University of Virginia Library

THE OGRESS OF SILVER LAND;
OR,
THE DIVERTING HISTORY OF PRINCE BADFELLAH
AND PRINCE BULLEBOYE.

IN the second year of the reign of the renowned
Caliph Lo there dwelt in Silver Land, adjoining
his territory, a certain terrible ogress. She
lived in the bowels of a dismal mountain, where
she was in the habit of confining such unfortunate
travellers as ventured within her domain. The
country for miles around was sterile and barren.
In some places it was covered with a white powder,
which was called in the language of the country
Al Ka Li, and was supposed to be the pulverized
bones of those who had perished miserably in her
service.

In spite of this, every year, great numbers of
young men devoted themselves to the service of the
ogress, hoping to become her godsons, and to enjoy
the good fortune which belonged to that privileged
class. For these godsons had no work to perform,
neither at the mountain nor elsewhere, but roamed
about the world with credentials of their relationship
in their pockets, which they called STOKH,

which was stamped with the stamp and sealed
with the seal of the ogress, and which enabled
them at the end of each moon to draw large quantities
of gold and silver from her treasury. And the
wisest and most favored of those godsons were the
Princes Badfellah and Bulleboye. They knew all
the secrets of the ogress, and how to wheedle and
coax her. They were also the favorites of Soopah
Intendent, who was her Lord High Chamberlain
and Prime Minister, and who dwelt in Silver
Land.

One day, Soopah Intendent said to his servants,
“What is that which travels the most surely,
the most secretly, and the most swiftly?”

And they all answered as one man, “Lightning,
my lord, travels the most surely, the most swiftly,
and the most secretly!”

Then said Soopah Intendent, “Let Lightning
carry this message secretly, swiftly, and surely to
my beloved friends the Princes Badfellah and
Bulleboye, and tell them that their godmother is
dying, and bid them seek some other godmother
or sell their STOKH ere it becomes badjee, — worthless.”

“Bekhesm! On our heads be it!” answered
the servants; and they ran to Lightning with the
message, who flew with it to the City by the Sea,
and delivered it, even at that moment, into the
hands of the Princes Badfellah and Bulleboye.

Now the Prince Badfellah was a wicked young
man; and when he had received this message he
tore his beard and rent his garment and reviled
his godmother, and his friend Soopah Intendent.
But presently he arose, and dressed himself in his
finest stuffs, and went forth into the bazaars and
among the merchants, capering and dancing as
he walked, and crying in a loud voice, “O, happy
day! O, day worthy to be marked with a white
stone!”

This he said cunningly, thinking the merchants
and men of the bazaars would gather about him,
which they presently did, and began to question
him: “What news, O most worthy and serene
Highness? Tell us, that we make merry too!”

Then replied the cunning prince, “Good news,
O my brothers, for I have heard this day that my
godmother in Silver Land is well.” The merchants,
who were not aware of the substance of the
real message, envied him greatly, and said one to
another: “Surely our brother the Prince Badfellah
is favored by Allah above all men”; and they
were about to retire, when the prince checked
them, saying: “Tarry for a moment. Here are
my credentials, or STOKH. The same I will sell
you for fifty thousand sequins, for I have to give a
feast to-day, and need much gold. Who will give
fifty thousand?” And he again fell to capering
and dancing. But this time the merchants drew

a little apart, and some of the oldest and wisest
said: “What dirt is this which the prince would
have us swallow? If his godmother were well,
why should he sell his STOKH? Bismillah! The
olives are old and the jar is broken!” When
Prince Badfellah perceived them whispering, his
countenance fell, and his knees smote against each
other through fear; but, dissembling again, he said:
“Well, so be it! Lo, I have much more than shall
abide with me, for my days are many and my
wants are few. Say forty thousand sequins for my
STOKH and let me depart in Allah's name. Who
will give forty thousand sequins to become the
godson of such a healthy mother?” And he again
fell to capering and dancing, but not as gayly as
before, for his heart was troubled. The merchants,
however, only moved farther away. “Thirty thousand
sequins,” cried Prince Badfellah; but even
as he spoke they fled before his face, crying: “His
godmother is dead. Lo, the jackals are defiling
her grave. Mashalla! he has no godmother.” And
they sought out Panik, the swift-footed messenger,
and bade him shout through the bazaars that the
godmother of Prince Badfellah was dead. When
he heard this, the prince fell upon his face, and
rent his garments, and covered himself with the
dust of the market-place. As he was sitting thus,
a porter passed him with jars of wine on his shoulders,
and the prince begged him to give him a jar,
for he was exceeding thirsty and faint. But the
porter said, “What will my lord give me first?”
And the prince, in very bitterness of spirit, said,
“Take this,” and handed him his STOKH, and so
exchanged it for a jar of wine.

Now the Prince Bulleboye was of a very different
disposition. When he received the message
of Soopah Intendent he bowed his head, and said,
“It is the will of God.” Then he rose, and without
speaking a word entered the gates of his palace.
But his wife, the peerless Maree Jahann, perceiving
the gravity of his countenance, said, “Why
is my lord cast down and silent? Why are those
rare and priceless pearls, his words, shut up so
tightly between those gorgeous oyster-shells, his
lips?” But to this he made no reply. Thinking
further to divert him, she brought her lute into
the chamber and stood before him, and sang the
song and danced the dance of Ben Kotton, which
is called Ibrahim's Daughter, but she could not
lift the veil of sadness from his brow.

When she had ceased, the Prince Bulleboye
arose and said, “Allah is great, and what am I, his
servant, but the dust of the earth! Lo, this day
has my godmother sickened unto death, and my
STOKH become as a withered palm-leaf. Call hither
my servants and camel-drivers, and the merchants
that have furnished me with stuffs, and the beggars
who have feasted at my table, and bid them

take all that is here, for it is mine no longer!”
With these words he buried his face in his mantle
and wept aloud.

But Maree Jahann, his wife, plucked him by
the sleeve. “Prithee, my lord,” said she, “bethink
thee of the Brokah or scrivener, who besought
thee but yesterday to share thy STOKH with him
and gave thee his bond for fifty thousand sequins.”
But the noble Prince Bulleboye, raising
his head, said: “Shall I sell to him for fifty
thousand sequins that which I know is not worth
a Soo Markee? For is not all the Brokah's
wealth, even his wife and children, pledged on
that bond? Shall I ruin him to save myself?
Allah forbid! Rather let me eat the salt fish of
honest penury, than the kibobs of dishonorable
affluence; rather let me wallow in the mire of
virtuous oblivion, than repose on the divan of luxurious
wickedness.”

When the prince had given utterance to this
beautiful and edifying sentiment, a strain of gentle
music was heard, and the rear wall of the apartment,
which had been ingeniously constructed like
a flat, opened and discovered the Ogress of Silver
Land in the glare of blue fire, seated on a triumphal
car attached to two ropes which were connected
with the flies, in the very act of blessing the unconscious
prince. When the walls closed again
without attracting his attention, Prince Bulleboye

arose, dressed himself in his coarsest and cheapest
stuffs, and sprinkled ashes on his head, and in
this guise, having embraced his wife, went forth
into the bazaars. In this it will be perceived how
differently the good Prince Bulleboye acted from
the wicked Prince Badfellah, who put on his gayest
garments to simulate and deceive.

Now when Prince Bulleboye entered the chief
bazaar, where the merchants of the city were gathered
in council, he stood up in his accustomed
place, and all that were there held their breath, for
the noble Prince Bulleboye was much respected.
“Let the Brokah, whose bond I hold for fifty thousand
sequins, stand forth!” said the prince. And
the Brokah stood forth from among the merchants.
Then said the prince: “Here is thy bond for fifty
thousand sequins, for which I was to deliver unto
thee one half of my STOKH. Know, then, O my
brother, — and thou, too, O Aga of the Brokahs, —
that this my STOKH which I pledged to thee is worthless.
For my godmother, the Ogress of Silver
Land, is dying. Thus do I release thee from thy
bond, and from the poverty which might overtake
thee as it has even me, thy brother, the Prince
Bulleboye.” And with that the noble Prince
Bulleboye tore the bond of the Brokah into pieces
and scattered it to the four winds.

Now when the prince tore up the bond there was
a great commotion, and some said, “Surely the

Prince Bulleboye is drunken with wine”; and
others, “He is possessed of an evil spirit”; and
his friends expostulated with him, saying, “What
thou hast done is not the custom of the bazaars, —
behold, it is not Biz!” But to all the prince
answered gravely, “It is right; on my own head
be it!”

But the oldest and wisest of the merchants, they
who had talked with Prince Badfellah the same
morning, whispered together, and gathered around
the Brokah whose bond the Prince Bulleboye had
torn up. “Hark ye,” said they, “our brother the
Prince Bulleboye is cunning as a jackal. What
bosh is this about ruining himself to save thee?
Such a thing was never heard before in the bazaars.
It is a trick, O thou mooncalf of a Brokah! Dost
thou not see that he has heard good news from his
godmother, the same that was even now told us by
the Prince Badfellah, his confederate, and that he
would destroy thy bond for fifty thousand sequins
because his STOKH is worth a hundred thousand!
Be not deceived, O too credulous Brokah! for this
what our brother the prince doeth is not in the
name of Allah, but of Biz, the only god known
in the bazaars of the city.”

When the foolish Brokah heard these things he
cried, “Justice, O Aga of the Brokahs, — justice
and the fulfilment of my bond! Let the prince
deliver unto me the STOKH. Here are my fifty

thousand sequins.” But the prince said, “Have I
not told that my godmother is dying, and that my
STOKH is valueless?” At this the Brokah only
clamored the more for justice and the fulfilment
of his bond. Then the Aga of the Brokahs said,
“Since the bond is destroyed, behold thou hast no
claim. Go thy ways!” But the Brokah again
cried, “Justice, my lord Aga! Behold, I offer the
prince seventy thousand sequins for his STOKH!”
But the prince said, “It is not worth one sequin!”
Then the Aga said, “Bismillah! I cannot understand
this. Whether thy godmother be dead, or
dying, or immortal, does not seem to signify.
Therefore, O prince, by the laws of Biz and of
Allah, thou art released. Give the Brokah thy
STOKH for seventy thousand sequins, and bid him
depart in peace. On his own head be it!” When
the prince heard this command, he handed his
STOKH to the Brokah, who counted out to him
seventy thousand sequins. But the heart of the
virtuous prince did not rejoice, nor did the Brokah,
when he found his STOKH was valueless; but
the merchants lifted their hands in wonder at the
sagacity and wisdom of the famous Prince Bulleboye.
For none would believe that it was the law
of Allah that the prince followed, and not the
rules of Biz.