Then, O my lady, the Captain wept with exceedingweeping and we all made sure of death doom and each and every one of us farewelled his friend and charged him with his last will and testament in case he might be saved. We slept not that night, and in the morning we found ourselves much nearer the Loadstone Mountain, whither the waters drave us with a violent send. When the ships were close under its lea, they opened and the nails flew out and all the iron in them sought the Magnet Mountain and clove to it like a network, so that by the end of the day we were all struggling in the waves round about the mountain. Some of us were saved, but more were drowned, and even those who had escaped knew not one another, so stupefied were they by the beating of the billows and the raving of the winds.

As for me, O my lady, Allah (be His name exalted!) preserved my life that I might suffer whatso He willed to me of hardship, misfortune, and calamity, for I scrambled upon a plank from one of the ships and the wind and waters threw it at the feet of the mountain. There I found a practicable path leading by steps carven out of the rock to the summit, and I called on the name of Allah Almighty and breasted the ascent, clinging to the steps and notches hewn in the stone, and mounted little by little. And the Lord stilled the wind and aided me in the ascent, so that I succeeded in reaching the summit. There I found no resting place save the dome, which I entered, joying with exceeding joy at my escape, and made the wudu ablution and prayed a two-bow prayer, a thanksgiving to God for my preservation.

Then I fell asleep under the dome, and heard in my dream a mysterious voice saying, "O son of Khazib! When thou wakest from thy sleep, dig under thy feet and thou shalt find a bow of brass and three leaden arrows inscribed with talismans and characts. Take the bow and shoot the arrows at the horseman on the dome top and free mankind from this sore calamity. When thou hast shot him he shall fall into the sea, and the horse will also drop at thy feet. Then bury it in the place of the bow. This done, the main will swell and rise till it is level with the mountain head, and there will appear on it a skiff carrying a man of laton (other than he thou shalt have shot) holding in his hand a pair of paddles. He will come to thee, and do thou embark with him, but beware of saying Bismillah or of otherwise naming Allah Almighty. He will row thee for a space of ten days, till he bring thee to certain islands called the Islands of Safety, and thence thou shalt easily reach a port and find those who will convey thee to thy native land. And all this shall be fulfilled to thee so thou call not on the name of Allah."

Then I started up from my sleep in joy and gladness and, hastening

to do the bidding of the mysterious voice, found the bow and arrows

and shot at the horseman and tumbled him into the main, whilst the

horse dropped at my feet, so I took it and buried it. Presently the

sea surged up and rose till it reached the top of the mountain, nor

had I long to wait ere I saw a skiff in the offing coming toward me. I

gave thanks to Allah, and when the skiff came up to me, I saw

therein a man of brass with a tablet of lead on his breast inscribed

with talismans and characts, and I embarked without uttering a word.

The boatman rowed on with me through the first day and the second

and the third, in all ten whole days, till I caught sight of the

Islands of Safety, whereat I joyed with exceeding joy and for stress

of gladness exclaimed, "Allah! Allah! In the name of Allah! There is

no god but the God and Allah is Almighty." Thereupon the skiff

forthwith upset and cast me upon the sea, then it righted and sank

deep into the depths.

Now I am a fair swimmer, so I swam the whole day till nightfall,

when my forearms and shoulders were numbed with fatigue and I felt

like to die, so I testified to my faith, expecting naught but death.

The sea was still surging under the violence of the winds, and

presently there came a billow like a hillock and, bearing me up high

in air, threw me with a long cast on dry land, that His will might

be fulfilled. I crawled upon the beach and doffing my raiment, wrung

it out to dry and spread it in the sunshine. Then I lay me down and

slept the whole night. As soon as it was day, I donned my clothes

and rose to look whither I should walk. Presently I came to a

thicket of low trees and, making a cast round it, found that the

spot whereon I stood was an islet, a mere holm, girt on all sides by

the ocean, whereupon I said to myself, "Whatso freeth me from one

great calamity casteth me into a greater!"

But while I was pondering my case and longing for death, behold, I

saw afar off a ship making for the island, so I clomb a tree and hid

myself among the branches. Presently the ship anchored and landed

ten slaves, blackamoors, bearing iron hoes and baskets, who walked

on till they reached the middle of the island. Here they dug deep into

the ground until they uncovered a plate of metal, which they lifted,

thereby opening a trapdoor. After this they returned to the ship and

thence brought bread and flour, honey and fruits, clarified butter,

leather bottles containing liquors, and many household stuffs; also

furniture, table service, and mirrors; rugs, carpets, and in fact

all needed to furnish a dwelling. And they kept going to and fro,

and descending by the trapdoor, till they had transported into the

dwelling all that was in the ship.

After this the slaves again went on board and brought back with them

garments as rich as may be, and in the midst of them came an old old

man, of whom very little was left, for Time had dealt hardly and

harshly with him, and all that remained of him was a bone wrapped in a

rag of blue stuff, through which the winds whistled west and east.

As saith the poet of him:

Time gars me tremble. Ah, how sore the balk!

While Time in pride of strength doth ever stalk.

Time was I walked nor ever felt I tired,

Now am I tired albe' I never walk!

And the Sheikh held by the hand a youth cast in beauty's mold, all

elegance and perfect grace, so fair that his comeliness deserved to be

proverbial, for he was as a green bough or the tender young of the

roe, ravishing every heart with his loveliness and subduing every soul

with his coquetry and amorous ways. They stinted not their going, O my

lady, till all went down by the trapdoor and did not reappear for an

hour, or rather more; at the end of which time the slaves and the

old man came up without the youth and, replacing the iron plate and

carefully closing the door slab as it was before, they returned to the

ship and made sail and were lost to my sight.

When they turned away to depart, I came down from the tree and,

going to the place I had seen them fin up, scraped off and removed the

earth, and in patience possessed my soul till I had cleared the

whole of it away. Then appeared the trapdoor, which was of wood, in

shape and size like a millstone, and when I lifted it up, it disclosed

a winding staircase of stone. At this I marveled and, descending the

steps tier I reached the last, found a fair hall, spread with

various kinds of carpets and silk stuffs, wherein was a youth

sitting upon a raised couch and leaning back on a round cushion with a

fan in his hand and nosegays and posies of sweet scented herbs and

flowers before him. But he was alone and not a soul near him in the

great vault. When he saw me he turned pale, but I saluted him

courteously and said: "Set thy mind at ease and calm thy fears. No

harm shall come near thee. I am a man like thyself and the son of a

king to boot, whom the decrees of Destiny have sent to bear thee

company and cheer thee in thy loneliness. But now tell me, what is thy

story and what causeth thee to dwell thus in solitude under the

ground?"

When he was assured that I was of his kind and no Jinni, he rejoiced

and his fine color returned, and, making me draw near to him, he said:

"O my brother, my story is a strange story and 'tis this. My father is

a merchant jeweler possessed of great wealth, who hath white and black

slaves traveling and trading on his account in ships and on camels,

and trafficking with the most distant cities, but he was not blessed

with a child, not even one. Now on a certain night he dreamed a

dream that he should be favored with a son, who would be

short-lived, so the morning dawned on my father, bringing him woe

and weeping. On the following night my mother conceived and my

father noted down the date of her becoming pregnant. Her time being

fulfilled, she bare me, whereat my father rejoiced and made banquets

and called together the neighbors and fed the fakirs and the poor, for

that he had been blessed with issue near the end of his days. Then

he assembled the astrologers and astronomers who knew the places of

the planets, and the wizards and wise ones of the time, and men

learned in horoscopes and nativities, and they drew out my birth

scheme and said to my father: "Thy son shall live to fifteen years,

but in his fifteenth there is a sinister aspect. An he safely tide

it over, he shall attain a great age. And the cause that threateneth

him with death is this. In the Sea of Peril standeth the Mountain

Magnet hight, on whose summit is a horseman of yellow laton seated

on a horse also of brass and bearing on his breast a tablet of lead.

Fifty days after this rider shall fall from his steed thy son will die

and his slayer will be he who shoots down the horseman, a Prince named

Ajib son of King Khazib."

My father grieved with exceeding grief to hear these words, but

reared me in tenderest fashion and educated me excellently well till

my fifteenth year was told. Ten days ago news came to him that the

horseman had fallen into the sea and he who shot him down was named

Ajib son of King Khazib." My father thereupon wept bitter tears at the

need of parting with me and became like one possessed of a Jinni.

However, being in mortal fear for me, he built me this place under the

earth, and stocking it with all required for the few days still

remaining, he brought me hither in a ship and left me here. Ten are

already past, and when the forty shall have gone by without danger

to me, he will come and take me away, for he hath done all this only

in fear of Prince Ajib. Such, then, is my story and the cause of my

loneliness."

When I heard his history I marveled and said in my mind, "I am the

Prince Ajib who hath done all this, but as Allah is with me I will

surely not slay him!" So said I to him: "O my lord, far from thee be

this hurt and harm and then, please Allah, thou shalt not suffer

cark nor care nor aught disquietude, for I will tarry with thee and

serve thee as a servant, and then wend my ways. And after having borne

thee company during the forty days, I will go with thee to thy home,

where thou shalt give me an escort of some of thy Mamelukes with

whom I may journey back to my own city, and the Almighty shall requite

thee for me." He was glad to hear these words, when I rose and lighted

a large wax candle and trimmed the lamps and the three lanterns, and I

set on meat and drink and sweetmeats. We ate and drank and sat talking

over various matters till the greater part of the night was gone, when

he lay down to rest and I covered him up and went to sleep myself.

Next morning I arose and warmed a little water, then lifted him

gently so as to awake him and brought him the warm water, wherewith he

washed his face, and said to me: "Heaven requite thee for me with

every blessing, O youth! By Allah, if I get quit of this danger and am

saved from him whose name is Ajib bin Khazib, I will make my father

reward thee and send thee home healthy and wealthy. And if I die, then

my blessing be upon thee." I answered, "May the day never dawn on

which evil shall betide thee, and may Allah make my last day before

thy last day!" Then I set before him somewhat of food and we ate,

and I got ready perfumes for fumigating the hall, wherewith he was

pleased. Moreover I made him a mankalah cloth; and we played and ate

sweetmeats and we played again and took our pleasure till nightfall,

when I rose and lighted the lamps, and set before him somewhat to eat,

and sat telling him stories till the hours of darkness were far spent.

Then he lay down to rest and I covered him up and rested also.

And thus I continued to do, O my lady, for days and nights, and

affection for him took root in my heart and my sorrow was eased, and I

said to myself: "The astrologers lied when they predicted that he

should be slain by Ajib bin Khazib. By Allah, I will not slay him."

I ceased not ministering to him and conversing and carousing with

him and telling him all manner tales for thirty-nine days. On the

fortieth night the youth rejoiced and said: "O my brother,

Alhamdolillah!- praise be to Allah- who hath preserved me from death,

and this is by thy blessing and the blessing of thy coming to me,

and I prayed God that He restore thee to thy native land. But now, O

my brother, I would thou warm me some water for the ghusl ablution and

do thou kindly bathe me and change my clothes." I replied, "With

love and gladness," and I heated water in plenty and carrying it in to

him, washed his body all over, the washing of health, with meal of

lupins, and rubbed him well and changed his clothes and spread him a

high bed whereon he lay down to rest, being drowsy after bathing.

Then said he, "O my brother, cut me up a watermelon, and sweeten

it with a little sugar candy." So I went to the storeroom and bringing

out a fine watermelon, I found there, set it on a platter and laid

it before him saying, "O my master, hast thou not a knife?" "Here it

is," answered he, "over my head upon the high shelf." So I got up in

haste and, and, taking the knife, drew it from its sheath, but my foot

slipped in stepping down and I fell heavily upon the youth holding

in my hand the knife, which hastened to fulfill what had been

written on the Day that decided the destinies of man, and buried

itself, as if planted, in the youth's heart. He died on the instant.

When I saw that he was slain and knew that I had slain him, mauger

myself I cried out with an exceeding loud and bitter cry and beat my

face and rent my raiment and said: "Verily we be Allah's and unto

Him we be returning, O Moslems! O folk fain of Allah! There remained

for this youth but one day of the forty dangerous days which the

astrologers and the learned had foretold for him, and the

predestined death of this beautiful one was to be at my hand. Would

Heaven I had not tried to cut the watermelon! What dire misfortune

is this I must bear, lief or loath? What a disaster! What an

affliction! O Allah mine, I implore thy pardon and declare to Thee

my innocence of his death. But what God willeth, let that come to

pass."

When I was certified that I had slain him, I arose and, ascending

the stairs, replaced the trapdoor and covered it with earth as before.

Then I looked out seaward and saw the ship cleaving the waters and

making for the island, wherefore I was afeard and said, "The moment

they come and see the youth done to death, they will know 'twas I

who slew him and will slay me without respite." So I climbed up into a

high tree and concealed myself among its leaves, and hardly had I done

so when the ship anchored and the slaves landed with the ancient

man, the youth's father, and made direct for the place, and when

they removed the earth they were surprised to see it soft. Then they

raised the trapdoor and went down and found the youth lying at full

length, clothed in fair new garments, with a face beaming after the

bath, and the knife deep in his heart. At the sight they shrieked

and wept and beat their faces, loudly cursing the murderer, whilst a

swoon came over the Sheikh so that the slaves deemed him dead,

unable to survive his son. At last they wrapped the slain youth in his

clothes and carried him up and laid him on the ground, covering him

with a shroud of silk.

Whilst they were making for the ship the old man revived, and,

gazing on his son who was stretched out, fell on the ground and

strewed dust over his head and smote his face and plucked out his

beard, and his weeping redoubled as he thought of his murdered son and

he swooned away once more. After a while a slave went and fetched a

strip of silk whereupon they lay the old man and sat down at his head.

All this took place and I was on the tree above them watching

everything that came to pass, and my heart became hoary before my head

waxed gray, for the hard lot which was mine, and for the distress

and anguish I had undergone, and I fell to reciting:

"How many a joy by Allah's will hath fled

With flight escaping sight of wisest head!

How many a sadness shall begin the day,

Yet grow right gladsome ere the day is sped!

How many a weal trips on the heels of ill,

Causing the mourner's heart with joy to thrill!"

But the old man, O my lady, ceased not from his swoon till near

sunset, when he came to himself and, looking upon his dead son, he

recalled what had happened, and how what he had dreaded had come to

pass, and he beat his face and head. Then he sobbed a single sob and

his soul fled his flesh. The slaves shrieked aloud, "Alas, our

lord!" and showered dust on their heads and redoubled their weeping

and wailing. Presently they carried their dead master to the ship side

by side with his dead son and, having transported all the stuff from

the dwelling to the vessel, set sail and disappeared from mine eyes. I

descended from the tree and, raising the trapdoor, went down into

the underground dwelling, where everything reminded me of the youth,

and I looked upon the poor remains of him and began repeating these

verses:

"Their tracks I see, and pine with pain and pang,

And on deserted hearths I weep and yearn.

And Him I pray who doomed them depart

Some day vouchsafe the boon of safe return."

Then, O my lady, I went up again by the trapdoor, and every day I

used to wander round about the island and every night I returned to

the underground hall. Thus I lived for a month, till at last,

looking at the western side of the island, I observed that every day

the tide ebbed, leaving shallow water for which the flow did not

compensate, and by the end of the month the sea showed dry land in

that direction. At this I rejoiced, making certain of my safety, so

I arose and, fording what little was left of the water, got me to

the mainland, where I fell in with great heaps of loose sand in

which even a camel's hoof would sink up to the knee. However, I

emboldened my soul and, wading through the sand, behold, a fire

shone from afar burning with a blazing light. So I made for it

hoping haply to find succor and broke out into these verses:

"Belike my Fortune may her bridle turn

And Time bring weal although he's jealous hight,

Forward my hopes, and further all my needs,

And passed ills with present weals requite."

And when I drew near the fire aforesaid, lo! it was a palace with

gates of copper burnished red which, when the rising sun shone

thereon, gleamed and glistened from afar, showing what had seemed to

me a fire. I rejoiced in the sight, and sat down over against the

gate, but I was hardly settled in my seat before there met me ten

young men clothed in sumptuous gear, and all were blind of the left

eye, which appeared as plucked out. They were accompanied by a Sheikh,

an old, old man, and much I marveled at their appearance, and their

all being blind in the same eye. When they saw me, they saluted me

with the salaam and asked me of my case and my history, whereupon I

related to them all what had befallen me and what full measure of

misfortune was mine. Marveling at my tale, they took me to the

mansion, where I saw ranged round the hall ten couches each with its

blue bedding and coverlet of blue stuff and a-middlemost stood a

smaller couch furnished like them with blue and nothing else.

As we entered each of the youths took his seat on his own couch

and the old man seated himself upon the smaller one in the middle,

saying to me, "O youth, sit thee down on the floor, and ask not of our

case nor of the loss of our eyes." Presently he rose up and set before

each young man some meat in a charger and drink in a larger mazer,

treating me in like manner, and after that they sat questioning me

concerning my adventures and what had betided me. And I kept telling

them my tale till the night was far spent. Then said the young men: "O

our Sheikh, wilt not thou set before us our ordinary? The time is

come." He replied, "With love and gladness," and rose and, entering

a closet, disappeared, but presently returned bearing on his head

ten trays each covered with a strip of blue stuff. He set a tray

before each youth and, lighting ten wax candles, he stuck one upon

each tray, and drew off the covers and lo! under them was naught but

ashes and powdered charcoal and kettle soot. Then all the young men

tucked up their sleeves to the elbows and fell a-weeping and wailing

and they blackened their faces and smeared their clothes and

buffeted their brows and beat their breasts, continually exclaiming,

"We were sitting at our ease, but our frowardness brought us

unease!" They ceased not to do thus till dawn drew nigh, when the

old man rose and heated water for them, and they washed their face and

donned other and clean clothes.

Now when I saw this, O my lady, for very wonderment my senses left

me and my wits went wild and heart and head were full of thought, till

I forgot what had betided me and I could not keep silence, feeling I

fain must speak out and question them of these strangenesses. So I

said to them: "How come ye to do this after we have been so

openhearted and frolicsome? Thanks be to Allah, ye be all sound and

sane, yet actions such as these befit none but madmen or those

possessed of an evil spirit. I conjure you by all that is dearest to

you, why stint ye to tell me your history, and the cause of your

losing your eyes and your blackening your faces with ashes and

soot?" Hereupon they turned to me and said, "O young man, hearken

not to thy youthtide's suggestions, and question us no questions."

Then they slept and I with them, and when they awoke the old man

brought us somewhat oi food. And after we had eaten and the plates and

goblets had been removed, they sat conversing till nightfall, when the

old man rose and lit the wax candles and lamps and set meat and

drink before us.

After we had eaten and drunken we sat conversing and carousing in

companionage till the noon of night, when they said to the old man,

"Bring us our ordinary, for the hour of sleep is at hand!" So he

rose and brought them the trays of soot and ashes, and they did as

they had done on the preceding night, nor more, nor less. I abode with