, even at the first assault his vigour ebbed away!’

she continued to lament until the waz(r came back and told her to

carry the fishes to the Sult&n. At this the cook-maid burst into tears,

and told the waz(r all that had happened. The waz(r, utterly amazed at

the strangeness of the thing, sent for the fisherman and commanded

him to bring four other fishes of the same kind. So the fisherman

made his way to the mountain lake and, casting his net, brought four

more fish to land. These he took to the waz(r who, in his turn, took

them to the cook-maid and said: ‘Stir yourself now and fry these in

my presence, that I may see what there is in this story of yours.’ The

negress cleaned the fish and set them in a pan on the fire, but hardly

had she done so when the wall opened and the young girl appeared

a second time, dressed as before and still holding the wand in her

hand. She thrust the wand into the pan, saying: ‘Fish, fish, are you

faithful?’ whereupon the fishes lifted their heads and intoned these

lines in chorus:

Come back and so will we,

Keep faith and we’ll keep faith,

But if you show us treachery

It shall be to your scathe.

At this point Shahraz&d saw the approach of morning and discreetly

fell silent.

And when the seventh night had come

SHE SAID:

It is related, O auspicious King, that when the fishes spoke in this

manner the young girl upset the pan with her wand and departed

by the fissure in the wall, which closed after her. ‘This is a thing that

we can in no wise keep from the King!’ exclaimed the waz(r, so hesought 

out the King and told him the whole circumstances. ‘This is

a thing that I must see for myself!’ cried the King and, sending for

the fisherman, he commanded him to fetch four other fish of the

like kind, allowing him three days in which to complete the matter.

But the fisherman hurried to the lake and came back immediately

with four more fish, for which he was given four hundred d(n&rs at

the King’s command. Then the King ordered his waz(r to prepare

the fish himself in the royal presence. ‘I hear and I obey,’ answered

the waz(r and, conducting the King to the kitchen, he carefully

cleaned the fish and, in the King’s sight, set them in the pan to fry.

When they were cooked on one side, he turned them; immediately

the kitchen wall opened and through it entered a negro, as ugly as a

great buffalo or one of the giants of the tribe of H&d. He carried a

green branch in his hand and said in a distinct and terrible voice:

Fish, fish, are you faithful?’ Then all the fish lifted their heads from

inside the pan and cried: ‘Yes, yes, we are!’ and in chorus they intoned

these lines:

Come back and so will we,

Keep faith and we’ll keep faith,

But if you show us treachery

It shall be to your scathe.

Then the negro came up to the pan and upset it with his branch, so

that the fish fell out and were burnt to black cinders. Finally he

departed by the way he had come, and the King said: ‘Here is a

matter on which it is impossible to keep silent. Surely there is some

strange tale connected with these fishes!’ So he sent for the fisherman

and asked him where the fishes came from. ‘From a lake between

four hills,’ he answered, ‘behind the mountain which looks down

upon your city.’ ‘How many days’ journey is it?’ asked the King. ‘My

lord, it is not more than half an hour away,’ the other answered. So

the Sult&n set out forthwith, taking his soldiers with him, and also

the fisherman, who went along in a confused state of mind, secretly

cursing the Ifr(t. At length the King’s party passed over the mountain

and came down into a desert valley, such as they had never seen

before. They marvelled at it, and at the lake, and at the fish of different

colours, red, white, yellow and blue, which swam within it. Halting

his men, the King asked if anyone there had ever seen a lake in that

place and, when all answered that they had not, he said: ‘As Allah 

I will never more go back to my city or sit upon my throne

until I have found out the truth about this lake and these strange

fishes!’ Then, sending out his men to inspect the mountains round

about, he called his waz(r to him, who was a scholar and a sage, an

eloquent man of great learning. To him the King said: ‘There is a

thing that I mean to do and I must tell you of it. I have determined to

go forth alone to-night and seek out unaided the answer to the mystery

of this lake. Your part will be to stand guard at the door of my tent

and tell any waz(rs, am(rs or chamberlains who may seek audience,

that I am ill and have given order that none may be admitted. Above

all tell no one of my plan.’ The waz(r promised to obey and the King,

having disguised himself and girt on his sword, slipped out unperceived

from among his bodyguard. All that night and through the next

morning he journeyed on, stopping only to sleep through the noonday

heat. Then he continued his quest throughout the rest of that day and

the following night. On the second morning he saw a black object

far off and joyfully exclaimed: ‘Surely yonder I shall find someone to

tell me the story of the lake!’ Coming nearer, he saw that the thing

was a palace, built all of black stones fastened together with great

clamps of steel. Stopping at the mighty double door, one half of

which was open, he knocked softly, once, twice, and again, without

receiving any answer. The fourth time, he knocked with great violence

and still no one came. So, supposing the palace to be deserted, he

plucked up his courage and entered. ‘O masters of this palace, I am a

stranger, a wayfarer, and I come to ask a little refreshment in my

journey!’ He repeated this twice more and, getting no reply, became

emboldened to go along the corridor as far as the very centre of the

palace. Here he found no one, though all the place was splendid with

star-wrought tapestries and, in the middle of the inner court, four

lions of red gold held up a fountain, spraying so fair a water that it

had the appearance of diamonds and white pearls. About the court

were many birds, which could not fly away because of a great golden

net stretched above the palace. The King marvelled at all these things

and yet he grieved in his heart to find no one there who could

explain the riddle of the lake, the mountain, the fish, and the palace.

Soon he sat down between two of the doors in a profound reverie,

which was suddenly cut short by a feeble voice of complaint, rising it

seemed from a surcharged heart. He heard these lines sung in a sweet

whisper:

Thanks for reading.