1001 Arabian Nights (Season 1 : Episode 8 - The Tale of the Wazir of King Yunan and Rayyan the Doctor)

THE fisherman said: Know, O Ifr(t, that there was, in the tide and

show of ancient time and the passage of the age and of the

moment, a king called Yunan in the city of F&rs in the land of R*m.

He was a rich and powerful king, master of armies, strong in his ways

and allied with many a royal house. But his body was marred by a

leprosy which baffled every doctor and learned man. Drugs, pellets,

and ointments were of no avail and no physician could find out a

cure for it. Now one day an old and famous doctor, whose name was

Rayyan, came to King Yunan’s city. He had read books written in

Greek, Persian, Latin, Arabic, and Syriac; he had studied the craft of

medicine and of the stars and knew the principles and rules of each,

their good and ill effects. Also he knew the virtues of all plants and of

all herbs both fresh and dry, their good and ill effects. Moreover he

had studied philosophy and all the sciences of healing and other

sciences. When this doctor had come into the city and stayed there

some days he heard of the leprosy with which Allah had seen good to plague the body of the King and of the utter unsuccess which all

the doctors and sages had met with in their treatment. Hearing these

things the doctor pondered for a night, but when he woke at morning

(when light shone high and Allah’s bountiful jewel, the bright sun,

kissed all the earth) he clothed himself in his richest garments and

entered the King’s palace. Kissing the earth between King Yunan’s

hands, he called down upon him power and pride everlasting and the

richest blessings of Allah. After this he told him who he was and said:

‘My lord, I have been told of the evil which has eaten into your body

and that no physician may find a way to remove it. So I have come to

cure you, nor will I give you any drug to drink in my cure nor salve

to rub upon you.’ ‘How will you do that?’ asked King Yunan in

astonishment. For, as Allah lives, if you cure me I will enrich you, and

the sons of your sons after you. I will grant you wishes and realise

them for you, and you shall be my cupman and my friend.’ Then the

King gave him a fair robe and other gifts and asked again: ‘Is it really

true that you will cure this ill of mine without drugs or salves?’

‘Indeed it is true,’ the other answered. ‘Also the cure shall be without

weariness or pain.’ Then the King, being even more astonished, asked

eagerly: ‘Great doctor, what day, what hour shall see this thing come

to pass? Make haste with it, my child.’ ‘I hear and I obey!’ said the

other. ‘It shall be to-morrow.’

Rayyan went down out of the palace and hiring a house filled it with

his books, his cures, and aromatic plants. Then he made extracts of his

drugs and simples, and, carving a short, curved, hollow mallet, placed

them inside and then fitted a handle. Also he made a ball as skilfully as he

was able. The next day, when his labours were completed, he went up

into the palace and kissed the earth between the King’s hands. Then he

prescribed to the King that he should ride on his horse to the maidan,

the polo-ground, and exercise there with the mallet and the ball.

The King went there accompanied by his am(rs, chamberlains,

Waz(rs, and the chiefs of his kingdom, and was met at the maidan by

Rayyan, the doctor, who gave him the mallet, saying: ‘Take this mallet

and grip it in this way; then strike the ball as hard as you can. Go on

doing this until both your palm and all your body sweat. In this way

my cure will go in through your palm and travel throughout all your

body. When you have sweated and the cure has had time to work,

return to your palace and go at once to bathe at the hamm&m. So

shall you be cured. And in the meantime, peace be with you!’ Then King Yunan took the mallet, gripped it closely and, when

his chosen cavaliers had mounted their horses and set the ball in

motion, began to gallop after it, come up with it, hit it forward as

hard as he could and gallop after it again. He did this until both his

palm and all his body sweated, and the cure went in by his palm and

travelled about his body. When the wise Rayyan saw that the cure

had impregnated the whole body of the King, he ordered him back

to the palace. King Yunan therefore returned and ordered the hamm&m

to be prepared. When the carpet-spreaders had made haste and the

slaves hurried to prepare the linens and towels, the King bathed and,

dressing himself at the hamm&m, rode back to the palace and went to

sleep.

In the meanwhile, Rayyan the physician slept in his house. As

soon as he woke in the morning, he went up to the palace and,

having gained admission, kissed the earth between the King’s hands

and began very solemnly to intone these lines:

O chosen father of the sweet speech of kings,

Bright burning face that cools the red of the fire,

Face of young light, that shall behold undimmed

Time putting wrinkles in the face of time,

As a cool cloud covers a parched hill

So you have covered me over with love-presents,

Who are yourself the peak of glory’s hill,

Destiny’s darling. She can refuse you nothing.

Hearing him say these verses, the King rose and threw himself upon

the doctor’s neck, made him sit by his side, and gave him robes of

honour, magnificently worked.

For you must know that, when the King came out of the hamm&m

on the previous day, he looked upon his body and found no trace of

the leprosy there, but rather that his skin had become pure and stainless

as virgin silver. Therefore he had rejoiced as if his heart would break,

walking with broadened breast and head held high. So it was that,

with the coming of morning, when the King had entered the d(w&n

with his chamberlains and the great ones of his kingdom and Rayyan,

the doctor, had presented himself, he rose hastily and made him sit

by his side. Then slaves brought meats and draughts of good drink for

these two throughout the day, and at nightfall the King gave the

physician two thousand d(n&rs over and above the robes of honour and the other presents he had made him, and set him upon his own

horse. In such happy fashion the physician took leave and returned

to his own house.

As for the King, he was continuous in his admiration for the art of

this physician and many times he said: ‘He has cured me from the

outside of my body, not even smearing me with a salve. By Allah, so

wonderful a science has he shown that the least of my duties is to

overwhelm him with gifts and take him for my companion and great

friend for ever.’ And that night King Yunan lay down to sleep in an

ecstasy of joy, knowing that he was clean in body and cured of his evil.

Next morning when the King sat down upon his throne with the

chiefs of the kingdom standing about him and the am(rs and waz(rs

seated on his right and left, he called for Rayyan, who came and kissed

the earth between his hands. Then the King rose as before and made

the doctor sit down by him, eat with him, and gave him more robes of

honour with other rich things, wishing him long life as he gave them.

After, he talked with him until nightfall and gave him as a further fee

five robes of honour and a thousand d(n&rs. That night also the doctor

returned to his house calling down blessings upon the King.

When the sun rose the next morning, the King came down and

entered the d(w&n, the am(rs, waz(rs and chamberlains clustering

about him as before. Now among the waz(rs there was one of repellent

face and sinister expression, a cruel man of evil omen, grossly

avaricious, an envious fellow, eaten out with jealousy. When this Waz(r

saw the King raise up Rayyan to sit by him and give presents to

him, he became jealous and vowed the fall of this good man. The

proverb says: ‘Each man envies, the strong openly, the weak in secret.’

The waz(r came to the King and, kissing the earth, said to him:

‘King of this hundred years and of all time, you who wrap all men in

the garment of your benefits, I have in my heart a counsel of

prodigious weight, nor would I be aught but a bastard and no true

servant were I to hide it from you.’ Disturbed by these sinister words,

the King commanded him to explain himself, and he went on: ‘O

glorious King, the ancients had a saying: “He who regards not the

end and the consequence shall never thrive.” Now I have seen, and

that even now, my lord failing to regard the end and the consequence

in making gifts to his enemy, to a man who desires the cutting off of

his reign; yes, heaping him with generosities, smothering him with

favours. Indeed, my lord, this makes me fear for the King’s safety.’ At these words the King became pale and agitated. At length he asked:

‘Who is this man you feign to be my enemy?’ ‘If you are asleep, O

King, I pray you wake. I speak of Rayyan the doctor,’ said the waz(r.

‘He is my friend.’ answered the King angrily, ‘nearer to me than all

men; for he gave me a thing to hold in my hand which took away

my leprosy, and delivered me from an evil which no other physician

might touch. In this time, in this world, neither in the East nor in

the West, is there another like him. How dare you say these things of

him? I tell you that from to-day I shall make him a salary and

allowances so that he has a thousand d(n&rs every month. Even if I

gave him the half of my kingdom it would be a little thing for such

as he. No, no, I am convinced that you have said all this out of

jealousy, just as it happened in a tale they told me once about King

Sindb&d!’

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

silent. Then Dunyaz&d said to her: ‘Your words are sweet and

pleasant to the taste.’ ‘But this is nothing,’ Shahraz&d answered, ‘to

that which I would tell you to-morrow night, if I were still alive

and the King wished to preserve me.’ Then the King said in his

soul: ‘By Allah, I will not kill her until I have heard the rest of this

truly marvellous tale!’ They passed the remainder of the night in

each other’s arms, and in the morning the King went down to the

Hall of Justice. When the d(w&n was filled with people, the King sat

in judgment, giving power and taking it away, guiding the people

and making an end of the cases that were brought before him until

the fall of day. Then, when the d(w&n rose, he went back to his

palace and did as was his wont with Shahraz&d, the daughter of the

waz(r.

And when the fifth night had come

SHAHRAZ-D SAID:

It is related, O auspicious King, that King Yunan said to his waz(r:

‘You have let envy steal into your heart, my waz(r, against this good

physician. You are desirous that I should kill him and then repent, as

King Sindbad repented after he had killed his falcon.’ ‘How did that

come to pass?’ asked the wazir.

So King Yunan began:

 

Next Episode will come soon, Thanks for reading.