第50章

When it was the Eight Hundred and Twenty-fifth Night； She resumed，It hath reached me，O auspicious King，that when Hasan and his wife，accompanied by the ancient dame Shawahi；fared forth from the palace，they made sure of deliverance and they walked on till they came without the city，when he fortified his heart and，smiting the earth with the rod，cried，'Ho，ye servants of these names，appear to me and acquaint me with your conditions！'Thereupon the earth clave asunder and out came ten[174] Ifrits，with their feet in the bowels of the earth and their heads in the clouds.They kissed the earth three times before Hasan and said as with one voice，'Adsumus！ Here are we at thy service，O our lord and ruler over us！ What dost thou bid us do？ For we hear and obey thy commandment.An thou wilt，we will dry thee up seas and remove mountains from their places.'So Hasan rejoiced in their words and at their speedy answer to his evocation then taking courage and bracing up his resolution，he said to them，'Who are ye and what be your names and your races；and to what tribes and clans and companies appertain ye？'They kissed the earth once more and answered as with one voice；saying，'We are seven Kings，each ruling over seven tribes of the Jinn of all conditions，and Satans and Marids，flyers and divers；dwellers in mountains and wastes and wolds and haunters of the seas： so bid us do whatso thou wilt；for we are thy servants and thy slaves，and whoso possesseth this rod hath dominion over an our necks and we owe him obedience.'Now when Hasan heard this；he rejoiced with joy exceeding，as did his wife and the old woman，and presently he said to the Kings of the Jinn，'I desire of you that ye show me your tribes and hosts and guards.''O our lord，'answered they，'if we show thee our tribes，we fear for thee and these who are with thee，for their name is legion and they are various in form and fashion，figure and favour.Some of us are heads sans bodies and others bodies sans heads，and others again are in the likeness of wild beasts and ravening lions.

However，if this be thy will，there is no help but we first show thee those of us who are like unto wild beasts.But，O our lord；what wouldst thou of us at this present？'Quoth Hasan，'I would have you carry me forthwith to the city of Baghdad，me and my wife and this honest woman.'But，hearing his words they hung down their heads and were silent，whereupon Hasan asked them；'Why do ye not reply？'And they answered as with one voice，'O our lord and ruler over us，we are of the covenant of Solomon son of David （on the twain be Peace！） and he sware us in that we would bear none of the sons of Adam on our backs；since which time we have borne no mortal on back or shoulder： but we will straightway harness thee horses of the Jinn，that shall carry thee and thy company to thy country.'Hasan enquired，'How far are we from Baghdad？'and they，'Seven years'journey for a diligent horseman.'Hasan marvelled at this and said to them；'Then how came I hither in less than a year？'；and they said；'Allah softened to thee the hearts of His pious servants else hadst thou never come to this country nor hadst thou set eyes on these regions；no，never！ For the Shaykh Abd al-Kaddus，who mounted thee on the elephant and the magical horse，traversed with thee，in ten days，three years'journey for a well-girt rider，and the Ifrit Dahnash，to whom the Shaykh committed thee；carried thee a three years'march in a day and a night；all which was of the blessing of Allah Almighty，for that the Shaykh Abu al-Ruwaysh is of the seed of Asaf bin Barkhiy [175] and knoweth the Most Great name of Allah.[176]Moreover，from Baghdad to the palace of the damsels is a year's journey，and this maketh up the seven years.'When Hasan heard this，he marvelled with exceeding marvel and cried，'Glory be to God；Facilitator of the hard，Fortifier of the weak heart；Approximator of the far and Humbler of every froward tyrant，Who hath eased us of every accident and carried me to these countries and subjected to me these creatures and reunited me with my wife and children！ I know not whether I am asleep or awake or if I be sober or drunken！'Then he turned to the Jinn and asked，'When ye have mounted me upon your steeds，in how many days will they bring us to Baghdad？'；and they answered，'They will carry you thither under the year，but not till after ye have endured terrible perils and hardships and horrors and ye have traversed thirsty Wadys and frightful wastes and horrible steads without number；and we cannot promise thee safety，O our lord，from the people of these islands，'--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.