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Dr. G.V. (C.V.) Legros - "Fabre, Poet of Science"

Gilbert Parker - "Pierre And His People, [Tales of the Far North], Volume 5."

R. S. Ball - "Great Astronomers"

Georg Ebers - "In The Blue Pike, Volume 3."

The Shaving of Shagpat, Complete

G >> George Meredith >> The Shaving of Shagpat, Complete




Now, the King sat on his throne in the Hall, and around him his
ministers, and Emirs, and chamberlains, and officers of state, and black
slaves, and the soldiers of his guard armed with naked scimitars. And the
King was as a sun in splendour, severely grave, and a frown on his
forehead to darken kingdoms, for the attempt on Shagpat had stirred his
kingly wrath, and awakened zeal for the punishment of all conspirators
and offenders. So when Shagpat was borne in to the King upon his throne
of cushions where he sat upright, smiling and inanimate, the King
commanded that he should be placed at his side, the place of honour; and
Shagpat was as a moon behind the whiteness of the lathers; even as we
behold moon and sun together in the heavens, was Shagpat by the King.

There was great hubbub in the Hall at the entrance of Shagpat, and a hum
of rage and muttered vehemence passed among the assembled people that
filled the hall like a cavern of the sea, the sea roaring outside; but
presently the King spake, and all hushed. Then said he, 'O people!
thought I to see a day that would shame Shagpat? he that has brought
honour and renown upon me and all of this city, so that we shine a
constellation and place of pilgrimage to men in remote islands and
corners of the earth? Yea! and to Afrites and Genii? Have I not
castigated barbers, and brought barbercraft to degradation, so that no
youth is taught to exercise it? And through me the tackle of the barber,
is't not a rusty and abominated weapon, and as a sword thrown by and
broken, for that it dishonoured us? Surely, too, I have esteemed Shagpat
precious.'

While he spake, the King gazed on Shagpat, and was checked by passion at
beholding him under the lather, so that the people praised Shagpat and
the King. Then said he, 'O people, who shall forecast disasters and
triumphs? Lo, I had this day at dawn intelligence from recreant Oolb, and
its King and Court, and of their return to do honour to Shagpat! And I
had this day at dawn tidings, O people, from Shiraz, and of the adhesion
of that vain city and its provinces to the might of Shagpat! So commenced
the day, yet is he, the object of the world's homage, within a few hours
defiled by a lather and the hand of an impious one!'

At these words of the King there rose a shout of vindictiveness and fury;
but he cried, 'Punishment on the offenders in season, O people! Probably
we have not abased ourselves for the honour that has befallen us in
Shagpat, and the distinction among nations and tribes and races, and
creeds and sects, that we enjoy because of Shagpat. Behold! in abasement
voluntarily undertaken there is exceeding brightness and exaltation; for
how is the sun a sun save that daily he dippeth in darkness, to rise
again freshly majestic? So then, be mine the example, O people of the
City of Shagpat!'

Thereupon lo, the King descended from his throne, and stripped to the
loins, flinging away his glittering crown and his robes, and abased
himself to the dust with loud cries and importunities and howls, and
penitential ejaculations and sobbings; and it was in that Hall as when
the sun goeth down in storm. Likewise the ministers of the King, and the
Viziers and Emirs and officers of state, and slaves, and soldiers of the
guard, bared their limbs, and fell beside the King with violent outcries
and wailings; and the whole of the people in the Hall prostrated their
bodies with wailings and lamentations. And Baba Mustapha feigned to
bewail himself, and Noorna bin Noorka knelt beside Kadza, and shrieked
loudest, striking her breast and scattering her hair; and that Hall was
as a pit full of serpents writhing, and of tigers and lions and wild
beasts howling, each pitching his howl a note above his neighbours, so
that the tone rose and sank, and there was no one soul erect in that Hall
save Shagpat, he on his throne of cushions smiling behind the lathers,
inanimate, serene as they that sin not. After an hour's lapse there came
a pause, and the people hearkened for the voice of the King; but in the
intervals a louder moan would strike their ears, and they whispered among
themselves, ''Tis that of the fakir, El Zoop!' and the moaning and howling
prevailed again. And again they heard another moan, a deep one, as of the
earth in its throes, and said among themselves, ''Tis that of Bootlbac,
the drumbeater!' and this led off to the howl of Areep, the dervish; and
this was followed by the shriek of Zeel, the garlic-seller; and the waul
of Krooz el Krazawik, the carrier; and the complainings of Dob, the
confectioner; and the groan of Sallap, the broker; and the yell of
Azawool, the builder. There would have been no end to it known; but the
King rose and commenced plucking his beard and his hair,--they likewise
in silence. When he had performed this ceremony a space, the King called,
and a basin of water was brought to him, and handed round by slaves, and
all dipped in it their hands, and renewed their countenances and
re-arranged their limbs; and the Hall brightened with the eye of the
King, and he cried, 'O people, lo, the plot is revealed to me, and 'tis a
deep one; but, by this beard, we'll strike at the root of it, and a blow
of deadliness. Surely we have humiliated ourselves, and vengeance is
ours! How say ye?'

A noise like the first sullen growl of a vexed wild beast which telleth
that fury is fast travelling and the teeth will flash, followed these
words; and the King called to his soldiers of the guard, 'Ho! forth with
this wretch that dared defile Shagpat, the holy one! and on your heads be
it to fetch hither Feshnavat, the son of Feil, that was my Vizier, he
that was envious of Shagpat, and whom we spared in our clemency.'

Some of the guard went from the Hall to fulfil the King's injunction on
Feshnavat, others thrust forth Baba Mustapha in the eyes of the King.
Baba Mustapha was quaking as a frog quaketh for water, and he trembled
and was a tongueless creature deserted of his lower limbs, and with
eyeballs goggling, through exceeding terror. Now, when the King saw him,
he contracted his brows as one that peereth on a small and minute object,
crying, 'How! is't such as he, this monster of audaciousness and horrible
presumption? Truly 'tis said:

"For ruin and the deeds preluding change,
Fear not great Beasts, nor Eagles when they range:
But dread the crawling worm or pismire mean,
Satan selects them, for they are unseen."

And this wretch is even of that sort, the select of Satan! Off with the
top of the reptile, and away with him!'

Now, at the issue of the mandate Baba Mustapha choked, and horror blocked
the throat of confession in him, so that he did nought save stagger
imploringly; but the prompting of Noorna sent Kadza to the foot of the
throne, and Kadza bent her body and exclaimed, 'O King of the age! 'tis
Kadza, the espoused of Shagpat thy servant, that speaketh; and lo! a wise
woman has said in my ear, "How if this emissary and instrument of the
Evil One, this barber, this filthy fellow, be made to essay on Shagpat
before the people his science and his malice? for 'tis certain that
Shagpat is surrounded where he sitteth by Genii invisible, defended by
them, and no harm can hap to him, but an illumination of glory and
triumph manifest": and for this barber, his punishment can afterwards be
looked to, O great King!'

The King mused awhile and sank in his beard. Then said he to them that
had hold of Baba Mustapha watching for the signal, 'I have thought over
it, and the means of bringing double honour on the head of Shagpat. So
release this fellow, and put in his hands the tackle taken from him.'

This was done, and the people applauded the wisdom of the King, and
crowded forward with sharpness of expectation; but Baba Mustapha, when he
felt in his hands the tackle, the familiar instruments, strength and wit
returned to him in petty measures, and he thought, 'Perchance there'll
yet be time for my nephew to strike, if he fail me not; fool that I was
to look for glory, and not leave the work to him, for this Shagpat is a
mighty one, powerful in fleas, and it needeth something other than tackle
to combat such as he. A mighty one, said I? by Allah, he's awful in his
mightiness!'

So Baba Mustapha kept delaying, and feigned to sharpen the blade, and the
King called to him, 'Haste! to the work! is it for thee, vile wretch, to
make preparation for the accursed thing in our presence?' And the people
murmured and waxed impatient, and the King called again, 'Thou'lt essay
this, thou wretch, without a head, let but another minute pass.' So when
Baba Mustapha could delay no longer, he sighed heavily and his trembling
returned, and the power of Shagpat smote him with an invisible hand, so
that he could scarce move; but dread pricked him against dread, and he
advanced upon Shagpat to shear him, and assumed the briskness of the
barber, and was in the act of bending over him to bring the blade into
play, when, behold, one of the chamberlains of the King stood up in the
presence and spake a word that troubled him, and the King rose and
hurried to a balcony looking forth on the Desert, and on three sides of
the Desert three separate clouds of dust were visible, and from these
clouds presently emerged horsemen with spears and pennons and plumes; and
he could discern the flashing of their helms and the glistening of
steel-plates and armour of gold and silver. Seeing this, the colour went
from the cheeks of the King and his face became as a pinched pomegranate,
and he cried aloud, 'What visitation's this? Awahy! we are beset, and
here's abasement brought on us without self-abasing!' Meantime these
horsemen detached themselves from the main bodies and advanced at a
gallop, wheeling and circling round each other, toward the walls of the
city, and when they were close they lowered their arms and made signs of
amity, and proclaimed their mission and the name of him they served. So
tidings were brought to the King that the Lords of three cities, with
vast retinues, were come, by reason of a warning, to pay homage to
Shagpat, the son of Shimpoor; and these three cities were the cities of
Oolb, and of Gaf, and of Shiraz, even these!

Now, when the King heard of it, he rejoiced with an exceeding joy, and
arrayed himself in glory, and mounted a charger, the pride of his
stables, and rode out to meet the Lords of the three cities surrounded by
the horsemen of his guard. And it was within half-a-mile of the city
walls that the four sovereigns met, and dismounted and saluted and
embraced, and bestowed on one another kingly flatteries, and the titles
of Cousin and Brother. So when the unctions of Royalty were over, these
three Kings rode back to the city with the King that was their host, and
the horsemen of the three kingdoms pitched their tents and camped outside
the walls, making cheer. Then the King of the City of Shagpat related to
the three Kings the story of Shagpat and the attempt that had been made
on him; and in the great Hall of Justice he ordained the erecting of
thrones for them whereon to sit; and they, when they had paid homage to
Shagpat, sat by him there on either side. Then the King cried, 'This
likewise owe we to Shagpat, our glory! See, now, how the might that's in
him shall defeat the machinations of evil, O my cousins of Oolb, and of
Gaf, and of Shiraz.' Thereupon he called, 'Bring forth the barber!'

So Baba Mustapha was thrust forth by the soldiers of the guard; and the
King of Shiraz, who was no other than the great King Shahpushan,
exclaimed, when he beheld Baba Mustapha, 'He? why, it is the prince of
barbers and talkative ones! Hath he not operated on my head, the head of
me in old time? Truly now, if it be in man to shave Shagpat, the hand of
this barber will do it!'

And the King of Oolb peered on Baba Mustapha, crying, 'Even this fellow I
bastinadoed!'

And the King of Gaf, that was Kresnuk, famous in the annals of the time,
said aloud, 'I'm amazed at the pertinacity of this barber! To my court he
came, searching some silly nephew, and would have shaved us all in spite
of our noses; yea, talked my chief Vizier into a dead sleep, and so
thinned him. And there was no safety from him save in thongs and stripes
and lashes!'

Now, upon that the King of the City cried, 'Be the will of Allah
achieved, and the inviolacy of Shagpat made manifest! Thou barber, thou!
do thy worst to contaminate him, and take the punishment in store for
thee. And if it is written thou succeed, then keep thy filthy life: small
chance of that!'

Baba Mustapha remembered the poet's words:

The abyss is worth a leap, however wide,
When life, sweet life, is on the other side.

And he controlled himself to the mastery of his members, and stepped
forward to essay once more the Shaving of Shagpat. Lo, the great Hall was
breathless, nought heard save the splashing of the fountain in its fall,
and the rustle of the robe of Baba Mustapha as he aired his right arm,
hovering round Shagpat like a bird about the nest; and he was buzzing as
a bee ere it entereth the flower, and quivered like a butterfly when 'tis
fluttering over a blossom; and Baba Mustapha sniffed at Shagpat within
arm's reach, fearing him, so that the people began to hum with a great
rapture, and the King Shahpushan cried, 'Aha! mark him! this monkey
knoweth the fire!'

But the King of the City of Shagpat was wroth, and commanded his guards
to flourish their scimitars, and the keen light cut the chords of
indecision in Baba Mustapha, and drove him upon Shagpat with a dash of
desperation; and lo! he stretched his hand and brought down the blade
upon the head of Shagpat. Then was the might of Shagpat made manifest,
for suddenly in his head the Identical rose up straight, even to a level
with the roof of that hall, burning as it had been an angry flame of many
fiery colours, and Baba Mustapha was hurled from him a great space like a
ball that reboundeth, and he was twisting after the fashion of envenomed
serpents, sprawling and spurning, and uttering cries of horror. Surely,
to see that sight the four Kings and the people bit their forefingers,
and winked till the water stood in their eyes, and Kadza, turning about,
exclaimed, 'This owe we to the wise woman! where lurketh she?' So she
called about the hall, 'wise woman! wise woman!'

Now, when she could find Noorna bin Noorka nowhere in that crowd, she
shrieked exultingly, ''Twas a Genie! Wullahy! all Afrites, male and
female, are in the service of Shagpat, my light, my eyes, my sun! I his
moon!'

Meantime the King of the City called to Baba Mustapha, 'Hast thou had
enough of barbering, O vile one? Ho! a second essay on the head of
Shagpat! so shall the might that's in him be indisputable, bruited
abroad, and a great load upon the four winds.'

Now, Baba Mustapha was persuaded by the scimitars of the guard to a
second essay on the head of Shagpat, and the second time he was shot away
from Shagpat through the crowd and great assemblage to the extreme end of
the hall, where he lay writhing about, abandoned in loathliness; and he
in his despondency, and despite of protestation and the slackness of his
limbs, was pricked again by the scimitars of the guard to a third essay
on the head of Shagpat, the people jeering at him, for they were joyous,
light of heart; and lo! the third time he was shot off violently, and
whirled away like a stone from a sling, even into the outer air and
beyond the city walls, into the distance of waste places. And now a great
cry rose from the people, as it were a song of triumph, for the Identical
stood up wrathfully from the head of Shagpat, burning in brilliance,
blinding to look on, he sitting inanimate beneath it; and it waxed in
size and pierced through the roof of the hall, and was a sight to the
streets of the city; and the horsemen camped without the walls beheld it,
and marvelled, and it was as a pillar of fire to the solitudes of the
Desert afar, and the wild Arab and wandering Bedouins and caravans of
pilgrimage. Distant cities asked the reason of that appearance, and the
cunning fakir interpreted it, and the fervent dervish expounded from it,
and messengers flew from gate to gate and from land to land in
exultation, and barbers hid their heads, and were friendly with the fox
in his earth, because of that light. So the Identical burned on the head
of Shagpat as in wrath, and with exceeding splendour of attraction, three
nights and three days; and the fishes of the sea shoaled to the sea's
surface and stared at it, and the fowls of the air congregated about the
fury of the light with screams and mad flutters, till the streets and
mosques and minarets and bright domes and roofs and cupolas of the City
of Shagpat were blackened with scorched feathers of the vulture and the
eagle and the rook and the raven and the hawk, and other birds, sacred
and obscene; so was the triumph of Shagpat made manifest to men and the
end of the world by the burning of the Identical three days and three
nights.




THE FLASHES OF THE BLADE

Now, it was the morning of the fourth day, and lo! at the first leap of
the sun of that day the flame of the Identical abated in its fierceness,
and it dwindled and darkened, and tapered and flickered feebly,
descending from its altitude in the heavens and through the ceiling of
the Hall, and lay down to sleep among the intricate lengths and frizzled
convolutions and undulating weights flowing from Shagpat, an
undistinguished hair, even as the common hairs of his head. So, upon
that, the four fasting Kings breathed, and from the people of the City
there went up a mighty shout of gladness and congratulation at the glory
they had witnessed; and they took the air deeply into their chests, and
were as divers that have been long fathoms-deep under water, and ascend
and puff hard and press the water from their eyes, that yet refuse to
acknowledge with a recognition the things that be and the sights above,
so mazed are they with those unmentionable marvels and treasures and
profusion of jewels, and splendid lazy growths and lavish filmy
illuminations, and multitudinous pearls and sheering shells, that lie
heaped in the beds of the ocean. As the poet has said:

After too strong a beam,
Too bright a glory,
We ask, Is this a dream
Or magic story?

And he says:

When I've had rapturous visions such as make
The sun turn pale, and suddenly awake,
Long must I pull at memory in this beard,
Ere I remember men and things revered.

So was it with the people of the City, and they stood in the Hall and
winked staringly at one another, shouting and dancing at intervals,
capering with mad gravity, exclaiming on the greatness of that they had
witnessed. And Zeel the garlic-seller fell upon Mob the confectioner, and
cried, 'Was this so, O Dob? Wullahy! this glory, was it verily?' And Dob
peered dimly upon Zeel, whispering solemnly, 'Say, now, art thou of a
surety that Zeel the garlic-seller known to me, my boon-fellow?' And the
twain turned to Sallap the broker, and exchanged interjections with him,
and with Azawool the builder, and with Krooz el Krazawik the carrier; and
they accosted Bootlbac the drum-beater, where he stood apart, drumming
the air as to a march of triumph, and no word would he utter, neither to
Zeel, nor to Sallap, nor to Krooz el Krazawik, nor to Azawool his
neighbour, nor to any present, but continued drumming on the air rapidly
as in answer, increasing in the swiftness of his drumming till it was a
rage to mark him, and the excitement about Bootlbac became as a mad eddy
in the midst of a mighty stream, he drumming the air with exceeding
swiftness to various measures, beating before him as on the tightened
skin, lost to all presences save the Identical and Shagpat. So they edged
away from Bootlbac in awe, saying, 'He's inspired, Bootlbac! 'tis the
triumph of Shagpat he drummeth.' They feigned to listen to him till their
ears deceived them, and they rejoiced in the velocity of the soundless
tune of Bootlbac the drum-beater, and were stirred by it, excited to a
forgetfulness of their fasting. Such was the force of the inspiration of
Bootlbac the drum-beater, caused by the burning of the Identical.

Now, the four Kings, when they had mastered their wits, gazed in silence
on Shagpat, and sighed and shook their heads, and were as they that have
swallowed a potent draught and ponder sagely over the gulp. Surely, the
visages of the Kings of Shiraz and of Gaf and of Oolb betokened dread of
Shagpat and amazement at him; but the King of the City exulted, and the
shining of content was on his countenance, and he cried, 'Wondrous!' and
again, 'Wullahy, wondrous!' and 'Oh, glory!' And he laughed and clucked
and chuckled, and the triumph of Shagpat was to him as a new jewel in his
crown outshining all others, and he was for awhile as the cock smitten
with the pride of his comb, the peacock magnified by admiration of his
tail. Then he cried, 'For this, praise we Allah and the Prophet. Wullahy,
'twas wondrous!' and he went off again into a roll of cluckings and
chucklings and exclamations of delight, crying, 'Need they further proof
of the power in Shagpat now? Has he not manifested it? So true is that
saying--

"The friend that flattereth weakeneth at length;
It is the foe that calleth forth our strength."

Wondrous! and never knew earth a thing to equal it in the range of
marvels!'

Now, ere the last word was spoken by the King, there passed through the
sky a mighty flash. Those in the Hall saw it, and the horsemen of the
three cities encamped without the walls were nigh blinded by the keenness
of its blaze. So they looked into the height, and saw straight over the
City a speck of cloud, but no thunder came from it; and the King cried,
'These be Genii! the issue of this miracle is yet to come! look for it,
and exult.' Then he turned to the other Kings, but they were leaning to
right and left in their seats, as do the intoxicated, without strength to
answer his questioning. So he exclaimed, 'A curse on my head! have I
forgotten the laws of hospitality? my cousins are famished!' He was
giving orders for the spreading of a sumptuous banquet when there passed
through the sky another mighty flash. They awaited the thunder this time
confidently, yet none came. Suddenly the King exclaimed, ''Tis the wrath
of Shagpat that his assailants remain uncastigated!' Then cried he to the
eunuchs of the guard, 'Hither with Feshnavat, the son of Feil!' And the
King said to Feshnavat, 'Thou plotter! envious of Shagpat!' Here the
King, Kresnuk, fell forward at the feet of Shagpat from sheer inanition,
and the King of the City ordered instantly wines and viands to be brought
into the Hall, and commenced saying to Feshnavat, in the words of the
wise entablature:

'"Of reckless mercy thus the Sage declared:
More culpable the sparer than the spared;
For he that breaks one law, breaks one alone:
But who thwarts Justice flouts Law's sovereign throne."

And have I not been over-merciful in thy case?'

As the King was haranguing Feshnavat, his nostril took in the steam of
the viands and the fresh odours of the wines, and he could delay no
longer to satisfy his craving, but caught up the goblet, and drank from
it till his visage streamed the tears of contentment. Lo, while he put
forth his hand tremblingly, as to continue the words of his condemnation
of the Vizier, the heavens were severed by a third flash, one exceeding
in fierceness the other flashes; and now the Great Hall rocked, and the
pillars and thrones trembled, and the eyes of Shagpat opened. He made no
motion, but sat like a wonder of stone, looking before him. Surely, Kadza
shrieked, and rushed forward to him from the crowd, yet he said nothing,
and was as one frozen. So the King cried, 'He waketh! the flashes
preceded his wakening! Now shall he see the vengeance of kings on his
enemies.' Thereupon he made a signal, and the scimitars of the guard were
in air over the head of Feshnavat, when darkness as of the dropping of
night fell upon all, and the darkness spake, saying, 'I am Abarak of the
Bar, preceder of the Event!'

Then it was light, but the ears of every soul present were pierced with
the wailing of wild animals, and on all sides from the Desert hundreds of
them were seen making toward the City, some swiftly, others at a heavy
pace; and when they were come near they crouched and fawned, and dropped
their dry tongues as in awe. There was the serpent, meek as before the
days of sin, and the leopard slinking to get among the legs of men, and
the lion came trundling along in utter flabbiness, raising not his head.
Soon the streets were thronged with elephants and lions and sullen
tigers, and wild cats and wolves, not a tail erect among them: great was
the marvel! So the King cried, 'We 're in the thick of wonders; banquet
we lightly while they increase upon us! What's yonder little man?' This
was Abarak that stood before the King, and exclaimed, 'I am the darkness
that announceth the mastery of the Event, as a shadow before the sun's
approach, and it is the Shaving of Shagpat!' The world darkened before
the eyes of the King when he heard this, and in a moment Abarak was
clutched by the soldiers of the guard, and dragged beside Feshnavat to
await the final blow; and this would have parted two heads from two
bodies at one stroke, but now Noorna bin Noorka entered the hall, veiled
and in the bright garb of a bride, with veiled attendants about her, and
the people opened to give her passage to the throne of the King. So she
said, 'Delay the stroke yet awhile, O Head of the Magnanimous! I am she
claimed by Shagpat; surely, I am bride of him that is Master of the
Event, and the hour of bridals is the hour of clemency.'