CHAPTER III.
MAIMUNA, AND DANESH.
My beautiful Zeib Alnissa was a wonderful woman. On the day of ourwedding, which was celebrated with truly Asiatic splendor, whenmeal-time came, and I took my seat at the head of the table, she couldnot be induced to sit by my side; but seated herself at the extremelower end of the board. This custom, she said, we should have toobserve, until we received my first wife's consent to our marriage,which would give my second the right to repeat the Bazawa grace beforefood. Until my new wife was entitled to perform this ceremony we werenot allowed to drink from the same cup; were not permitted to clasphands, or look into each other's eyes. I might not have respected allthese rigid laws, which kept me separated from my beautiful bride, hadnot Zeib Alnissa herself understood how to compel me to respect them.
The Siva religion prohibits the use of wine, which is to be regretted;for, in that tropic zone, grow hundreds and hundreds of differentsorts of fruits, which would yield nectarious beverages, the taste ofwhich would cause one to forget all about wine, and disgust one withbeer. Tons of deliciously sweet and aromatic sap flow from the piercedpalm, and the agave, and its effect on the human senses is nothinglike the stupor which results from drinking our liquors; it is rathera state of exaltation.
My charming bride understood well how to entertain me with tales ofher native palm forests. She related the history of Prince KamirEssaman, and the Princess Bedur. She told me how the prince, who livedin India, and the princess, whose home was in Persia, were broughttogether while they slept, by the two friendly genii, Maimuna andDanesh, who bore the sleeping lovers on their pinions to the place ofmeeting, and then back to their homes again. It was an interestingtale, but I grew very sleepy while listening to it. I am convincedthat the spicy potion Zeib Alnissa prepared for me caused thedrowsiness, and I only remember that, as I sank back on my pillow, sheplaced the prohibitory unsheathed sword between herself and me.
The moment I closed my eyes in sleep I quitted this earth. I couldhear the rustle of wings as I was borne swiftly through the clouds,which parted with a sound like thunder--as when they are rent bylightning. By the light of the stars I could see that I was lying onthe wings of the Jinnee, Danesh.
He was of gigantic form; his wings, like those of a bat stretched fromhorizon to horizon; his hair looked like bamboo rods, and his beardlike palm leaves.
So swift was our flight that the moon changed from full to lastquarter above us. A meteor raced to overtake us, but, when it cameabreast with Danesh, he thrust out his foot, and gave it a kick thatburst it, and sent myriads of sparks flying in all directions.Looking downward, I saw China, which I recognized by its porcelaintowers, and long canals. Then Thibet, with the snow-clad summits ofthe Himalayan range, and the great Mongolian plain.
At last we arrived over Mount Ararat. I knew where I was, by thetongues of flame which encircled the mount like a wreath. They werethe altars of the fire-worshipping Parsees--the source of Baku'seternal fires; and Danesh was one of the great spirits of theflame-adoring heathen. On the summit of Mount Ararat was a magnificentpalace--to describe its splendors is impossible to the human tongue!Its walls were covered with the names of those persons who have beenhappy, and have thanked God therefor. The letters in which the namesare written are so radiant, they make night as light as day.
Here, in a sumptuous apartment, with silken hangings, and glitteringwith gems, Danesh laid me gently down on a divan; and immediatelybegan to laugh in a tone that sounded like thunder.
In answer to his laughter, there came a sound from the air, as if thebalmy south wind were murmuring a complaint.
"You are the one-hundred-thousandth part of a minute late," calledDanesh.
"And you are three-hundred-thousand eons ahead of time," replied thesecond Voice; and the next instant Maimuna descended from the sky.
This Jinnee was also of giant stature, but of feminine form. Herringlets were of sea-coral, her wings of gleaming mother-of-pearl,and on them she bore a woman whom she laid by my side on the divan.
Then the two genii suddenly changed to vapor; one blue, the otheryellow; and while I was staring at them the two columns of smoke sankinto two large crystal decanters, which stood on the table among thecostly viands and wines.
Then I turned to look at the woman by my side--it was my own wife, theone I had left in Nimeguen, only that she was more beautiful, andgarbed more elegantly than I had ever seen her.
Her voice too was sweeter, her caresses more endearing; she seemedmore like a celestial being than a woman of flesh and blood. Weshowered kisses on each other; I could read in her radiant countenancehow overjoyed she was to be with me again; and I was enraptured toclasp her once more in my arms.
"I could read in her radiant countenance how overjoyedshe was to be with me again; and I was enraptured to clasp her oncemore in my arms"]
We committed a thousand foolish acts; laughed, teased each other likechildren. We seated ourselves at the bountifully spread board; Ishared every bite she took; drank out of her glass; we sat on the samechair, drank of every bottle, and found each one sweeter, moredelicious than the last.
"Let us taste what is in those bottles too," suggested my wife,pointing toward the two decanters--one blue, the other yellow.
"Yes, let us," I assented, and I drew out the glass stoppers. But,instead of wine, two columns of vapor rose from the decanters, oneblue, the other yellow, and filled the room. The vapor took shape,first the blue then the yellow, and one became Danesh, the otherMaimuna, and we knew that our bliss was at an end--that we should haveto part.
We added our names to those gleaming on the walls, to certify that wealso had been happy there.
After I had written my name, it occurred to me that I had somethingimportant to tell my wife; so I said to her: "My love, I must tell youthat I have become a king; and that I have taken a second wife. I wantto ask a favor of you; will you consent to let me kiss and embrace heras I do you?"
The woman replied: "I do consent."
That I might have proof of our having spent a blissful hour together,and that she had given me the desired permission to take a secondwife, she pressed my hand so tightly in her own, that the wedding ringon my finger--the one with which I had espoused her--burst asunder.And that she also might possess evidence of our meeting, I gave herthe "lingam"--the symbol of the Siva faith--I wore on my arm attachedto a gold bracelet. I also tore from the canopy over our divan a smallpiece of the material of which it was made--crimson silk woven withdragons in gold thread.
Then the two genii took us again on their wings, and soon I wasspeeding again amid the clouds, with the glittering stars above me.
The icy summits of the Himalayas were already gleaming with the rosyhues of dawn, on noting which Danesh increased his speed. I heard thesea murmuring below--a ray of sunlight from the eastern mountainspierced through Danesh like an arrow, he dropped me and I fell to theearth. Fortunately I had not far to fall--only from my bed, in thepalace of Sardhana, to the floor!
"Was it necessary to tell us what you dreamed?" angrily demanded thechair.
"Well, your honor, if the court at Nimeguen accepted my dream asevidence, and based its decision on it, I think it may also berecorded here. Moreover, the vision I have related is an importantfactor in this case."
I was so deeply impressed by my dream, that I related it to ZeibAlnissa as an actual occurrence. I assured her I had really been withmy other wife, in proof of which I showed her the broken ring on myfinger.
"It is a most wonderful occurrence!" was Zeib Alnissa's comment, whenI concluded my recital. "Write out the whole vision, exactly as yourelated it to me, and we will send it to your wife in Holland. One ofmy captains shall hasten with the document after the messenger youhave sent to her with the letter asking her to consent to ourmarriage."
I acted in accordance with the suggestion, and wrote on a long stripof Chinese palm-paper, which is tough as leather, a full account of myvision. The Begum then sent for seven bonzes, who
were skilledwriters, that they might, by signing their names to the account,certify that what I had written had really occurred; that Maimuna andDanesh were a well known pair of genii, who maintained directcommunication between India and other portions of the globe, and thatthere was on Mount Ararat a magnificent palace for the use of loverswho came from distant parts of the world to meet there. All of whichwas to prove indubitably that I and my wife from Holland had beentogether in the palace.
This document dispatched, I believed the question of the prohibitorysword between me and Zeib Alnissa settled; but I was mistaken; she didnot repeat Bazawa's grace at supper.
"On what are you waiting now?" I asked. "Haven't I asked my other wifefor her consent? Haven't I been with her, and given her my lingam?"
"Yes, but she has not yet given you anything. Until I have her writtenconsent in my hands, I dare not repeat Bazawa's blessing," was ZeibAlnissa's smiling reply.
"And I shall have to wait at the gates of paradise, content myselfwith inhaling the perfume of the flowers within the walls, until ourmessenger has twice traversed the ocean between India and Holland?"
"He will need to cross only once. I ordered him to take with himseveral doves, the species with green feathers known as bridegroom'sdoves. When your wife has written her consent, the messenger will bindit under the wing of a dove, and it will fly from Holland to us herein two days. So, you need reckon only the outward voyage."
But that would take considerable time too! I began to wonder how Ishould have comforted myself had I, instead of becoming an adherent ofSiva, adopted the faith of Brahma, or Vishnu, or any other of themany-handed, many-footed deities.
"Knave, what about Jehovah?" interposed the chair with justindignation.
"Jehovah, your honor, does not forbid polygamy. The patriarch Jacobhad two wives; David had four; Solomon the wise had one thousand fourhundred. But, it would be a pity to waste precious time over dogmaticdiscussion. Besides, my wondering resulted in nothing. One hundred andten days and nights I passed in the society of my charming bride; weate at the same table; slept under the same canopy; but not once did Iclasp her hand, or kiss her lovely lips."
"I am curious to know how you managed not to do either," observed theprince.
"Does your highness desire me to relate what happened on every one ofthe one-hundred and ten days and nights?"
"Not by any means!" hastily interrupted the chair. "We want only asummary of your doings out yonder."
The prisoner bowed, and resumed his confession:
I determined that I would not again drink the sort of sleeping potionwhich had sent me speeding among the clouds on Danesh's back, andcommunicated my decision to Zeib Alnissa.
"Very well," said she, "then I will prepare a drink for you that willkeep you awake all night."
That would suit me.
In India the preparation of elixirs of all sorts has reached a highgrade. There is a drug which, if taken by a man of mild disposition,will make him warlike and fierce; it is called "bangue."
By administering to the peaceable elephants a decoction of the"thauverd," they can be made quarrelsome and ferocious for the combatsarranged for the Shah's guests. "Therat" will give one theinspirations of a poet; after taking it, the most unimaginative personwill become a romancer, and composer of verses. The "Nazzarani" taxcan be collected from the natives only when they have become docileand tractable from having eaten "mhoval" flowers--a species of manna.
Zeib Alnissa gave me some "panzopari" to chew; it possesses a singularproperty; it will make even the noisiest tippler so sober and sedatethat his brain becomes the seat of all wisdom. Then she began to speakof her plans for the future government of our province, and otherequally important matters; continuing to talk to me until morning. Andduring the whole time I remained quiet, and listened attentively; butI saw what I had not yet noticed: that my incomparable bride had amole in the middle of her left cheek, and I also discovered that shemight be alarmingly loquacious if she chose. I could hardly wait untilthe sun rose. Nothing will so effectually sober a man as advice fromhis wife; and the remedy is frequently made use of in India as well asin Europe.
A true Indian Singh--that is what a nobleman is called outthere--undertakes nothing without first consulting his wife. Indeed,there are some who never give an answer to a question until they haveasked their wives what they shall reply. For instance you ask: "Whatsort of weather are we going to have this afternoon, Gholem Singh?"
"I will consult my wife and tell you," he answers.
In the afternoon he will say to you--and no matter if a deluge of rainbegins to fall while he is speaking:
"We shall have fine weather this afternoon."
The following day my bride and I set out on a tour of our kingdom--aceremony necessary to my installation as rajah.
An entire brigade on horses, elephants, and camels, accompanied us asescort. The Begum and I rode on separate elephants, as Indianetiquette does not permit man and wife to occupy the same"sovari"--that is what the sedan with a canopy on the back of anelephant is called.
The Begum travelled with the vanguard; I brought up the rear with agood cannon bound to the back of my beast. A cannon, by the way, is avery convenient travelling appendage to a journey in India, as one isfrequently called on to give a warm reception to the legions ofpredatory bands which infest the highways and byways.
My bride and I met only when our elephants chanced to come alongsideeach other at the resting places. We took part in all sorts offestivities. We bore with patience the wearisome ceremonies attendantupon the adoration of the serpent, and Taku-worship; we even waded toour knees in the sacred waters of the Ganges, at the Moharampilgrimage; and permitted the frantic Gusseins and fakirs at theHoliza feast to shower over us the red dust of the highway. At theGaneza festival we distributed with our own hands the "muzzer," andreceived in return the "khilla"--each word means gifts; the former isbestowed by the sovereigns on their subjects; the latter are given bythe subjects to their rulers. Without this exchange of presents, thesovereignty of the rulers would not be recognized by the people. Wevisited in their turn all the principal towns and cities; thegod-burdened temples and pagodas, which are half church, halftomb--the Jaina animal hospital, where the Hindoo takes care ofinvalid dogs, cats, oxen, as well as crows, ravens, and turkeys. Wealso honored with our presence the bayadere communities, where onlywomen dwell. These bayaderes are privileged characters, you must know;they are allowed entry to the emperor's presence, to dance and singbefore him and his ministers.
"Not a bad custom, by jove!" muttered the prince; aloud he asked: "Arethe bayaderes pretty?"
"Enchantingly beautiful, your highness. Their garments are of silk andcashmere, embroidered with real gold and pearls; their fingers andtoes are loaded with rings set with precious gems. Their gowns show alack of material as do those worn by our women, with this difference:the shoulders and bosoms of our women are left bare; while thebayaderes expose the lower extremities, sometimes even to the--"
"Stop! stop!" irritably called the chair. "We don't want a fulldescription of heathen toilets!"
We also arranged, for the entertainment of our subjects, a number ofgorgeous spectacles, and tournaments, resumed the prisoner, droppingthe subject of bayadere fashions. There were combats betweenelephants, and combats between elephants and men. (The former arecalled "Mufti;" the latter "Satmari.") There were also combats betweenlions and boars, and between tapirs.
In return for all these festivities, my bride's relatives entertainedus with a feast of lanterns; and games of chess, which were playedwith living chess-men. We also visited the most remote corners of ourkingdom, where dwelt the Thugs, a community whose faith permits themto strangle all foreigners; the Bheels, who worship epidemics insteadof gods; the colony of the Quadrumans, whose king is called "Dengue,"and his subjects "apes."
Every day of our journey brought something new and interesting. Afterour visit to the "City of the Seven Sages" we went to the "City of theKing's Tombs,
" where are four magnificent temples, under each of whichrest the remains of a king. There are no other inhabitants in thiscity.
Then followed the pilgrimage to Buddha's tree; for, although we wereadherents of the Sivan faith, we were obliged, in order to win thefavor of the majority of our subjects, to pay deference to theirdeity.
Then we journeyed to the "Fountain of Wisdom." There the temple isguarded by bayaderes, who are not permitted to dance anywhere else butin the sacred edifice in adoration of the gods.
"A respectable temple, I must say!" ironically commented the chair, towhich the prince appended his good-humored observation:
"Their liturgy can't be very tedious!"
During all this time, I saw my bride only when she was seated on athrone, on an elephant, or in a palanquin. The opportunities for anexchange of words were rare. On the one hundred and tenth day we setout on our return home. On the morning of that day, Zeib Alnissa sentme a letter in which she gave me the welcome news that what might becalled our "St. Joseph's marriage" would soon come to a conclusion.The carrier dove had returned from Holland with the longed-for consentfrom my first wife.
Before leaving our capital, we had arranged for a fitting reception togreet our return. When our cavalcade should approach the city gates,all the most distinguished residents, the raos, the singhs, the sages,bonzes and holy men were to meet us at the head of a gorgeous pageantand greet me as "Rajah," to which title our tour would have given methe right.
Then would follow a splendid feast, that would conclude with the"utterpan" ceremony, in which every guest receives from the rajah'sown hands a handkerchief perfumed with rose-water.
The rajah receives the utterpan from his wife, of whom he may demandthat the rose-water perfuming be performed in the zenana.
The zenana is that portion of the palace which only the rajah and hiswives may enter.
I am ashamed to confess it, honorable gentlemen of the court, but Iwas so rejoiced, so proud of my success, my extraordinary good fortunefilled my soul to such a degree, that I never once thought to offer aprayer to the god Siva, who had bestowed all the good gifts on me, orto Jehovah, who could take them all from me.
The fakir, who, in his religious enthusiasm, carries on his head a potof earth until the orange seed planted in it sprouts, grows to a tree,blooms and bears fruit; who binds himself to a post, that he may sleepstanding so as not to lose his balance and drop the pot from hishead--that fakir does not suffer half as much as did I those onehundred and ten days and nights, when I was forced to refrain fromsaying to the most beautiful of women: "O, thou my sweetest one!"
But the last day of such restraint and torture was at hand. Before uslay the capital; the gilded roofs of its palaces gleamed through thehumid atmosphere.
Already I could see rising from the market-place the "baoli," underwhich the three-legged stone cow waited (as all believers know) forthe hour of midnight to hobble to her pasture outside the walls.Already I saw the multitude in gala attire press forth from theelaborately carved gates, on horses, on camels, on foot--a mingling ofgold, gems, beauty, flowers, with rags, filth and unsightly scars.
Zeib Alnissa, as usual, rode at the head of the cavalcade, and I atthe end, separated from her by a cannon shot range.
When the multitude from the city met the head of our cavalcade, thereensued a tumult of shouts and cries, but I was too far away todistinguish what was occurring. I could see, though, that Zeib Alnissahad risen to her feet in the sovari, and was gesticulating excitedly.
I was deliberating whether I should ride forward or remain where Iwas, when a fakir forced his way to my side. He was the most hideousspecimen of his class I had yet seen; his appearance indicated that hehad vowed not to cut his hair nor his finger nails for a decade.
"What do you want?" I called down to him.
"I want you to let me come up there and sit beside you in the sovari,"he made answer.
One is obliged to comply with any demand these holy men may see fit tomake--especially in face of such a multitude. I leaned over the sideof my beast, seized the fakir by the hair, and drew him into thesovari.
"Lucky for you that you granted my request," he said, when he wasseated by my side. "You have saved your life by so doing. Know that arevolt broke out in the city during your absence. The conspiratorsdeclared that the Begum forfeited the throne by marrying you, and haveproclaimed the valiant Singh Rais, the son of her first husband, SumroShah, rajah of Sardhana. He has taken possession of the city andbribed the army to support him. He has already executed the subjectswho remained loyal to you and the Begum, and the same fate awaitsyou--if he captures you."
Though loath to believe the fanatic's ill tidings, I was forced tocredit my eyes, which at that moment saw rude hands lay hold of mybeloved Zeib Alnissa, tear her from the sovari, bind her hands, and,amid the taunts and sneers of the shameless nautchnees, compel her towalk to the gates, while a man, wearing the pearl-decorated hat of asovereign, climbed to the vacated seat in the sovari.
It was the infamous profligate who, by reason of the honors to whichhis father had attained, was a prince, but who was, by birth, merely aGerman nobody, like myself.
He had deposed the Begum as he had threatened, had laid chains onher--the heroic deliverer of her people--and this he had been able toaccomplish because he had become an adherent of the religion ofBuddha, and because the Begum had become a worshipper of Siva--
"The like of that never could have happened in Europe," interpolatedthe prince.
My rage and fury were boundless. In one brief moment to lose mykingdom and my bride; to be robbed of power and love; to be forced tolook on helpless while a cowardly knave stole my treasures, chief ofwhich was my beautiful Zeib Alnissa!
It was more than Christian patience and Siva humility could endure.
I unstrapped the cannon at the back of the sovari. The new rajah washaranguing the crowd gathered about his elephant, and gesticulatingrapidly with his hands, as he gave his orders.
I took aim at his majesty--Boom! The next instant there was no head onthe rajah's shoulders, but his arms continued to move convulsively.
Then I turned my elephant's head in the opposite direction, and urgedhim to the swiftest gait he was able to go.
A troop of horsemen followed me, but I dashed into the jungle, andsoon distanced my pursuers. My life was saved, but only my miserablelife. I had nothing, was nothing--
"Oh, yes," interrupted the chair, "you were a good deal: the husbandof two wives, and murderer of one king--"
"_Minorem nego, majorem non concedo_," interposed the prince. "As theprisoner's second marriage was--as he aptly described it: a St.Joseph's union--merely one of form, he cannot be said to havecommitted bigamy. And concerning the killing of the rajah--_qui benedistinguit, bene docet!_--we would understand thereby that a crime hadbeen committed by a subject against a crowned head. But, if one kingkills another one, it cannot be called regicide, but ordinaryhomicide, which, in the prisoner's case, was justifiablemanslaughter--"
"I knew it!" exclaimed the chair. "I knew the rascal would talkhimself out of the three capital crimes: idolatry, bigamy, regicide,and prove himself as innocent as St. Susanna!"
But, continued the prisoner, even had I not been robbed of my wealth,of what use would it have been to me? I had come to India to win therank of captain--not to become a rajah. It is a deal better to be apensioned captain than a deposed king. The new rajah of Sardhana set alarge price on my head; had I fled the accursed country then, I shouldhave spared myself the terrible misfortunes which overtook me later.
I joined the Bandasaris, who have no fixed residence, but rovecontinuously between the Ganges and the Indus. They are a race likeour gypsies. I believed I might organize them into an army and winback my kingdom, and liberate my beautiful Zeib Alnissa, but theblessing of God did not rest on my undertaking.
When I had got my army ready to march to Sardhana, the chief of thetribe changed his mind about letting me use his people to win back mythro
ne, and, instead, sold me to the English company, whichcorporation had also offered a price for my head. Thus my unfortunatecranium became the property of the powerful East India Company, andthere, if nowhere else, a man learns how to pray.
PART IX.
ON THE HIGH SEAS.