Scheherazade continued telling the tale of the previous night.
Continuation of the story of the fourth night
I have come to know, oh lucky king! that the king Yunan said to his vizier:
"Vizier, you have let envy against the doctor enter you, and you want me to kill him so that later I will repent, as king Sinbad repented after killing the falcon."
The vizier asked:
"And how did that happen?"
Then, the king Yunan started to explain a new story.
The falcon of king Sinbad
Many people say that among the kings of Fars there was one very fond of amusements, walked in the gardens and made all kinds of hunts. He had a falcon trained by himself and he didn´t leave it, regardless of day or night, because even at night he had it tied to his fist.
When he went hunting, the king took it with him, and he had hung a little gold cup around his neck, from which the falcon drank.
One day ,the king was sitting in his palace, and he suddenly saw the wakil, in charge of hunting the birds, coming, who said to him:
"Oh king of the centuries!"
"It´s time to go hunting."
So the king made his preparations and put the falcon on his fist. They left later and arrived at a valley, where they set up the hunting nets. And suddenly a gazelle fell into the nets. Then, the king said:
"I will kill whoever passes by the gazelle."
They began to tighten the net around the gazelle, which approached the king and straightened on its legs as if it wanted to kiss the ground in front of the king. Then, the king began to clap his hands to make the gazelle flee, but it jumped over his head and went inland.
Next, the king turned to the guards and saw that they winked mischievously. Witnessing such a thing, he said to the vizier:
"Why are my soldiers making such signs?"
And the vizier answered:
"They say that you have sworn to kill anyone at one side of the gazelle."
And the king exclaimed:
"On my life!"
"We have to chase and catch up with that gazelle!"
And he began to gallop, following the trail, and he was able to catch up it. The falcon hit the gazelle in the eyes, with its beak, in such a way that it was blinded and feeling dizzy.
Then, the king wielded his mallet, hitting the gazelle until that bird collapsed. Immediately, he dismounted, slitting its throat, skinning and hanging the spoils from the saddle. It was quite hot and that place was desert, arid, and lacked of water. The king was thirsty and so was the horse. And the king turned and saw a tree from which water flowed like butter. The king's hand was covered with a leather glove. He took the glass from the falcon's neck, filled it with that water, and placed it in front of the bird, but the latter kicked the glass and knocked it over. The king took the glass a second time, filled it, and since he still believed that the falcon was thirsty, put it in front of him, but the falcon kicked it for a second time, knocking it over. And the king was enraged against the falcon, and took the glass a third time, but he presented it to the horse, and the falcon knocked over the glass with his wing. Then, the king said:
"May Allah bury you!"
"Oh the most dire of birds of ill omen!"
"You haven´t let me drink, nor have you drunk, nor have you let the horse drink."
And he struck the falcon with his sword and cut off its wings.
Then the falcon, raising its head, signed to the tree, indicating with its gestures:
"Look what´s in the tree!"
The king raised his eyes and saw in the tree a snake, and the liquid that ran was his poison. Then, the king regretted having clipped the falcon's wings. Next, he got up, mounted his horse, went away, taking the gazelle with him, and came to his palace. He gave the gazelle to the cook, and said:
"Take and cook it."
He sat on his throne, not letting the falcon go out, but this animal after a kind of death rattle, died. The king, seeing this, burst into cries of pain and bitterness for having killed the falcon that had saved him from the death.
Such is the story of the king Sindbad!
When the vizier had heard king Yunan's story, he told him:
"Oh great king full of dignity!"
"What damage have I done, whose disastrous effects you have been able to see?"
"I do this by compassion for you."
"And you will see how I tell the truth."
"If you listen to me, you will be able to save yourself, and if not, you will perish as a cunning vizier perished, who deceived the son of a king among kings."
Then, the vizier told a story.
Story of the prince and the vampire
The king had a son, who was very fond of hunting with greyhounds, and he also had a vizier, which received orders from the king to accompany his son wherever he went.
One of those days, the son went hunting with greyhounds, and as usually, the vizier went out with him. And they both saw a monstrous animal. The vizier said to the king's son:
"Go against that beast!"
"Chase it!"
And the prince began to chase the beast, until he lost all sight of it, while the beast disappeared into the desert. In this regard, the prince was perplexed, not knowing where to go, when he saw at the top of the road a young slave girl who was crying.
The prince asked her:
"Who are you?"
She replied:
"I am the daughter of a king of kings of India."
"I was with the caravan through the desert, I felt like sleeping, and fell off my horse without realizing it."
"Then, I found myself alone and abandoned."
By these words, the prince felt pity and began her march with the young woman, leading her to the rump of her own horse. As she passed in front of a grove, the slave said to him:
"Oh sir, I wish to evacuate a need!"
Then, the prince dismounted her by the grove, and seeing that she was taking a long time, he marched after her, without being able to find the slave, who was a vampire that was saying to her children:
"My sons, I bring you a very robust young man!"
And they demanded:
"Bring it to us, mother, so we can eat him!"
When the prince heard these words, he could no longer doubt that he was approaching to his death, and his flesh trembled with terror, while she returned to the path.
Afterwards, the vampire came out of her lair, seeing the prince trembling like a coward. She asked him:
"Why are you afraid?"
And he said:
"There is an enemy that inspires fear in me."
The vampire continued talking:
"You have told me that you are a prince…"
He replied:
"That is the truth."
And she said to him:
"Then why don´t you give some money to your enemy, in order to satisfy him?"
The prince answered:
"It will not be satisfied with money."
"Only will be happy with my soul."
"That is why I am afraid, as a victim of an injustice."
The vampire told him:
"If they persecute you, as you say, ask for help against your enemy: from Allah, and He will free you from his curses and from the curses of those you are afraid of."
Then, the prince raised his head to heaven and said:
"Oh You, who attend to the oppressed that implores to You, make me triumph over my enemy, and drive it away from me…"
"You have power for everything You desire!"
When the vampire heard these words, she disappeared. And the prince was able to return to his father's side, and informed him of the vizier's bad advice. And the king had the vizier killed.
Immediately the vizier of king Yunan continued in this way:
"And you… Oh king!"
"If you trust that doctor, I say that he will kill you with the worst of deaths!"
"Although you have showered him with favors and made him your friend, he is preparing your death."
"Do you know why he cured you of your disease from the outside of your body, by means of a thing that you held in your hand?"
"Don't you think it´s simply to cause your loss with a second thing that he will command you to catch as well?"
Then, the king Yunan said:
"You speak the truth!"
"Let it be done according to your opinion, oh well-advised vizier!"
"Because it is very likely that this doctor has secretly come as a spy to be my downfall."
"If he has cured me with a thing that I have had in my hand, he could very well lose me with another that, for example, something he would give me to smell."
And the king Yunan said to his vizier:
"Oh vizier!"
"What should we do with him?"
The vizier replied:
"It is necessary to bring him immediately, and when he comes here, cut his throat, and thus you will get rid of his curses, and will be relieved and calm."
"Betray him before he does it to you."
The king Yunan said:
"You are right!"
"Oh vizier!"
Then, the king sent for the doctor, who appeared happy, ignoring what the Clement had decided.
The Poet says in his verses:
"Oh you! Who fear the blows of Fate, calm down!"
"Don´t you know that everything is in the hands of the One who has formed the earth?"
"Because what is written is written and will never be erased!"
"And what is not written there is nothing to fear!"
"And You, Lord!"
"Can I let a day go by without singing your praises?"
"For who else would I reserve the marvelous gift of my rhyming style and my Poet's language?"
"Each new gift I receive from your hands. Oh Lord!"
"It is more beautiful than the previous one, and it anticipates my desires!"
"Therefore, how can I not sing your glory, all your glory, and praise you in my soul and in public?"
"But I must confess that my lips will never have enough eloquence nor my chest strength enough to sing and to bear the benefits that you have showered me with!"
"Oh you who doubt, entrust your affairs to the hands of Allah, the only Wise!"
"And as soon as you do, your heart will have nothing to fear from men!"
"Know also that nothing is done by your will, but by the will of the Wise of the Wise!"
"Do not despair, then, never, and forget all the sadness and all the anxiety!"
"Do you not know that anxiety destroys the firmest and strongest heart?"
"Give it all up!"
"Our projects are nothing more than projects of slaves powerless before the only Commander!"
"Let yourself go!"
"So you will enjoy a lasting peace!"
When Dr. Ruyan appeared, the king said to him:
"Do you know why I have made you come to my presence?"
And the doctor replied:
"No one knows the unknown, but Allah the Most High knows it."
The king said to him:
"I have sent for you to kill you and tear out your soul."
Dr. Ruyan, hearing these words, felt with the most prodigious astonishment, and said:
"Oh king!"
"Why do you have to kill me?"
"What wrong have I done?"
The king answered:
"They say that you are a spy and that you came to kill me."
"That´s why I am going to kill you, before you kill me."
Then, the king called the cutlass-bearer and said to him:
"Cut off that traitor's head and deliver us from his curses!"
The doctor said to the king:
"Preserve my life, and Allah will preserve yours!"
"Don´t kill me, otherwise Allah will kill you too."
Then he withdrew the plea, as I did addressing you, oh efrit! without you paying attention to me, because, on the contrary, you persisted in wishing me dead.
Immediately, king Yunan said to the doctor:
"I will not be able to live confidently or be calm unless I kill you."
"Because if you have cured me with a thing that I had in my hand, I think you will kill me with another thing that you give me to smell or in any other way."
And the doctor said:
"Oh king!"
"Is this your reward?"
"Do you repay evil for good?"
But, the king insisted:
"There is no choice but to put you to death without delay."
And when the doctor was convinced that the king wanted to kill him without remedy, he wept and was distressed to remember the favors he had done to those who did not deserve them.
The Poet already says:
"The young and crazy Maimuna is truly very poor in spirit!"
"But, her father, on the other hand, is a man with a big heart and considered among the best!"
"Look at him then!"
"He never walks without his lantern in hand, and thus avoids the mud on the roads, the dust on the roads and the slipping hazard!"
Immediately he brought the cutlass-bearer forward, blindfolded the doctor and drawing his sword, said to the king:
"With your permission."
But, the doctor kept crying and pleading with the king:
"Preserve my life and Allah will preserve it for you."
"Don´t kill me or Allah will kill you."
And he recited these lines from the Poet:
"My advice was unsuccessful, while the advice of the ignorant succeeded!"
"I got nothing but contempt!"
"For this, if I manage to live, I will keep a lot of advice!"
"And if I die, my example will serve others to silence their tongues!"
And he said afterwards to the king:
"Is this my recompense?"
"Behold, you treat me as a crocodile did."
Then, the king asked:
"What story is that about a crocodile?"
And the doctor said:
"Oh sir!"
"It is not possible to count it in this state."
"By Allah over you!"
"Preserve my life, and Allah will preserve it for you."
And then he began to shed copious tears. Next some of the king's favorites got up and said:
"Oh king!"
"Grant us the blood of this doctor, for we have never seen him act against you; on the contrary, we saw him deliver you from that disease that had resisted the doctors and the sages."
The king answered them:
"You do not know why I want to kill this doctor."
"If I let him alive, my doom is certain, because if he cured me of the disease with one thing that I held in my hand, he could very well kill me by giving me something else to smell."
"I am very afraid that he will kill me to collect the price of my death, for he must be a spy who has come to kill me."
"His death is necessary!"
"Only then will I be able to lose my fears."
Then, the doctor implored again:
"Preserve my life, so that Allah preserves you and do not kill me, so Allah will not kill you."
But, oh efrit! When the doctor was convinced that the king hopelessly wanted to kill him, he said:
"Oh king!"
"If my death is really necessary, let me go home to do my business, have my relatives and neighbors take care of burying me, and above all to give away my medical books. Faithfully, I have a book that is truly the extract of extracts and the rarity of rarities, which I want to bequeath to you as a gift to keep carefully in your closet.
Then, the king asked the doctor:
"What book is that?"
And the doctor answered:
"It contains priceless things; the least of the secrets it reveals is the following: 'When they cut off my head, open the book, count three pages and turn them over, read three lines of the page on the left at once, and then the severed head will speak to you and answer all the questions you put to it' "
Hearing these words, the king was amazed to the limit of astonishment, and trembling with joy and emotion, he said:
"Oh doctor!"
"Even cutting off your head, will you speak?"
And the doctor answered:
"Yes! Indeed, oh king!"
"This is a prodigious thing."
Then, the king allowed him to go out, though escorted by guards, and the doctor came to his house, and dispatched his business that day, and the next day also. And the king went up to the divan, and the emirs, the viziers, the chamberlains, the nawabs and all the heads of the kingdom came, and the divan looked like a garden full of flowers. Next, the doctor entered the divan and stood before the king, with a very old book and a small box of eye drops filled with some powder.
Then, he sat down and said:
"Bring me a tray."
It was brought to him, and he poured out the powders, and spread them over the surface. And he said:
"Oh king!"
"Take that book, but don´t open it before you cut off my head."
"When you have cut it, place it on the tray and have it pressed well against the powder to stanch the blood. Then you will open the book."
But, the king, full of impatience, no longer listened to him. He picked up the book and opened it, finding the pages stuck together. Then, putting his finger in his mouth, wet it with his saliva and managed to take off the first page. He had to do the same with the second and third leaves, and each time the leaves opened with more difficulty. In this way, the king opened six leaves, and tried to read them, but he could not find any kind of writing.
The king said:
"Oh doctor!"
"There is nothing written!"
The doctor replied:
"Keep turning more leaves in the same way."
And the king kept turning more leaves. But, just a few moments had passed, the poison circulated through the king's body at that time, because the book was poisoned. Therefore, the king suffered horrible convulsions and exclaimed:
"There is poison spreading in my body!"
And then the doctor Ruyan began to improvise verses, saying:
"Those judges!"
"They have judged, but exceeding their rights and against all justice!"
"And yet, oh Lord!"
"Justice exists!"
"In turn, they were judged!"
"Had they been upright and good, they would have been forgiven!"
"But they oppressed, and fate has oppressed them and overwhelmed them with the worst tribulations!"
"Now they are a source of ridicule and pity for the passerby!"
"That´s the Law!"
"This for that!"
"And the Destiny has been fulfilled with all logic!"
When Dr. Ruyan finished his recitation, the king fell dead.
"You know now, oh efrit! that if king Yunan had preserved Ruyan, the physician, Allah in turn would have preserved him. But, by refusing, he decided his own death."
"And if you, oh efrit! If you had wanted to keep me, Allah would have kept you!"
At this point in her narrative, Scheherazade saw morning appear, and she discreetly fell silent. And her sister Dunyazad said to her:
"How delicious are your words!"
And Scheherazade replied:
"That is nothing compared to what I will tell you next night, if I am still alive and the king sees fit to keep me."
And they spent that night in complete bliss and in happiness until morning. Then the king went to the divan. And when finishing, he returned to his palace and rejoined his people.
To be continued during the sixth night…