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 travelers 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
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, “Oh, happy day—oh, 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 gaily 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 fulfillment 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 fulfillment 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.
