The Story of the First Calender, Son of a King

In order, madam, to explain how I came to lose my right eye, and to
wear the dress of a Calender, you must first know that I am the son of
a king. My father's only brother reigned over the neighbouring
country, and had two children, a daughter and a son, who were of the
same age as myself.

As I grew up, and was allowed more liberty, I went every year to pay a
visit to my uncle's court, and usually stayed there about two months.
In this way my cousin and I became very intimate, and were much
attached to each other. The very last time I saw him he seemed more
delighted to see me than ever, and gave a great feast in my honour.
When we had finished eating, he said to me, "My cousin, you would never
guess what I have been doing since your last visit to us! Directly
after your departure I set a number of men to work on a building after
my own design. It is now completed, and ready to be lived in. I
should like to show it to you, but you must first swear two things: to
be faithful to me, and to keep my secret."

Of course I did not dream of refusing him anything he asked, and gave
the promise without the least hesitation. He then bade me wait an
instant, and vanished, returning in a few moments with a richly dressed
lady of great beauty, but as he did not tell me her name, I thought it
was better not to inquire. We all three sat down to table and amused
ourselves with talking of all sorts of indifferent things, and with
drinking each other's health. Suddenly the prince said to me, "Cousin,
we have no time to lose; be so kind as to conduct this lady to a
certain spot, where you will find a dome-like tomb, newly built. You
cannot mistake it. Go in, both of you, and wait till I come. I shall
not be long."

As I had promised I prepared to do as I was told, and giving my hand to
the lady, I escorted her, by the light of the moon, to the place of
which the prince had spoken. We had barely reached it when he joined
us himself, carrying a small vessel of water, a pickaxe, and a little
bag containing plaster.

With the pickaxe he at once began to destroy the empty sepulchre in the
middle of the tomb. One by one he took the stones and piled them up in
a corner. When he had knocked down the whole sepulchre he proceeded to
dig at the earth, and beneath where the sepulchre had been I saw a
trap-door. He raised the door and I caught sight of the top of a spiral
staircase; then he said, turning to the lady, "Madam, this is the way
that will lead you down to the spot which I told you of."

The lady did not answer, but silently descended the staircase, the
prince following her. At the top, however, he looked at me. "My
cousin," he exclaimed, "I do not know how to thank you for your
kindness. Farewell."

"What do you mean?" I cried. "I don't understand."

"No matter," he replied, "go back by the path that you came."

He would say no more, and, greatly puzzled, I returned to my room in
the palace and went to bed. When I woke, and considered my adventure,
I thought that I must have been dreaming, and sent a servant to ask if
the prince was dressed and could see me. But on hearing that he had
not slept at home I was much alarmed, and hastened to the cemetery,
where, unluckily, the tombs were all so alike that I could not discover
which was the one I was in search of, though I spent four days in
looking for it.

You must know that all this time the king, my uncle, was absent on a
hunting expedition, and as no one knew when he would be back, I at last
decided to return home, leaving the ministers to make my excuses. I
longed to tell them what had become of the prince, about whose fate
they felt the most dreadful anxiety, but the oath I had sworn kept me
silent.

On my arrival at my father's capital, I was astonished to find a large
detachment of guards drawn up before the gate of the palace; they
surrounded me directly I entered. I asked the officers in command the
reason of this strange behaviour, and was horrified to learn that the
army had mutinied and put to death the king, my father, and had placed
the grand-vizir on the throne. Further, that by his orders I was
placed under arrest.

Now this rebel vizir had hated me from my boy-hood, because once, when
shooting at a bird with a bow, I had shot out his eye by accident. Of
course I not only sent a servant at once to offer him my regrets and
apologies, but I made them in person. It was all of no use. He
cherished an undying hatred towards me, and lost no occasion of showing
it. Having once got me in his power I felt he could show no mercy, and
I was right. Mad with triumph and fury he came to me in my prison and
tore out my right eye. That is how I lost it.

My persecutor, however, did not stop here. He shut me up in a large
case and ordered his executioner to carry me into a desert place, to
cut off my head, and then to abandon my body to the birds of prey. The
case, with me inside it, was accordingly placed on a horse, and the
executioner, accompanied by another man, rode into the country until
they found a spot suitable for the purpose. But their hearts were not
so hard as they seemed, and my tears and prayers made them waver.

"Forsake the kingdom instantly," said the executioner at last, "and
take care never to come back, for you will not only lose your head, but
make us lose ours." I thanked him gratefully, and tried to console
myself for the loss of my eye by thinking of the other misfortunes I
had escaped.


After all I had gone through, and my fear of being recognised by some
enemy, I could only travel very slowly and cautiously, generally
resting in some out-of-the-way place by day, and walking as far as I
was able by night, but at length I arrived in the kingdom of my uncle,
of whose protection I was sure.

I found him in great trouble about the disappearance of his son, who
had, he said, vanished without leaving a trace; but his own grief did
not prevent him sharing mine. We mingled our tears, for the loss of
one was the loss of the other, and then I made up my mind that it was
my duty to break the solemn oath I had sworn to the prince. I
therefore lost no time in telling my uncle everything I knew, and I
observed that even before I had ended his sorrow appeared to be
lightened a little.

"My dear nephew," he said, "your story gives me some hope. I was aware
that my son was building a tomb, and I think I can find the spot. But
as he wished to keep the matter secret, let us go alone and seek the
place ourselves."

He then bade me disguise myself, and we both slipped out of a garden
door which opened on to the cemetery. It did not take long for us to
arrive at the scene of the prince's disappearance, or to discover the
tomb I had sought so vainly before. We entered it, and found the
trap-door which led to the staircase, but we had great difficulty in
raising it, because the prince had fastened it down underneath with the
plaster he had brought with him.

My uncle went first, and I followed him. When we reached the bottom of
the stairs we stepped into a sort of ante-room, filled with such a
dense smoke that it was hardly possible to see anything. However, we
passed through the smoke into a large chamber, which at first seemed
quite empty. The room was brilliantly lighted, and in another moment
we perceived a sort of platform at one end, on which were the bodies of
the prince and a lady, both half-burned, as if they had been dragged
out of a fire before it had quite consumed them.

This horrible sight turned me faint, but, to my surprise, my uncle did
not show so much surprise as anger.

"I knew," he said, "that my son was tenderly attached to this lady,
whom it was impossible he should ever marry. I tried to turn his
thoughts, and presented to him the most beautiful princesses, but he
cared for none of them, and, as you see, they have now been united by a
horrible death in an underground tomb." But, as he spoke, his anger
melted into tears, and again I wept with him.

When he recovered himself he drew me to him. "My dear nephew," he
said, embracing me, "you have come to me to take his place, and I will
do my best to forget that I ever had a son who could act in so wicked a
manner." Then he turned and went up the stairs.

We reached the palace without anyone having noticed our absence, when,
shortly after, a clashing of drums, and cymbals, and the blare of
trumpets burst upon our astonished ears. At the same time a thick
cloud of dust on the horizon told of the approach of a great army. My
heart sank when I perceived that the commander was the vizir who had
dethroned my father, and was come to seize the kingdom of my uncle.

The capital was utterly unprepared to stand a siege, and seeing that
resistance was useless, at once opened its gates. My uncle fought hard
for his life, but was soon overpowered, and when he fell I managed to
escape through a secret passage, and took refuge with an officer whom I
knew I could trust.

Persecuted by ill-fortune, and stricken with grief, there seemed to be
only one means of safety left to me. I shaved my beard and my
eyebrows, and put on the dress of a calender, in which it was easy for
me to travel without being known. I avoided the towns till I reached
the kingdom of the famous and powerful Caliph, Haroun-al-Rashid, when
I had no further reason to fear my enemies. It was my intention to
come to Baghdad and to throw myself at the feet of his Highness, who
would, I felt certain, be touched by my sad story, and would grant me,
besides, his help and protection.

After a journey which lasted some months I arrived at length at the
gates of this city. It was sunset, and I paused for a little to look
about me, and to decide which way to turn my steps. I was still
debating on this subject when I was joined by this other calender, who
stopped to greet me. "You, like me, appear to be a stranger," I said.
He replied that I was right, and before he could say more the third
calender came up. He, also, was newly arrived in Baghdad, and being
brothers in misfortune, we resolved to cast in our lots together, and
to share whatever fate might have in store.

By this time it had grown late, and we did not know where to spend the
night. But our lucky star having guided us to this door, we took the
liberty of knocking and of asking for shelter, which was given to us at
once with the best grace in the world.

This, madam, is my story.

"I am satisfied," replied Zobeida; "you can go when you like."

The calender, however, begged leave to stay and to hear the histories
of his two friends and of the three other persons of the company, which
he was allowed to do.

The Story of the Second Calendar, Son of a King