IT is related, that in a city of Hindoostan there was a merchant who had a son in the bloom of youth. The young man one day, owing to his inexperienced years, in argument with his father, having loosened the bridle of respect from his hands, was impertinent beyond measure, and passed the bounds of discretion. From his improper speeches the anger of the father became raised, and, in the warmth of passion, he drove him from his house; which the son, in the stubborn intoxication of youthful folly and false honour, haughtily quitted; and chusing the life of a collinder, rubbed his face over with ashes, and committing himself to wandering about the world, measured the path of travel.
On the first day, however, as he was but little accustomed to the hardships of travelling and the inconveniences of absence from home, before he could reach a stage, he became tired, and the impressions of weariness affected his limbs. Desponding, he quitted the high road, and reclined himself at the foot of a tree, on the margin of a piece of water.
At the close of day, when the world-illuming sun, having finished his course round the globe, had retired to his western abode, four doves alighted from a tree on the edge of the water, which proved to be Peries, who had taken upon them the form of those birds. Having now assumed their natural shapes, they laid aside their vesture, and employed themselves in sportive bathing. The merchant’s son observing this, advanced softly, and taking up their garments, hid them in the hollow of a tree, behind which he sat concealed. The Peries, after a short interval ascending from the water, became much distressed at the misfortune of losing their cloaths, and ran on every side mournfully in search, till at last they beheld the young man, whom they besought with prayers and entreaties to return their garments.
The youth did not meet their petition with acceptance, but said, “Till ‘such times as my object shall be satisfied by you, it is impossible that your request should receive compliance.” The Peries replied, “If thy wishes depend upon us, we will not withhold our assistance.” Upon which the youth continued, saying, “My desire is, that one of you should consent to live with me as a companion, and agree to the union of marriage.” The Peries answered, “Rash young man, as the Almighty Creator has formed our bodies of fire, and your’s of water and clay, with such difference of natures, how can the knot of union be tied? Give up these unreasonable desires, and depart from such unattainable wishes, for they never can be satisfied.”
The young man, not in the least attending to their eloquence, pressed his desires, and became more importunate for the fulfilment of his demands. Pointing to one of the Peries, much handsomer and younger than the rest, he said, “Resign this angel to me, and I will give up the raiment of the rest.” The Peries, on account of their distressed situation, having consented, took leave of their sister; who, remediless, and distressed at separation from her companions, as well as the calamity of being compelled to associate with one of a different nature, shed floods of tears. They strove to console her, saying, “Since this sentence upon thee has been entered in the volume of divine will; what remedy is there, and what can we do in the affair? Allowing that we should all be taken captive, what good would it do thee?”
The young man having thus gained the Perie by his stratagem, gave up the raiment of the rest, who fled away. Having adorned his captive with rich cloaths and valuable jewels, he regarded her company as the chief good of life, and studied to gain her affections night and day; withdrawing not his eyes for an instant from gazing on her heart-ravishing countenance, and laying aside all business but that of love for her charms, he unremittingly quaffed from the cup of pleasure the wine of delight; and, gathering from the rose-bush of her beauty the flowers of rapture, like the nightingale, exulted with ecstacy, and, as that bird when fascinated, made his tongue melodious with the following strain.
In process of time, the Perie also, from constant association, was attached to the young merchant, and placed her foot in the path of regard and her head on the carpet of affection; till at length she bore children, when human customs began to please her. She now seemed to enjoy the acquaintance of her husband’s female relatives and neighbours, and engaged in the management of do mestic concerns with a chearful countenance. The young man now cast from his mind all doubts of her affection, and his heart became assured of her love and attachment.
It chanced after a period of ten years, that misfortunes assaulted the young merchant, and his property became exceedingly reduced. Remediless, in order to gain a livelihood and find out means of subsistence, having made preparations for a long voyage, he submitted his mind to the pangs of separation, and committed the Perie to the care of an aged matron, whom he regarded as deserving of confidence. To her in private, having pointed out the spot where he kept the Peries’ original raiment buried, he revealed the important secret of his adventure; and having repeated his admonition to use proper caution in guarding her charge, placed the foot of departure in the stirrup of travel, and pursued his journey.
The Perie, now become the partner of sorrow, would often complain to her old domestic of the pangs of absence, and in the agony of grief utter expressions of regret; which the matron believing real, used endeavours to console her mind, and would say, “Consent not to dim thy moon-like aspect, the envy of the sun, with the wane of sorrow; or, like the moth, consume thy heart and life in the blaze of the lamp of despondency; but take courage, for the dark night of absence will soon come to an end, and the bright dawn of interview gleam from the horizon of divine bounty.”
From the occurrences of Providence, the Perie, having one day bathed, was drying her amber-scented tresses with a corner of her veil, when the aged domestic, being struck with her dazzling beauty and numerous charms, opened her lips in admiration and praise. The Perie upon this exclaimed, “Ah! nurse, though you think my present charms great, yet had you seen me in my native raiment, you would have witnessed what beauty and grace the divine Creator has bestowed on Peries; for know, that we are among the most finished portraits on the tablets of existence. If, then, thou desirest to behold the skill of the divine artist, and admire the wonders of creation, bring the robes which my husband has kept concealed, that I may wear them for an instant, and shew thee my native beauty, the like of which no human eye, but my Lord’s, hath gazed upon.”
These fool-ensnaring remarks tempted the nurse out of the circle of that prudence and caution requisite to a distinguishing judgment; so that she instantly arose, and taking the robes out of the hole, presented them to the Perie, who eagerly put them on, and, as a bird escaped from a cage, expanded her wings, and having exclaimed “Farewell,” soared aloft towards her native regions. Though the matron, like the afflicted by some sudden calamity, scattering dust upon her head, uttered loud entreaties and complaints, they had no effect upon the liberated Perie; for a bird who has broken the snare will never return to it.
When the merchant’s son, returning from his journey, reached his house, and found no signs of the rose of enjoyment on the tree of hope, but the lamp of bliss extinguished in the chamber of felicity, he became as the Perie stricken,* a recluse in the cell of madness. Banished from the path of understanding, he remained lost to all the bounties of fortune, and the useful purposes of life.
It is clear (continued the sharok) that had not this rash deviator from the road of wisdom entrusted the precious gems of his secrets to the old nurse, he would not have sullied the head of his fortune with the ashes of adversity, or shed the clear water of his enjoyments on the ground of disappointment; neither, having given such a shawbauz* of good luck from his hands, would have become a wanderer in the wilds of calamity.
Fourthly, if by chance, prosperity, greater by comparison than that of another, should become thy lot, be not self-secure of it’s continuance, that, like the young thief, thou mayest not lose the treasure of thy life in the plain of destruction. The prince enquired the story of the thief, and the sharok related as follows.*