THE TENDER STORY OF PRINCE JASMINE AND PRINCESS ALMOND
ON THE ONE THOUSAND AND FIRST NIGHT
And as soon as King Schahriar had finished his ordinary thing with Sheherazade, the young Doniazade said to her sister: "By Allah upon you, O my sister, if you are not sleepy, hasten to tell us the rest of the tender story of Prince Jasmine and Princess Almond. And Sheherazade stroked his sister's hair, and said: 'With all friendly hearts, and as homage due to that magnanimous King, our master! And she continued the story in these terms:
… And he appointed Prince Jasmine, in the middle of the night, shepherd of his flocks.
And, since then, Prince Jasmine exercised the profession of shepherd outwardly, and inwardly he occupied himself with love. And in the daytime he led the oxen and the sheep to graze up to a distance of three or four parasangs; and, when evening came, he gathered them together by means of the sounds of his flute and brought them back to the king's stables. And, at night, he lived in the garden, in the company of his beloved Almond, that rose of excellence. And such was his constant occupation.
But who can affirm that the most hidden happiness will always remain safe from the jealous eye of the censors?
Indeed, the attentive Almond used to send her friend, in the woods, the necessary drink and food. And, one day, this reckless love went, in secret, to bring him a tray of delicious treats equal to her lips of sugar, fruits, nuts and pistachios, all nicely arranged on silver leaf. And she said to him, offering him these things: “May this food be sweet and easy to digest for you, which suits your delicate mouth, O parrot of sweet speech and which should only crunch sugar!" She said, and vanished like camphor.
And when this barkless almond had thus disappeared like camphor, the shepherd Jasmine got ready to taste these delicacies prepared by the fingers of the king's daughter. Then he saw advancing on his side the very uncle of his beloved, a hostile and ill-intentioned old man, who spent his days hating everyone and preventing the musicians from playing and the singers from singing. And when he got to the adolescent's side, he looked at him with the grim eyes of defiance, and asked him what he had there, in front of him, in the king's tray. And Jasmin, who was unsuspecting, thought the old man wanted to eat. And he opened his heart, generous as the rose of autumn, and gave her the whole tray of sweets.
And the calamitous old man withdrew immediately to show these delicacies and this tray to Almond's father, King Akbar, who was his own brother. And he showed him in this way the proof of the relationship between Almond and Jasmine.
And King Akbar, on hearing this, was on the edge of anger, and, summoning his daughter Almond, he said to her: “O shame of your fathers, you have brought reproach on our race! To this day our home was free from the weeds and thorns of shame. But you threw the slipknot of deceit on me and caught me there. And, by the coaxing manners which you had towards me, you veiled the lamp of my intelligence. Ah! what man can say he is safe from the wiles of women? And the blessed Prophet (upon him be prayers and peace) said, speaking of them: “O believers, you have enemies in your wives and in your daughters! They are defective in reason and in religion. They were born from a twisted rib. You will rebuke them; and those who disobey you you will defeat. How am I going to treat you now that you have played the game of impropriety with a foreigner, herder of cattle, whose union could not be suitable for the daughters of kings? Should I, tell me, with a stroke of the sword, make your head and his fly off, and burn your double existence in the fire of death?" And, as she wept, he added: "Rather withdraw from my presence, and go and bury yourself behind the curtain of the harem. And don't leave without my permission."
And, having punished his daughter Almond in this way, King Akbar gave the order to make the guardian of the cattle disappear. Now there was a wood near the town, a terrible abode of dreadful beasts. And the bravest men were seized with fear on hearing the name of this forest, and remained paralyzed and their hair stood on end. And there, the morning seemed to be the night, and the night was like the sinister sunrise of the Resurrection. And there were there, among other horrors, two deer-pigs which were the dread of quadrupeds and birds, and which even sometimes came to bring devastation to the city.
And so, the brothers of Princess Almond, by order of the king, sent the unfortunate Jasmine to this place of misfortune, with the intention of putting him to death. And the adolescent, without suspecting what awaited him, led his oxen and his sheep there.
And he entered this forest at the hour when the star with two horns appeared on the horizon, and while the Ethiopian of the night turned his face towards flight. And, leaving his animals to graze as they liked, he sat down on a white skin which he had spread on the ground, and took his flute, a source of intoxication.
And suddenly the two terrible deer-pigs, guided by their sense of smell, came to the clearing where Jasmine was, roaring in imitation of the thunder-laden cloud. And the gentle-looking prince welcomed them to the sounds of his flute, and immobilized them under the spell of his playing. Then, slowly, he got up and left the forest, accompanied by the two frightful animals, one on his right and the other on his left, and followed by the whole herd. And so he came under the windows of King Akbar. And everyone saw it and was amazed.
And Prince Jasmin brought the two fallow deer into an iron cage and offered them to Almond's father, as a due tribute. And the king was, at this feat, verging on perplexity, and withdrew his hand from the condemnation of this lion of heroes.
But the brothers of the enamored Almond did not want to abdicate their resentment, and, to prevent their sister from uniting with the young man, they imagined marrying her against her will to their cousin, son of the calamitous uncle. For they said to themselves: "We must bind the foot of this madwoman with the strong cord of marriage. And then she will forget her senseless love." And they without delay organized the wedding procession, and brought in the musicians and the singers, and the clarinets and the drummers.
And, while these tyrants thus watched over the ceremonies of this oppressive marriage, the desolate Almond, dressed against her will in splendid dresses and ornaments of gold and pearls, which announced a new bride, was seated on an elegant state bed, covered with sheets brocaded with gold, like the flower on the shrub, but with sadness and dejection at its side, the stamp of dumbness on the lips, silent as the lily, motionless as the idol. And, apparently dead young, in the hand of the living, her heart throbbed like a rooster being slaughtered, her soul was dressed in a garment of twilight, her breast was torn by the nail of pain, and her effervescent spirit dreamed with dark eyes of the clay crow that was to become his bedfellow. And she was on the Caucasian peak of sorrows.
But now Prince Jasmine, invited with the other servants to his mistress's wedding, gave her, by a simple meeting of their eyes, a hope freeing her from the bonds of pain. Because, who does not know that, by simple glances, lovers can tell each other twenty things of which no one has the slightest idea?
Also, when night came, and Princess Almond was introduced as a new bride into the nuptial chamber, only then did fate show her happy face to the lovers, and vivify their hearts with the eight scents. And the beautiful Almond, taking advantage of the moment of solitude which had been left to her in this room where her cousin was going to enter, went out noiselessly in her golden clothes, and took her flight towards Jasmine the blessed. And these two blessed lovers took each other by the hand and, lighter than the pink zephyr, they disappeared and vanished like camphor.
And since then no one has been able to find their trace, and no one has heard of them or of the place of their retreat. For, on earth, only some of the sons of men are worthy of happiness, of following the path that leads to happiness, and of approaching the house where happiness is hidden.
Glory forever and multiple praises to the Retributor, Master of joy, intelligence and happiness. Amin!
And Sheherazade, having thus told this story, added: “And such is, O fortunate King, the tender story of Prince Jasmine and Princess Almond. And I told it as it came back to me. But Allah knows better!"
Then she was silent.