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09 - Khaled, A Tale of Arabia by Francis Marion Crawford · Khaled, A Tale of Arabia

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Speaker 1: Chapter nine. The story, which was thus repeated from mouth
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Speaker 1: to mouth in Riyad, reached the palace at last, and
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Speaker 1: the guards told it to each other as they sat
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Speaker 1: together under the shadow of the great wall. The cooks
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Speaker 1: related it among themselves in the kitchen, and the black
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Speaker 1: slaves gossiped about it in the corners of the courtyard,
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Speaker 1: and the women's slaves stood and listened while they talked,
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Speaker 1: and carried the tale into the harem. But the people
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Speaker 1: of the palace were more slow to believe than the
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Speaker 1: people of the city, for they shared in a measure
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Speaker 1: in Khalid's right of possession and desired no change of master,
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Speaker 1: so that for a long time neither Zehoa nor Khalid
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Speaker 1: heard anything of what was commonly reported. Yet at last
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Speaker 1: the old woman who had been Zihoah's nurse told her
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Speaker 1: the substance of the story, with many protestations of unbelief
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Speaker 1: and of anger against those who had invented the lie.
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Speaker 1: It is right that my lady and mistress should know
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Speaker 1: these things, she said, And when our lord the Sultan
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Speaker 1: has been informed of them, he will doubtless cause his
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Speaker 1: soldiers to go forth with sticks and purify the hides
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Speaker 1: of the chief evil speakers in the bazaar. There is one, especially,
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Speaker 1: a merchant whose shop is opposite the door of the
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Speaker 1: little mosque, who is continually bold in falsehood, being the
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Speaker 1: same who sold me this garment for linen, But it
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Speaker 1: afterwards turned out to be cotton, and the gold threads
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Speaker 1: are brass and have turned black. I pray Allah to
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Speaker 1: be just as well as merciful. At first Zihoa laughed,
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Speaker 1: but soon afterwards her face became grave, and she bent
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Speaker 1: her brows. For though the story was but a lie,
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Speaker 1: she saw how easily it would find credence. She therefore
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Speaker 1: sent the old woman away with a gift, and she
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Speaker 1: herself went to Khalid and sat down beside him and
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Speaker 1: took his hand. You have secret enemies, she said, who
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Speaker 1: are plotting against your life, and who have already begun
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Speaker 1: to attack you by filling the air of the city
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Speaker 1: with falsehoods, which fly from house to house like flies
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Speaker 1: in summer, entering at the window and going out by
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Speaker 1: the door. You must sift this matter, for it is
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Speaker 1: worthy of attention. And what are these lies of which
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Speaker 1: you speak? It is said openly in the city that
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Speaker 1: you are Ashia and a Persian, having been a robber
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Speaker 1: before you came here, and that you are plotting to
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Speaker 1: deliver over Nijid to the Persians. Look to this, Khalid,
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Speaker 1: for they say that you are no Bedouin, since no
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Speaker 1: one knows your descent nor the name of your father.
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Speaker 1: Do you believe this of Mezehoa, Khalid asked, Do I
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Speaker 1: believe that the sun is black and the night as
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Speaker 1: white as the sun? But it is true that I
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Speaker 1: do not know your father's name. Then Kalid was troubled,
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Speaker 1: for he saw that it would be a hard matter
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Speaker 1: to explain, and that without explanation, his safety might be endangered.
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Speaker 1: Zehoa sat still beside him, holding his hand and looking
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Speaker 1: into his face, as though expecting an answer. Have I
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Speaker 1: done wisely in telling you? She asked? At last, you
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Speaker 1: are troubled. I should have said nothing. You have done wisely,
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Speaker 1: he answered, for I will go and speak to them,
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Speaker 1: and if they believe me, the matter is finished. But
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Speaker 1: if not, I have lost nothing. It will be well
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Speaker 1: to give the chief men presents and to distribute something
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Speaker 1: among the people, For gifts are great persuaders of unbelief.
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Speaker 1: Shall I give them presents because they have believed evil
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Speaker 1: of me? Said Khalid, laughing, humph, Rather would I give
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Speaker 1: you the treasures of the whole earth because you have
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Speaker 1: not believed it. If I had the wealth of the
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Speaker 1: whole world, I would give it to them, rather than
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Speaker 1: that that they should hurt a hair of your head,
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Speaker 1: Zihoah answered, Am I more dear to you than so
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Speaker 1: much Goldzihoah? What is gold that it should be weighed
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Speaker 1: in the balance with the life of a man. You
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Speaker 1: are dearer to me than gold. Is this love? Sihoah?
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Speaker 1: Khalid asked in a low voice. Ah, I do not
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Speaker 1: know whether it be love or not. The wing of
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Speaker 1: night is lifted for a moment, and the false dawn
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Speaker 1: is seen, and afterwards it is night again. But the
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Speaker 1: true dawn will come by and by when night folds
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Speaker 1: her wings before the day. You speak in a riddle, Khalid,
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Speaker 1: It is no matter. I will neither make a speech
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Speaker 1: to the people nor give them gifts. What is it
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Speaker 1: to me? Let them chatter from the first call to
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Speaker 1: prayer until the lights are put out in the evening.
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Speaker 1: My fate is about my neck, and I cannot change
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Speaker 1: it any more than I can make you me. Allah
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Speaker 1: is great. I will wait and see what happens. Everything
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Speaker 1: is undoubtedly in Allah's hand, said Zehoa. But if a man,
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Speaker 1: having meat set before him, will not raise his right
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Speaker 1: hand to thrust it into the dish, he will die
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Speaker 1: of hunger. And do you think that Allah does not
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Speaker 1: know before whether the man will stretch out his hand
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Speaker 1: or not. Undoubtedly Allah knows, and he also knows that
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Speaker 1: if you will not sift this matter and stop the
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Speaker 1: mouths of the liars, I will, though I am but
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Speaker 1: a woman, for otherwise we may both perish if they
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Speaker 1: destroy me. Yet they cannot take the kingdom from you,
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Speaker 1: nor hurt you, said Kalid, How then are you in danger?
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Speaker 1: If I am slain? You will then choose a husband
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Speaker 1: whose father's name is known to them. They will be satisfied,
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Speaker 1: and you will be no worse off than before, and
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Speaker 1: possibly better. This is truth. I will therefore wait for
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Speaker 1: the end. Who has put these words into your mouth, Khalid?
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Speaker 1: For the thought is not in your heart. Moreover, if
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Speaker 1: the tribes should rise up and overthrow you, they would
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Speaker 1: not spare me, for I would fight against them with
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Speaker 1: my hands, and they would kill me. Why should you
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Speaker 1: fight for me since you do not love me? But
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Speaker 1: this is folly no one ever heard of a woman
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Speaker 1: taking arms and fighting. I have heard of such deeds,
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Speaker 1: and if I had not heard of them, others should
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Speaker 1: through me, for I would be the first to do them.
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Speaker 1: I think that so long as Khalid leaves, Zihoa need
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Speaker 1: not bear arms, said Khalid. I will therefore go and
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Speaker 1: call the chief men together and speak to them. And
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Speaker 1: so he did. When the principal officers who had remained
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Speaker 1: in the city during the winter season were assembled in
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Speaker 1: the kawah and had hung up their swords on the
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Speaker 1: pegs and partaken of a refreshment, Khalid sent the slaves
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Speaker 1: away and spoke in a few words as his manner.
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Speaker 1: Men of Riad are red and all nijid. He said,
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Speaker 1: I regret that more of you are not present here,
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Speaker 1: but a great number of sheikhs are still in the desert,
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Speaker 1: and it cannot be helped. I desire to tell you
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Speaker 1: that I have heard of a tale concerning me, which
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Speaker 1: is circulated from mouth to ear throughout Riad and the
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Speaker 1: whole kingdom. This tale is untrue, a lie such as
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Speaker 1: no honest man repeats, even to his own wife at
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Speaker 1: home in the harem. For it is said that I
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Speaker 1: am not called Khalid, but perhaps Ali Hassan or perhaps
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Speaker 1: Ali Hussain, that I am Shi'a, a wine bibber and
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Speaker 1: an idolatrous one who prays for the intercession of Ali,
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Speaker 1: besides being a Persian and a robber. It is also
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Speaker 1: said that I plot to deliver over the kingdom of
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Speaker 1: Niji to the Persians, though how this could be done
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Speaker 1: I do not know, seeing that the Persians are a
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Speaker 1: meal faced people of white jackals, who do not know
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Speaker 1: how to ride a camel. These are all lies, I
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Speaker 1: swear by Allah. When the men heard these words, they
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Speaker 1: looked stealthily one at another to see who would answer Khalid,
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Speaker 1: for they had all heard the story, and most of
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Speaker 1: them were inclined to believe it. Peace is the mother
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Speaker 1: of evil, speaking as garbage breeds flies in a corner,
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Speaker 1: which afterwards fly into clean houses, and men ask whence
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Speaker 1: they come? But none of the chief men found anything
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Speaker 1: to say at first, so that Khalid sat in silence
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Speaker 1: a long time, waiting for some one to speak. He
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Speaker 1: therefore turned to the one nearest to him and addressed him.
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Speaker 1: Have you heard this tale, he inquired? And if you
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Speaker 1: have heard it, do you believe it? I think indeed
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Speaker 1: that I have heard something of the kind, answered the man.
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Speaker 1: But it was as the chattering of an uncertain vision
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Speaker 1: in a dream, which rings in the ears for a
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Speaker 1: moment while it is yet dark in the morning, but
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Speaker 1: is forgotten when the sun rises. By the instrumentality of
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Speaker 1: a just mind, Allah caused that which entered at one
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Speaker 1: ear to run out from the other as the rinsing
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Speaker 1: of a water skin. Good, answered Khalid, Yet it is
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Speaker 1: not well to rinse the brains with falsehoods. And you,
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Speaker 1: he inquired, turning to the next, have you heard it also?
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Speaker 1: Just lord, I have heard, replied this one. But if
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Speaker 1: I have believed, may my head be shaved with a
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Speaker 1: red hot razor having a jagged edge. This is well,
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Speaker 1: Khalid said, And he questioned a third, Oh, Khalid cried
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Speaker 1: the man. Is the milk sour because the slave has
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Speaker 1: imagined a lie, saying I will say it is bad
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Speaker 1: and then it will be given to me to drink.
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Speaker 1: Or is honey bitter because the cook has put salt
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Speaker 1: in the sweetmeats? Or is it night because the woman
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Speaker 1: has shut the door in the window to keep out
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Speaker 1: the sun. The next also found an answer, having collected
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Speaker 1: his thoughts while the others were speaking, a certain man
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Speaker 1: said he kept sheep in Tabal Shamar, and the dog
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Speaker 1: was with the sheep in the fold. Then two foxes
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Speaker 1: came to the fold in the evening, and one of
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Speaker 1: them said to the man, all dogs are wounds, for
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Speaker 1: we have seen their like in the mountains. And your
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Speaker 1: dog is also a wolf and will eat up your sheep.
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Speaker 1: Make haste to kill him therefore, and cast out his carcass.
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Speaker 1: And to the sheep, the other fox said, how many
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Speaker 1: sheep hang by the heels at the butcher's, and how
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Speaker 1: many dogs live in sheep folds. This is an evil
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Speaker 1: world for innocent people. And the sheep were at first persuaded,
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Speaker 1: But presently the dog ran out and caught one of
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Speaker 1: the foxes and broke his neck. And the man threw
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Speaker 1: a stone at the other and hit him so that
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Speaker 1: he also died. Then the sheep said to one another,
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Speaker 1: the foxes have suffered justly, for they were liars and robbers,
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Speaker 1: and the dog in our master have protected us against them,
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Speaker 1: which they would not have done had they desired our destruction.
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Speaker 1: And so are the people, o Khalid, For if you
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Speaker 1: let the liars go unhurt, the people will believe them,
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Speaker 1: but if you destroy them, the faith of the multitude
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Speaker 1: will be turned again to you. This is a fable,
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Speaker 1: said Khalid, and it is not without truth. I am
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Speaker 1: the sheep dog, and the people are the sheep. But
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Speaker 1: in the name of Allah, which are the foxes. Then
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Speaker 1: he turned to another, an old man, who was the kadi,
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Speaker 1: celebrated for his wisdom and for his religious teaching in
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Speaker 1: the chief mosque. I ask you last of all, said Khalid,
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Speaker 1: because you are the wisest, and when the wisest words
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Speaker 1: are heard last, they are most easily remembered. For we
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Speaker 1: first put water into the lamp, and then oil to
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Speaker 1: float upon the surface, and next the wick. And last
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Speaker 1: of all, we take a torch and light the lamp,
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Speaker 1: and the darkness disappears. Light our lamp. Therefore, o Kadi,
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Speaker 1: and let us see clearly, O Khalid, replied the Kadi.
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Speaker 1: I am old and have seen the world. You cannot
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Speaker 1: destroy the tree by cutting off one or two of
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Speaker 1: its branches. It is necessary to strike at the root. Now,
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Speaker 1: the root of this tree of lies which has grown up.
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Speaker 1: Is this? Neither we nor the people know whence you are,
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Speaker 1: nor what was your father's name? And though I, for
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Speaker 1: my part, do not impiously ask whence Allah takes the
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Speaker 1: good gifts which he gives to men, there are many
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Speaker 1: who are not satisfied, and who will go about in
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Speaker 1: jealousy to make trouble until their questioning is answered. If
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Speaker 1: you ask counsel of me, I say, tell us here
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Speaker 1: present of what tribe you are, For we believe you
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Speaker 1: are a pure Bedouin, like the best of us. And
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Speaker 1: tell us your father's name, and peace be upon him.
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Speaker 1: We are men in authority and will speak to the people,
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Speaker 1: and I will address them from the pulpit of the
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Speaker 1: great mosque, and they will believe us. Then all will
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Speaker 1: be ended, and the lies will be extinguished, as the
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Speaker 1: coals of an evening fire go out when the night
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Speaker 1: frost descends upon the camp in winter. But if you
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Speaker 1: will not tell us yet, I, for one, do not
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Speaker 1: believe ill of you. And moreover, you are lord, and
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Speaker 1: we are vassals, so long as you are king, and
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Speaker 1: hold good and evil in your hand, so long as
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Speaker 1: I am king, Khalid repeated. And you think that if
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Speaker 1: I do not tell my father's name, I shall not
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Speaker 1: be where I am for a long time. Allah is
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Speaker 1: wise and knows, answered the Kadi, But he would say
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Speaker 1: nothing more. This is plain speaking, said Kalid, such as
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Speaker 1: I like, but I might plainly take advantage of it.
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Speaker 1: You desire to know my father's name? And whence I come? Then?
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Speaker 1: Is it not easy for me to say that I
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Speaker 1: come from a distant part of the great Danah? Is
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Speaker 1: there a man in Nijit who has crossed the red desert?
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Speaker 1: And if I say that my father was Mohammed Ibun
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Speaker 1: Abd Alhmed Ibun ab el Latif, and so on to
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Speaker 1: our father Ismael, upon whom be peace, shall any one
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Speaker 1: deny that I speak truth? This is a very easy matter.
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Speaker 1: So much the more will it be easy for us
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Speaker 1: to satisfy the people, answered the Kadi, no doubt. I
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Speaker 1: will think of what you have said, And now I
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Speaker 1: pray you partake of another refreshment and go in peace.
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Speaker 1: At this all the chief men looked one at the
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Speaker 1: other again, for they saw that Khalid would not tell
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Speaker 1: them what they wished to know. And those of them
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Speaker 1: who had doubted the story before now began to believe it.
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Speaker 1: But they held their peace, and presently made their salutation,
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Speaker 1: and took their swords from the wall and departed. Khalid
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Speaker 1: then left the kawah and returned to Zihoah in the herem.
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Speaker 1: I have told them that these tales are lies, he said,
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Speaker 1: but they do not believe me. He repeated to Zihoa
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Speaker 1: all that had been said, and she listened attentively, for
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Speaker 1: she began to understand that there was danger not far off.
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Speaker 1: And I told him, he said at last, that it
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Speaker 1: would be as easy for me to invent names as
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Speaker 1: for them to hear them. Then they looked sideways, each
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Speaker 1: at the other, and kept silent. This is a foolish
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Speaker 1: thing which you have done, answered Zihoah. They will now
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Speaker 1: all believe that your father was an evil doer, and
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Speaker 1: that you, yourself are no better. Otherwise, they will say, why
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Speaker 1: should he wish to conceal anything? You should have told
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Speaker 1: them the truth. Whatever it is, you also wish to
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Speaker 1: know it, I see, said Khalid, looking at Zehoa curiously.
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Speaker 1: But if I were to tell you, you would not
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Speaker 1: believe me, I think any more than they would. Then
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Speaker 1: Zephoa looked at him in her turn, but he could
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Speaker 1: not understand the language of her eyes. What is this
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Speaker 1: secret of yours? She asked, I would indeed like to
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Speaker 1: hear it, and if you swear to me that it
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Speaker 1: is true, by allah, I will believe you, for you
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Speaker 1: are a very truthful man and not subtle. But Kalid
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Speaker 1: was troubled at this, for he knew that she would
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Speaker 1: find it hard to believe, and that if she did
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Speaker 1: believe it, she would be terrified to think that she
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Speaker 1: had married one of the genie, and if not, she
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Speaker 1: would suspect him of a hidden purpose in telling her
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Speaker 1: an empty fable, and he would then be further from
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Speaker 1: her love than before. He held his peace therefore for
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Speaker 1: some time while she watched him playing with her beads.
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Speaker 1: In reality, she was very curious to know the truth,
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Speaker 1: though she had always been unwilling to ask it of him,
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Speaker 1: seeing that she had married him as a stranger of
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Speaker 1: her own will and choice without inquiry. Is it just?
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Speaker 1: She asked at last, that the people should accuse you
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Speaker 1: of evil deeds and fill the air of the city
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Speaker 1: with falsehoods concerning you, so that the very slaves hear
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Speaker 1: the guards repeating the lies to each other in the courtyard,
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Speaker 1: and that I, who am your wife, should not know
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Speaker 1: the truth. What have I done that you should not
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Speaker 1: trust me? Or what have I said that you should
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Speaker 1: regard me no more than a slave who sprinkles the
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Speaker 1: floor and makes the fire. And while she is present
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Speaker 1: in the room, you hold your peace, lest she should
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Speaker 1: know your thoughts and betray them. Am I not your
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Speaker 1: wife and faithful? Have I not given you a kingdom
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Speaker 1: and treasure beyond counting? Surely there were times when you
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Speaker 1: talk more freely with that Barbarian slave woman whose hair
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Speaker 1: was red, than you ever talk with me. This is
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Speaker 1: not true, said Kalid. And if I talked familiarly with Almasta,
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Speaker 1: you know the reason. For you yourself found it out
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Speaker 1: and called me simple for trying to deceive you. And
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Speaker 1: now she is gone to the desert with her husband,
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Speaker 1: and there is no more question of her or her
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Speaker 1: red hair. But all the rest is true. And you
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Speaker 1: have indeed given me a kingdom which I am likely
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Speaker 1: to lose, and wealth which I do not desire, though
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Speaker 1: you have not given me that which I covet more
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Speaker 1: than gold or kingdom's for I desire it, indeed, and
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Speaker 1: that is your love. Moreover, if you have given me
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Speaker 1: the rest, I have done something in return. For I
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Speaker 1: have fought for your people and shed my blood freely,
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Speaker 1: and given you a nation captive, besides loving you and
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Speaker 1: refusing to take another wife into my house. And this
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Speaker 1: last is a matter of which some women would think
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Speaker 1: more highly than you. But Sihua's curiosity was burning within
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Speaker 1: her like a thirst, for although she had at first
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Speaker 1: cared little to know of Khalid's former life, she was
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Speaker 1: astonished at his persistency in keeping the secret, now seeing
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Speaker 1: that the whole country was full of false rumors about him.
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Speaker 1: How can a man expect that a woman should love
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Speaker 1: him if he will not put his trust in her,
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Speaker 1: she asked. Then Khalid did not hesitate any longer, for
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Speaker 1: he was never slow to do anything by which there
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Speaker 1: seemed to be any hope of gaining her love. He
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Speaker 1: therefore took her hand in his, and it trembled a little,
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Speaker 1: so that he was pleased, though indeed the unsteadiness came
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Speaker 1: more from her anxiety to know the story he was
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Speaker 1: about to tell than from any love. She felt at
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Speaker 1: that moment, you have sworn that you will believe me, Zihoah,
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Speaker 1: he said, But I forewarn you that there are hard
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Speaker 1: things to understand. For the reason why I will not
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Speaker 1: tell my father's name, nor the name of my tribe
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Speaker 1: is a plain one, seeing that I was not born
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Speaker 1: like other men and have no father at all, and
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Speaker 1: my brethren are not men, but Genie of the air,
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Speaker 1: created from the beginning and destined to die at the
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Speaker 1: second blast of the trumpet before the resurrection of the dead.
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Speaker 1: At this Zehovah started suddenly in fright and looked into
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Speaker 1: his face, expecting to see that he had coals of
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Speaker 1: fire for eyes and an appalling countenance. But when she
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Speaker 1: saw that he was not changed, and had the face
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Speaker 1: of a man and the eyes of a man, she laughed,
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Speaker 1: What is this idle tale of ifrits, she exclaimed, frighten
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Speaker 1: children with it? This is what I foresaw in you,
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Speaker 1: said Khalid, you cannot believe me. Of what use is
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Speaker 1: it then to tell you my story? Zehovah answered nothing,
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Speaker 1: for she was angry, supposing that Khalid was attempting to
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Speaker 1: put her off with a foolish tale. She had heard, indeed,
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Speaker 1: of Genie and a Fritz, and she was sure that
20:54
Speaker 1: they had existence, since they were expressly mentioned in the Koran,
20:59
Speaker 1: but she had never that any of them had taken
21:01
Speaker 1: the shape and manner of a man. She remembered also
21:05
Speaker 1: how Khalide had always fought with his hands in war
21:08
Speaker 1: like other men, and been wounded, and she was sure
21:11
Speaker 1: that if his story were true, he would have summoned
21:14
Speaker 1: whole legions of his fellows through the air to destroy
21:17
Speaker 1: the enemy. You do not believe me, he repeated, somewhat bitterly.
21:23
Speaker 1: And if you do not believe me, how shall others do? So?
21:26
Speaker 1: You ask me to believe too much. If you ask
21:30
Speaker 1: for my faith, you must offer me truths and not fables.
21:34
Speaker 1: It is true that I am curious, which is foolish
21:37
Speaker 1: and womanly. But if you do not wish to tell
21:39
Speaker 1: me your secret, I cannot force you to do so,
21:42
Speaker 1: nor have I any right to expect confidence. Let Us
21:46
Speaker 1: therefore talk of other things, or else not talk at all,
21:49
Speaker 1: For though you will not satisfy me, you cannot deceive
21:53
Speaker 1: me in this way. So you also believe that I
21:58
Speaker 1: am a Persian? And the robber said, Khalid? Is it not? So?
22:03
Speaker 1: How can I tell what you are? If you will
22:05
Speaker 1: not tell me? Is your name written in your face
22:08
Speaker 1: that I may know it is indeed Khalid and not
22:11
Speaker 1: Ali Hassan as the people say? Or is the record
22:14
Speaker 1: of your deeds inscribed upon your forehead? For me to read,
22:18
Speaker 1: you may be a Persian, I cannot tell. Then Khalid
22:22
Speaker 1: bent his brows and turned his eyes away from her,
22:25
Speaker 1: for he was angry and disappointed. Though indeed she knew
22:29
Speaker 1: in her heart that he was no Persian, but she
22:32
Speaker 1: let him suppose that she thought so, hoping perhaps to
22:35
Speaker 1: goad him into satisfying her curiosity. If Khalid had been
22:39
Speaker 1: a man like other men, and Zehovah supposed him to be,
22:43
Speaker 1: he would doubtless have invented a well framed history, such
22:47
Speaker 1: as she would have believed, at least for the present.
22:50
Speaker 1: But to him such a falsehood appeared useless, for he
22:54
Speaker 1: had seen the world during many ages, and had observed
22:58
Speaker 1: that a lie is never really successful, except by chance,
23:01
Speaker 1: seeing that no intelligence is profound enough to foresee the
23:05
Speaker 1: manner in which it will be some day examined, whereas
23:09
Speaker 1: the truth, being always coincident with the reality, can never
23:13
Speaker 1: be wholly refuted. Khalid therefore hesitated as to whether he
23:18
Speaker 1: should tell his story from the beginning or hold his peace.
23:22
Speaker 1: But in the end he decided to speak, because it
23:24
Speaker 1: was intolerable to him to be thought an evildoer by her.
23:29
Speaker 1: You make haste to disbelief before you have heard all,
23:32
Speaker 1: he said. At last hear me to the end. I
23:36
Speaker 1: have told you that I slew the Indian prince. That
23:39
Speaker 1: was before I became a man. You yourself could not
23:42
Speaker 1: understand how I was able to enter the palace and
23:46
Speaker 1: carry him away without being observed. But as I was
23:50
Speaker 1: at that time able to fly and to make both
23:53
Speaker 1: myself and him invisible, this need not surprise you. If
23:57
Speaker 1: you do not believe that I did it, let us
24:00
Speaker 1: order a litter to be brought for you, and I
24:02
Speaker 1: will take my mare and a sufficient number of attendants,
24:06
Speaker 1: and let us ride southwards into the red desert. There
24:09
Speaker 1: I will show you the man's bones. You will probably
24:13
Speaker 1: recognize them by the gold chain which he wore about
24:15
Speaker 1: his neck, and by his ring. After that, when I
24:19
Speaker 1: had buried him, the messenger of Allah came to me.
24:22
Speaker 1: And because the man was an unbeliever and had intended
24:25
Speaker 1: to embrace the faith outwardly, having evil in his heart,
24:29
Speaker 1: Allah did not destroy me immediately, but commanded that the
24:33
Speaker 1: angel Israel should write my name in the book of life,
24:36
Speaker 1: that I might become a man. But Allah gave me
24:40
Speaker 1: no soul, promising only that if I could win your love,
24:43
Speaker 1: whose suitor I had killed, I should receive an immortal spirit,
24:48
Speaker 1: which should then be judged according to my deeds. This
24:52
Speaker 1: is truth. I swear it in the name of Allah,
24:54
Speaker 1: the Merciful, the compassionate. Then an angel gave me garments
24:59
Speaker 1: such as men where and the sword and the good mirror.
25:03
Speaker 1: And I traveled hither to Riad, eating locusts for food.
25:07
Speaker 1: And though no man knew me, you married me at once,
25:11
Speaker 1: for it was the will of Allah, whose will shall
25:13
Speaker 1: also be done to the end. The rest you know.
25:17
Speaker 1: If therefore you will love me before I die, I
25:20
Speaker 1: shall receive a soul, and it may be that I
25:23
Speaker 1: shall inherit paradise, for I am a true believer and
25:26
Speaker 1: have shed blood for the faith. But if you do
25:29
Speaker 1: not love me when I die, I shall perish as
25:32
Speaker 1: the flame of a lamp that is blown out at dawn.
25:35
Speaker 1: This is the truth. He ceased from speaking and looked
25:39
Speaker 1: again at Sihoa. At first he supposed from her face
25:43
Speaker 1: that she believed him, and his heart was comforted. But
25:47
Speaker 1: presently she smiled, and he understood that she was not convinced.
25:52
Speaker 1: For the story had interested her greatly, and she had
25:55
Speaker 1: almost forgotten not to believe it. But when she no
25:59
Speaker 1: longer heard his voice. It seemed too hard for her.
26:03
Speaker 1: This is a strange tale, she said, and it will
26:07
Speaker 1: probably not satisfy the people. I do not care whether
26:11
Speaker 1: they are satisfied or not, Khalid answered. All I desire
26:15
Speaker 1: is to be believed by you, for I cannot bear
26:19
Speaker 1: that you should think me what I am not? What
26:22
Speaker 1: can I do? I cannot say to my intelligence take
26:26
Speaker 1: this and reject that, any more than I can say
26:29
Speaker 1: to my heart love or love not. It would indeed
26:33
Speaker 1: have been easier if you had said, I am a
26:35
Speaker 1: certain Persian, a fugitive. Protect me, for my enemies are
26:38
Speaker 1: upon me. I could perhaps give you protection if you
26:42
Speaker 1: require it, as you may. But you come to me
26:44
Speaker 1: with a monstrous tale, and you ask me to love
26:47
Speaker 1: not a man but a gin or an afrite, or
26:50
Speaker 1: whatever it pleases you to call yourself. Assuredly, this is
26:54
Speaker 1: too harm for me. And again Zihoa smiled scornfully, for
26:59
Speaker 1: she was really beginning to think that he might be
27:02
Speaker 1: a Persian disguised as the people said. I need no
27:06
Speaker 1: protection from man or woman, said Khalid, for I fear
27:10
Speaker 1: neither the one nor the other. For I am strong,
27:13
Speaker 1: and if I am able to give out charity. I
27:16
Speaker 1: am also able to take by force. My fate is
27:20
Speaker 1: ever with me. I cannot escape it, but neither can
27:23
Speaker 1: others escape theirs. I will fight alone if need be,
27:28
Speaker 1: for if you will not love me, I care little
27:30
Speaker 1: how I may end moreover in battle. It is not
27:34
Speaker 1: good to stand in the way of a man who
27:36
Speaker 1: seeks death. But Zihoah thought this might be the speech
27:40
Speaker 1: of a desperate man such as Ali Hassan the robber,
27:44
Speaker 1: as well as of Khalid the Djinn, and she was
27:47
Speaker 1: not convinced, though she no longer smiled, for she knew
27:50
Speaker 1: little of supernatural beings, and a devil might easily call
27:54
Speaker 1: himself a good spirit, so that she was convinced that
27:58
Speaker 1: she was married either to a demon or to a
28:01
Speaker 1: dangerous robber, and she could not even decide which of
28:05
Speaker 1: the two she would have preferred, for either was bad enough,
28:09
Speaker 1: and as for love, there could no longer be any
28:11
Speaker 1: question of that. Khalid understood well enough and rose from
28:16
Speaker 1: his seat and went away, desiring to be alone. He
28:20
Speaker 1: knew that he was now surrounded by danger on every side,
28:24
Speaker 1: and that he could not even look to his wife
28:26
Speaker 1: for comfort, since she also believed him to be an impostor. Truly,
28:31
Speaker 1: he said to himself, this is a task beyond accomplishment
28:35
Speaker 1: which Allah has laid upon me. It is harder to
28:38
Speaker 1: get a woman's love than to win kingdoms. And it
28:41
Speaker 1: is easier to destroy a whole army with one stroke
28:44
Speaker 1: of a sword than to make a woman believe that
28:47
Speaker 1: which she does not desire. And now the end is
28:50
Speaker 1: at hand, for she will never love me, and I
28:53
Speaker 1: shall certainly perish in this fight, being alone against so many.
28:59
Speaker 1: Allah assured did not intend me to run away, And moreover,
29:03
Speaker 1: there is no reason left for remaining alive. On that day,
29:08
Speaker 1: Khalid again called the chief men together in his kawah
29:11
Speaker 1: and addressed them briefly. Men of Riyad, he said, I
29:16
Speaker 1: am aware that there is a conspiracy to overthrow and
29:19
Speaker 1: destroy me, and I dare say that you yourselves are
29:23
Speaker 1: among the plotters. I will not tell you who I am,
29:26
Speaker 1: but I swear by Allah that I am neither a Persian,
29:29
Speaker 1: nor a robber, nor yet a shi'ah. You will doubtless
29:33
Speaker 1: attack me unawares, but you will not find me sleeping.
29:36
Speaker 1: I will kill as many of you as I can,
29:39
Speaker 1: and afterwards I also shall undoubtedly be killed for I
29:43
Speaker 1: am alone, and you have many thousands on your side.
29:47
Speaker 1: Min Allah. It is in Allah's hands. Go in peace.
29:52
Speaker 1: So they departed, shaking their heads but saying nothing. End
29:58
Speaker 1: of Chapter nine. Recording by maricel Quee