第138章 第五册(29)

Al-Raschid then gave orders to convey him to his house; and the servants did so, and laid him on his bed. When he recovered from his intoxication, in the latter part of the night, he found himself in the dark; and he called out, "Branch of Willow! Cluster of Pearls! " But no one answered him. His mother, however, heard him shouting these names, and arose and came, and said to him, "What hath happened to thee, O my son, and what hath befallen thee? Art thou mad? "When he heard the words of his mother, he said to her, "Who art thou, O ill-omened old woman, that thou addressest the Prince of the Faithful with these expressions? " She answered, " I am thy mother, O my son. " But he, replied, "Thou liest; I am the Prince of the Faithful, the lord of the countries and the people." " Be silent, " she said, "or else thy life will be lost. " She began to pronounce spells and to recite charms over him, and said to him, " It seemeth, O my son, that thou hast seen this in a dream. " She then said to him, "I give thee good news, at which thou wilt be rejoiced. " " What is it? " said he. She answered, "The Caliph gave orders yesterday to beat the imam and the four sheikhs, and caused a bond to be written against them, that they shall meddle no longer; and he sent me a hundredpieces of gold, with his salutation. " When Abou Hassan heardthese words from his mother, he uttered a loud cry, and he exclaimed, "I am he who gave orders to beat the sheikhs, and who sent thee the hundred pieces of gold, with my salutation, and I am the Prince of the Faithful. "Having said this, he rose up against his mother, and beat her with an almond stick, saying to her, "O ill-omened old woman, am I not the Prince of the Faithful? Thou hast enchanted me!" When the neighbours heard his words, they said, "This man hath become mad. " And they came in and laid hold upon him, bound his hands behind him, and conveyed him to the madhouse. There every day they punished him, flogging him with whips, making him a madman in spite of himself. Thus he continued, stripped of his clothing, and chained by the neck to a high window, for the space of ten days; after which, his mother came to salute him. And she said to him, "O my son, if thou wert Prince of the Faithful, thou wouldst not suffer this." When he heard what his mother said, he replied, " By Allah, thou hast spoken truth. It seemeth that I was only asleep, and dreamt that they made me Caliph, and assigned me servants and slaves. " His mother said to him, "O my son, verily Satan doth more than this. " He replied, "Thou hast spoken truth, and I beg forgiveness of God for the actions committed by me. "They therefore took him forth from the madhouse and conducted him into the bath; and, when he had recovered his health, he prepared food and drink, and began to eat. But eating by himself was not pleasant to him; and he walked tothe bridge, to seek for himself a cup-companion. While he wassitting there, lo, Haroun al-Raschid the Caliph came to him in the garb of a merchant; for, from the time of his parting with him, he came every day to the bridge, but found him not till now. As soon as Abou Hassan saw him, he said to him, "A friendly welcome to thee, O King of the Genii! " So Haroun al-Raschid said, " What have I done to thee? " " What more couldst thou do, " said Abou Hassan, " than thou hast done unto me, O filthiest of the genii? I have suffered beating, and entered the madhouse, and they pronounced me a madman. All this was occasioned by thee. I brought thee to my abode, and fed thee with the best of my food; and, after that, thou gavest thy devils and thy slaves entire power over me, to make sport with my reason from morning to evening. Depart from me, therefore, and go thy way. "The Caliph smiled at this, and, seating himself by his side, addressed him in courteous language, and said to him, "O my brother, when I went forth from thee, I carelessly left the door open, and probably the Devil went in to thee. " Abou Hassan replied, " Inquire not respecting that which happened to me. What possessed thee, " he added, "that thou shouldst leave the door open, so that the Devil came in to me, and that such and such things befell me? "He related to the Caliph all that had happened to him from first to last, while al-Raschid laughed, but concealed his laughter; after which, the Caliph said to him, " Praise be to God that thou art cured. " But Abou Hassan replied, " I will nottake thee again as my boon companion, nor as an associate tosit with me; for the proverb saith,"He who stumbleth against a stone and returneth to it is to be blamed and reproached." With thee, O my brother, I will not carouse, nor will I keep company with thee; since I have not found thy visit to be followed by good fortune to me. " The Caliph, however, said, "I have been the means of the accomplishment of thy desire with regard to the imam and the sheikhs. " " Yes, " replied Abou Hassan. And al-Raschid added, " Perhaps something will happen to thee that will rejoice thy heart more than that. " "Then what dost thou desire of me? " said Abou Hassan. "My desire, " answered al-Raschid, " is to be thy guest this night. " At length Abou Hassan said, " On the condition that thou swear to me by the inscription on the seal of Solomon the son of David (on both of whom be peace !) that thou wilt not suffer thy spirits to make sport with me. " Al-Raschid replied, " I hear and obey. "So Abou Hassan took him to his abode, and put the food and wine before him and his attendants, and they ate and drank as much as satisfied them. Abou Hassan then said to the Caliph, " O my boon companion, in truth I am perplexed respecting my case. It seemeth that I was Prince of the Faithful, and that I exercised authority, and gave and bestowed : and truly, O my brother, it was not a vision of sleep. " But the Caliph replied, "This was the result of confused dreams. " Having said this, he put a piece of bhang into the cup, and said, " By my life, drink this cup. " "Verily I will drink it from thy hand, " replied Abou Hassan. So he took the cup, and, when he had drunk it, hishead fell before his feet. The Caliph then arose immediately,and ordered his young men to convey Abou Hassan to the palace, and to lay him upon his couch, and commanded the slaves to stand around him; after which he concealed himself in a place where Abou Hassan could not see him, and ordered a slave-girl to take her lute and strike its chords over Abou Hassan"s head.