The Shaving of Shagpat, Complete
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George Meredith >> The Shaving of Shagpat, Complete
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Thereat Feshnavat exclaimed, 'O Master of the Event, may I be thy
sacrifice! on my head be it! and for thee to command is for me to obey!
but surely, this Sword of thine that is in thy girdle, the marvellous
blade--'tis alone equal to the project and the shave; and the matter
might be consummated, the great thing done, even from this point whence
we behold Shagpat visible, as 'twere brought forward toward us by the
beams! And this Sword swayed by thee, and with thy skill and strength and
the hardihood of hand that is thine, wullahy! 'twould shear him now, this
moment, taking the light of Aklis for a lather.'
Shibli Bagarag knotted the brows of impatience, crying, 'Hast thou
forgotten Karaz in thy calculations? I know of a surety what this Sword
will do, and I wot the oil he distilleth strengtheneth Shagpat but
against common blades. Yet shall it not be spoken of me, Shibli Bagarag,
that I was tripped by my own conceit; the poet counselleth:
"When for any mighty end thou hast the aid of heaven,
Mount until thy strength shall match those great means which are
given":
nor that I was overthrown in despising mine enemy, forgetful of the
saying of the sage:
"Read the features of thy foe, wherever he may find thee,
Small he is, seen face to face, but thrice his size behind thee."
Wullahy! this Karaz is a Genie of craft and resources, one of a mighty
stock, and I must close with Shagpat to be sure of him; and that I am not
deceived by semblances, opposing guile with guile, and guile deeper than
his, for that he awaiteth it not, thinking I have leaped in fancy beyond
the Event, and am puffed by the after-breaths of adulation, I!--thinking
I pluck the blossoms in my hunger for the fruit, that I eat the chick of
the yet unlaid egg, O Feshnavat. As is said, and the warrior beareth
witness to the wisdom of it:
"His weapon I'll study; my own conceal;
So with two arms to his one shall I deal."
The same also testifieth:
"'Tis folly of the hero, though resistless in the field,
To stake the victory on his steel, and fling away the shield."
And likewise:
"Examine thine armour in every joint,
For slain was the Giant, and by a pin's point."
Wah! 'tis certain there will need subtlety in this undertaking, and a
plot plotted, so do thou my bidding, and fail not in the part assigned to
thee.'
Now, Feshnavat was persuaded by his words, and cried, 'In diligence,
discretion, and the virtues which characterize subordinates, I go, and I
delay not! I will perform the thing required of me, O Master of the
Event.' And he repeated in verse:
With danger beset, be the path crooked or narrow,
Thou art the bow, and I the arrow.
Then embraced he his daughter, kissing her on the forehead and the eyes,
and tightening the girdle of his robe, departed, with the name of Allah
on his lips, in the direction of the City.
So Shibli Bagarag called to him the two Genii, and his command was,
'Soar, ye slaves of the Sword, till the range of earth and its mountains
and seas and deserts are a cluster in the orb of the eye, Shiraz
conspicuous as a rose among garlands, and the ruby consorted with other
gems in a setting. In Shiraz or the country adjoining ye will come upon
one Baba Mustapha by name; and, if he be alone, ye may recognize him by
his forlorn look and the hang of his cheeks, his vacancy as of utter
abandonment; if in company, 'twill be the only talker that's he; seize on
him, give him a taste of thin air, and deposit him without speech on the
roof of a palace, where ye will see Feshnavat in yonder city: this do ere
the shadows of the palm-tree by the well in the plain move up the mounds
that enclose the fortified parts.'
Cried Karavejis and Veejravoosh, 'To hear is to obey.'
Up into the sky, like two bright balls tossed by jugglers, the two Genii
shot; and, watching them, Noorna bin Noorka said, 'My life, there is a
third wanting, Ravejoura; and with aid of the three, earth could have
planted no obstruction to thy stroke; but thou wert tempted by the third
temptation in Aklis, and left not the Hall in triumph, the Hall of the
Duping Brides!'
He answered, 'That is so, my soul; and the penalty is mine, by which I am
made to employ deceits ere I strike.'
And she said, ''Tis to the generosity of Gulrevaz thou owest Karavejis
and Veejravoosh; and I think she was generous, seeing thee true to me in
love, she that hath sorrows!'
So he said, 'What of the sorrows of Gulrevaz? Tell me of them.'
But she said, 'Nay, O my betrothed! wouldst thou have this tongue
blistered, and a consuming spark shot against this bosom?'
Then he: 'Make it clear to me.'
She put her mouth to his ear, saying, 'There is a curse on whoso telleth
of things in Aklis, and to tattle of the Seven and their sister
forerunneth wretchedness.'
Surely, he stooped to that fair creature, and folded her to his heart,
his whole soul heaving to her; and he cried again and again, 'Shall harm
hap to thee through me? by Allah, no!'
And he closed the privileged arm of the bridegroom round her waist, that
had the yieldingness of the willow-branchlet, the flowingness of the
summer sea-wave, and seemed as 'twere melting honey-like at the first
gentle pressure; she leaning her head shyly on his shoulder, yet
confiding in his faithfulness; it was that she was shy of the great bliss
in her bosom, and was made timid by the fervour of her affection; as is
sung:
Deeper than the source of blushes
Is the power that makes them start;
Up in floods the red stream rushes,
At one whisper of the heart.
And it is sung in words present to the youth as he surveyed her:
O beauty of the bride! O beauty of the bride!
Her bashful joys like serpents sting her tenderness to
tears:
Her hopes are sleeping eagles in the shining of the spheres;
O beauty of the bride! O beauty of the bride!
And she's a lapping antelope that from her image flees;
And she's a dove caught in two hands, to pant as she shall
please;
O beauty of the bride! O beauty of the bride!
Like torrents over Paradise her lengthy tresses roll:
She moves as doth a swaying rose, and chides her hasty soul;
The thing she will, that will she not, yet can no will control
O beauty, beauty, beauty of the bride!
They were thus together, Abarak leaning under one wing of Koorookh for
shade up the slope of the hill, and Shibli Bagarag called to him, 'Ho,
Abarak! look if there be aught impending over the City.'
So he arose and looked, crying, 'One with plunging legs, high up in air
over the City, between two bright bodies.' Shibli Bagarag exclaimed,
''Tis well! The second chapter of the Event is opened; so call it, thou
that tellest of the Shaving of Shagpat. It will be the shortest.'
Then he said, 'The shadow of yonder palm is now a slanted spear up the
looped wall of the City. Now, the time of Shagpat's triumph, and his
greatest majesty, will be when yonder walls chase the shadow of the palm
up this hill; and then will Baba Mustapha be joining the chorus of
creatures that shriek toward even ere they snooze. There's not an ape in
the woods, nor hyaena in the forest, nor birds on the branches, nor frogs
in the marsh that will outnoise Baba Mustapha under the thong! Wullahy,
'twill grieve his soul in aftertime when he sitteth secure in honours,
courted, with a thousand ears at his bidding, that so much breath 'scaped
him without toll of the tongue! But as the poet says truly:
"The chariot of Events lifteth many dusty heels,
And many, high and of renown, it crusheth with its wheels."
Wah! I have had my share of the thong, and am I, Master of the Event, to
be squeamish in attaining an end by its means? Nay, by this Sword!'
Thereat, he strode once again to the summit of the hill, and in a moment
the Genii fronted him like two shot arrows quivering from the flight. So
he cried, 'It is done?'
They answered, 'In faithfulness.'
So he beckoned to Noorna, and she came forward swiftly to him,
exclaiming, 'I read the plot, and the thing required of me; so say
nought, but embrace me ere I leave thee, my betrothed, my master!'
He embraced her, and led her to where the Genii stood. Then said he to
the Genii, 'Convey her to the City, O ye slaves of the Sword, and watch
over her there. If ye let but an evil wind ruffle the hair of her head,
lo! I sever ye with a stroke that shaketh the under worlds. Remain by her
till the shrieks of Baba Mustapha greet ye, and then will follow
commotion among the crowd, and cries for Shagpat to show himself to the
people, cries also of death to Feshnavat; and there will be an assembly
in the King's Hall of Justice; thither lead ye my betrothed, and watch
over her.' And he said to Noorna, 'Thou knowest my design?'
So she said, 'When condemnation is passed on Feshnavat, that I appear in
the hall as bride of Shagpat, and so rescue him that is my father.' And
she cried, 'Oh, fair delightful time that is coming! my happiness and thy
honour on earth dateth from it. Farewell, O my betrothed, beloved youth!
Eyes of mine! these Genii will be by, and there's no cause for fear or
sorrow, and 'tis for thee to look like morning that speeds the march of
light. Thou, my betrothed, art thou not all that enslaveth the heart of
woman?'
Cried Shibli Bagarag, 'And thou, O Noorna, all that enraptureth the soul
of man! Allah keep thee, my life!'
Lo! while they were wasting the rich love in their hearts, the Genii rose
up with Noorna, and she, waving her hand to him, was soon distant and as
the white breast of a bird turned to the sun. Then went he to where
Abarak was leaning, and summoned Koorookh, and the twain mounted him, and
rose up high over the City of Shagpat to watch the ripening of the Event,
as a vulture watcheth over the desert.
THE DISH OF POMEGRANATE GRAIN
Now, in the City of Shagpat, Kadza, spouse of Shagpat, she that had
belaboured Shibli Bagarag, had a dream while these things were doing; and
it was a dream of danger and portent to the glory of her eyes, Shagpat.
So, at the hour when he was revealed to Shibli Bagarag, made luminous by
the beams of Aklis, Kadza went to an inner chamber, and greased her hands
and her eyelids, and drank of a phial, and commenced tugging at a brass
ring fixed in the floor, and it yielded and displayed an opening, over
which she stooped the upper half of her leanness, and pitching her note
high, called 'Karaz!' After that, she rose and retreated from the hole
hastily, and in the winking of an eye it was filled, as 'twere a pillar
of black smoke, by the body of the Genie, he breathing hard with mighty
travel. So he cried to her between his pantings and puffings, 'Speak!
where am I wanted, and for what?'
Now, Kadza was affrighted at the terribleness of his manner, and the
great smell of the Genie was an intoxication in her nostril, so that she
reeled and could just falter out, 'Danger to the Identical!'
Then he, in a voice like claps of thunder, 'Out with it!'
She answered beseechingly, ''Tis a dream I had, O Genie; a dream of
danger to him.'
While she spake, the Genie clenched his fists and stamped so that the
palace shook and the earth under it, exclaiming, 'O abominable Kadza! a
dream is it? another dream? Wilt thou cease dreaming awhile, thou silly
woman? Know I not he that's powerful against us is in Aklis, crowned ape,
and that his spells are gone? And I was distilling drops to defy the
Sword and strengthen Shagpat from assault, yet bringest thou me from my
labour by the Putrid Sea with thy accursed dream!' Thereat, he frowned
and shot fire at her from his eyes, so that she singed, and the room
thickened with a horrible smell of burning. She feared greatly and
trembled, but he cooled himself against the air, crying presently in a
diminished voice, 'Let's hear this dream, thou foolish Kadza! 'Tis as
well to hear it. Probably Rabesqurat hath sent thee some sign from Aklis,
where she ferryeth a term. What's that saying:
"A woman's at the core of every plot man plotteth,
And like an ill-reared fruit, first at the core it rotteth."
So, out with it, thou Kadza!'
Now, the urgency of that she had dreamed overcame fear in Kadza, and she
said, 'O great Genie and terrible, my dream was this. Lo! I saw an
assemblage of the beasts of the forests and them that inhabit wild
places. And there was the elephant and the rhinoceros and the
hippopotamus, and the camel and the camelopard, and the serpent and the
striped tiger; also the antelope, the hyena, the jackal, and above them,
eminent in majesty, the lion. Surely, he sat as 'twere on a high seat,
and they like suppliants thronging the presence: this I saw, the heart on
my ribs beating for Shagpat. And there appeared among the beasts a monkey
all ajoint with tricks, jerking with malice, he looking as 'twere hungry
for the doing of things detestable; and the lion scorned him, and I
marked him ridicule the lion: 'twas so. And the lion began to scowl, and
the other beasts marked the displeasure of the lion. Then chased they
that monkey from the presence, and for awhile he was absent, and the lion
sat in his place gravely, with calm, receiving homage of the other
beasts; and down to his feet came the eagle that's lord of air, and
before him kneeled the great elephant, and the subtle serpent eyed him
with awe. But soon did that monkey, the wretched animal! reappear, and
there was no peace for the lion, he worrying till close within stretch of
the lion's paw! Wah! the lion might have crushed him, but that he's
magnanimous. And so it was that as the monkey advanced the lion roared to
him, "Begone!"
'And the monkey cried, "Who commandeth?"
'So the lion roared, "The King of beasts and thy King!"
'Then that monkey cried, "Homage to the King of beasts and my King! Allah
keep him in his seat, and I would he were visible."
'So the lion roared, "He sitteth here acknowledged, thou graceless
animal! and he's before thee apparent."
'Then the monkey affected eagerness, and gazed about him, and peered on
this beast and on that, exclaiming like one that's injured and under
slight, "What's this I've done, and wherein have I offended, that he
should be hidden from me when pointed out?"
'So the lion roared, "'Tis I where I sit, thou offensive monkey!"
'Then that monkey in the upper pitch of amazement, "Thou! Is it for
created thing to acknowledge a king without a tail? And, O beasts of the
forest and the wilderness, how say ye? Am I to blame that I bow not to
one that hath it not?"
'Upon that, the lion rose, and roared in the extreme of wrath; but the
word he was about to utter was checked in him, for 'twas manifest that
where he would have lashed a tail he shook a stump, wagging it as the dog
doth. Lo! when the lion saw that, the majesty melted from him, and in a
moment the plumpness of content and prosperity forsook him, so that his
tawny skin hung flabbily and his jaw drooped, and shame deprived him of
stateliness; abashed was he! Now, seeing the lion shamed in this manner,
my heart beat violently for Shagpat, so that I awoke with the strength of
its beating, and 'twas hidden from me whether the monkey was punished by
the lion, or exalted by the other beasts in his place, or how came it
that the lion's tail was lost, witched from him by that villain of
mischief, the monkey; but, O great Genie, I knew there was a lion among
men, reverenced, and with enemies; that lion, he that espoused me and my
glory, Shagpat! 'Twas enough to know that and tremble at the omen of my
dream, O Genie. Wherefore I thought it well to summon thee here, that
thou mightest set a guard over Shagpat, and shield him from the
treacheries that beset him.'
When Kadza had ceased speaking, the Genie glowered at her awhile in
silence. Then said he, 'What creature is that, Kadza, which tormenteth
like the tongue of a woman, is small as her pretensions to virtue, and
which showeth how the chapters of her history should be read by the holy
ones, even in its manner of movement?'
Cried Kadza, 'The flea that hoppeth!'
So he said, ''Tis well! Hast thou strength to carry one of my weight, O
Kadza?'
She answered in squeamishness, 'I, wullahy! I'm but a woman, Genie,
though the wife of Shagpat: and to carry thee is for the camel and the
elephant and the horse.'
Then he, 'Tighten thy girdle, and when tightened, let a loose loop hang
from it.'
She did that, and he gave her a dark powder in her hand, saying, 'Swallow
the half of this, and what remaineth mix with water, and sprinkle over
thee.'
That did she, and thereupon he exclaimed, 'Now go, and thy part is to
move round Shagpat; and a wind will strike thee from one quarter, and
from which quarter it striketh is the one of menace and danger to
Shagpat.'
So Kadza was diligent in doing what the Genie commanded, and sought for
Shagpat, and moved round him many times; but no wind struck her. She went
back to the Genie, and told him of this, and the Genie cried, 'What? no
wind? not one from Aklis? Then will Shagpat of a surety triumph, and we
with him.'
Now, there was joy on the features of Kadza and Karaz, till suddenly he
said, 'Halt in thy song! How if there be danger and menace above? and
'tis the thing that may be.'
Then he seized Kadza, and slung her by him, and went into the air, and up
it till the roofs of the City of Shagpat were beneath their feet, all on
them visible. And under an awning, on the roof of a palace, there was the
Vizier Feshnavat and Baba Mustapha, they ear to lip in consultation, and
Baba Mustapha brightening with the matter revealed to him, and bobbing
his head, and breaking on the speech of the Vizier. Now, when he saw them
the Genie blew from his nostrils a double stream of darkness which curled
in a thick body round and round him, and Kadza slung at his side was
enveloped in it, as with folds of a huge serpent. Then the Genie hung
still, and lo! two radiant figures swept toward the roof he watched, and
between them Noorna bin Noorka, her long dark hair borne far backward,
and her robe of silken stuff fluttering and straining on the pearl
buttons as she flew. There was that in her beauty and the silver
clearness of her temples and her eyes, and her cheeks, and her neck, and
chin and ankles, that made the Genie shudder with love of her, and he was
nigh dropping Kadza to the ground, forgetful of all save Noorna. When he
recovered, and it was by tightening his muscles till he was all over hard
knots, Noorna was seated on a cushion, and descending he heard her speak
his name. Then sniffed he the air, and said to Kadza, 'O spouse of
Shagpat, a plot breweth, and the odour of it is in my nostril. Fearest
thou a scorching for his sake thou adorest, the miracle of men?'
She answered, 'On my head be it, and my eyes!'
He said, 'I shall alight thee behind the pole of awning on yonder roof,
where are the two bright figures and the dingy one, and the Vizier
Feshnavat and Noorna bin Noorka. A flame will spring up severing thee
from them; but thou'rt secure from it by reason of the powder I gave
thee, all save the hair that's on thee. Thou'lt have another shape than
that which is thine, even that of a slave of Noorna bin Noorka, and say
to her when she asketh thy business with her, "O my mistress, let the
storm gather-in the storm-bird when it would surprise men." Do this, and
thy part's done, O Kadza!'
Thereupon he swung a circle, and alighted her behind the pole of awning
on the roof, and vanished, and the circle of flame rose up, and Kadza
passed through it slightly scorched, and answered to the question of
Noorna, 'O my mistress, let the storm gather-in the storm-bird when it
would surprise men.' Now, when Noorna beheld her, and heard her voice,
she pierced the disguise, and was ware of the wife of Shagpat, and
glanced her large eyes over Kadza from head to sole till they rested on
the loose loop in her girdle. Seeing that, she rose up, and stretched her
arms, and spread open the palm of her hand, and slapped Kadza on the
cheek and ear a hard slap, so that she heard bells; and ere she ceased to
hear them, another, so that Kadza staggered back and screamed, and
Feshnavat was moved to exclaim, 'What has the girl, thy favourite,
offended in, O my daughter?'
So Noorna continued slapping Kadza, and cried, 'Is she not sluttish? and
where's the point of decency established in her, this Luloo? Shall her
like appear before thee and me with loose girdle!'
Then she pointed to the girdle, and Kadza tightened the loose loop, and
fell upon the ground to avoid the slaps, and Noorna knelt by her, and
clutched at a portion of her dress and examined it, peering intently; and
she caught up another part, and knotted it as if to crush a living
creature, hunting over her, and grasping at her; and so it was that while
she tore strips from the garments of Kadza, Feshnavat jumped suddenly in
wrath, and pinched over his garments, crying, 'Tis unbearable! 'Tis I
know not what other than a flea that persecuteth me:'
Upon that, Noorna ran to him, and while they searched together for the
flea, Baba Mustapha fidgeted and worried in his seat, lurching to the
right and to the left, muttering curses; and it was evident he too was
persecuted, and there was no peace on the roof of that palace, but
pinching and howling and stretching of limbs, and curses snarled in the
throat and imprecations on the head of the tormenting flea. Surely, the
soul of Kadza rejoiced, for she knew the flea was Karaz, whom she had
brought with her in the loose loop of her girdle through the circle of
flame which was a barrier against him. She glistened at the triumph of
the flea, but Noorna strode to her, and took her to the side of the roof,
and pitched her down it, and closed the passage to her. Then ran she to
Karavejis and Veejravoosh, whispering in the ear of each, 'No word of the
Sword?' and afterward aloud, 'What think ye will be the term of the
staying of my betrothed in Aklis, crowned ape?'
They answered, 'O pearl of the morn, crowned ape till such time as
Shagpat be shaved.'
So she beat her breast, crying, 'Oh, utter stagnation, till Shagpat be
shaved! and oh, stoppage in the tide of business, dense cloud upon the
face of beauty, and frost on the river of events, till Shagpat be shaved!
And oh! my betrothed, crowned ape in Aklis till Shagpat be shaved!'
Then she lifted her hands and arms, and said, 'To him where he is, ye
Genii! and away, for he needeth comfort.'
Thereat the glittering spirits dissolved and thinned, and were as taper
gleams of curved light across the water in their ascent of the heavens.
When they were gone Noorna, exclaimed, 'Now for the dish of pomegrante
grain, O Baba Mustapha, and let nothing delay us further.'
Quoth Baba Mustapha, ''Tis ordered, O my princess and fair mistress, from
the confectioner's; and with it the sleepy drug from the seller of
medicaments--accursed flea!'
Now, she laughed, and said, 'What am I, O Baba Mustapha?'
So he said, 'Not thou, O bright shooter of beams, but I, wullahy! I'm but
a bundle of points through the pertinacity of this flea! a house of
irritabilities! a mere mass of fretfulness! and I've no thought but for
the chasing of this unlucky flea: was never flea like it in the world
before this flea; and 'tis a flea to anger the holy ones, and make the
saintly Dervish swear at such a flea.' He wriggled and curled where he
sat, and Noorna cried, 'What! shall we be defeated by a flea, we that
would shave Shagpat, and release this city and the world from bondage?'
And she looked up to the sky that was then without a cloud, blazing with
the sun on his mid seat, and exclaimed, 'O star of Shagpat! wilt thou
constantly be in the ascendant, and defeat us, the liberators of men,
with a flea?'
Now, whenever one of the twain, Baba Mustapha and the Vizier Feshnavat,
commenced speaking of the dish of pomegranate grain, the torment of the
flea took all tongue from him, and was destruction to the gravity of
council and deliberation. The dish of pomegranate grain was brought to
them by slaves, and the drug to induce sleep, yet neither could say aught
concerning it, they were as jointy grasshoppers through the action of the
flea, and the torment of the flea became a madness, they shrieking, ''Tis
now with thee! 'Tis now with me! Fires of the damned on this flea!' In
their extremity, they called to Allah for help, but no help came, save
when they abandoned all speech concerning the dish of pomegranate grain,
then were they for a moment eased of the flea. So Noorna recognized the
presence of her enemy Karaz, and his malicious working; and she went and
fetched a jar brimmed with water for the bath, and stirred it with her
forefinger, and drew on it a flame from the rays of the sun till there
rose up from the jar a white thick smoke. She rustled her raiment, making
the wind of it collect round Baba Mustapha and Feshnavat, and did this
till the sweat streamed from their brows and bodies, and they were
sensible of peace and the absence of the flea. Then she whisked away the
smoke, and they were attended by slaves with fresh robes, and were as new
men, and sat together over the dish of pomegranate grain, praising the
wisdom of Noorna and her power. Then Baba Mustapha revived in briskness,
and cried, 'Here the dish! and 'tis in my hands an instrument, an
instrument of vengeance! and one to endow the skilful wielder of it with
glory. And 'tis as I designed it,--sweet, seasoned, savoury,--a flattery
to the eye and no deceiver to the palate. Wah! and such an instrument in
the hands of the discerning and the dexterous, and the discreet and the
judicious, and them gifted with determination, is't not such as sufficeth
for the overturning of empires and systems, O my mistress, fair one,
sapphire of this city? And is't not written that I shall beguile Shagpat
by its means, and master the Event, and shame the King of Oolb and his
Court? And I shall then sit in state among men, and surround myself with
adornments and with slaves, mute, that speak not save at the signal, and
are as statues round the cushions of their lord--that's myself. And I
shall surround myself with the flatteries of wealth, and walk bewildered
in silks and stuffs and perfumeries; and sweet young beauties shall I
have about me, antelopes of grace, as I like them, and select them,
long-eyed, lazy, fond of listening, and with bashful looks that timidly
admire the dignity that's in man.'
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