第34章

whereby Hasan knew that she was the Commander-in-chief of the army and the Viceregent in authority over them；and her name was Shawahi the Fascinator，entituled Umm al-Daw hi，or Mother of Calamities.[124] She ceased not to bid and forbid and Hasan doffed not off his arms from his body that day.Now when the morning broke，all the troops fared forth from their places，but the old woman came not out with them，and as soon as they were sped and the stead was clear of them，she said to Hasan，'Draw near unto me，O my son[125].'So he drew near unto her and stood between her hands.Quoth she，'Why and wherefore hast thou adventured thyself so boldly as to enter this land，and how came thy soul to consent to its own undoing？ Tell me the truth and the whole truth and fear aught of ill come of it，for thou hast my plighted word and I am moved to compassion for thy case and pity thee and have taken thee under my protection.So，if thou tell me the truth，I will help thee to win thy wish，though it involve the undoing of souls and the destruction of bodies；and since thou hast come to seek me，no hurt shall betide thee from me，nor will I suffer any to have at thee with harm of all who be in the Islands of Wak.'So he told her his tale from first to last，acquainting her with the matter of his wife and of the birds；how he had captured her as his prize from amongst the ten and married her and abode with her，till she had borne him two sons，and how she had taken her children and flown away with them，whenas she knew the way to the feather-dress.Brief，he concealed from her no whit of his case，from the beginning to that day.But when Shawahi heard his relation，she shook her head and said to him，'Glory be to God who hath brought thee hither in safety and made thee hap upon me！ For，hadst thou happened on any but myself，thou hadst lost thy life without winning thy wish；but the truth of thine intent and thy fond affection and the excess of thy love-longing for thy wife and yearning for thy children，these it was that have brought thee to the attainment of thine aim.Didst thou not love her and love her to distraction，thou hadst not thus imperilled thyself，and Alhamdolillah--Praised be Allah--for thy safety！ Wherefore it behoveth us to do thy desire and conduce to thy quest，so thou mayst presently attain that thou seekest，if it be the will of Almighty Allah.But know，O my son，that thy wife is not here；but in the seventh of the Islands of Wak and between us and it is seven months' journey，night and day.From here we go to an island called the Land of Birds，wherein，for the loud crying of the birds and the flapping of their wings，one cannot hear other speak.'--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.

When it was the Eight Hundred and Sixth Night； She pursued，It hath reached me，O auspicious King，that the old woman said to Hasan，'Indeed thy wife is in the Seventh Island，[126] the greatest amongst the Islands of Wak and betwixt us and it is a seven-months' journey.From here we fare for the Land of Birds，whereon for the force of their flying and the flapping of their wings，we cannot hear one other speak.

Over that country we journey night and day，eleven days，after which we come forth of it to another called the Land of Ferals where，for stress of roaring of lions and howling of wolves and laughing of hyaenas and the crying of other beasts of prey we shall hear naught，and therein we travel twenty days' journey.

Then we issue therefrom and come to a third country，called the Land of the J nn，where，for stress of the crying of the Jinn and the flaming of fires and the flight of sparks and smoke from their mouths and the noise of their groaning and their arrogance in blocking up the road before us，our ears will be deafened and our eyes blinded，so that we shall neither hear nor see，nor dare any look behind him，or he perisheth： but there horseman boweth head on saddle-bow and raiseth it not for three days.After this，we abut upon a mighty mountain and a running river contiguous with the Isles of Wak，which are seven in number and the extent whereof is a whole year's journey for a well-girt horseman.And thou must know，O my son，that these troops are all virgin girls，and that the ruler over us is a woman of the Archipelago of Wak.On the bank of the river aforesaid is another mountain，called Mount Wak，and it is thus named by reason of a tree which beareth fruits like heads of the Sons of Adam.[127]

When the sun riseth on them，the heads cry out all，saying in their cries：--'Wak！ Wak！ Glory be to the Creating King；Al-Khall k！' And when we hear their crying，we know that the sun is risen.In like manner，at sundown，the heads set up the same cry，'Wak！ Wak！ Glory to Al-Khallak！' and so we know that the sun hath set.No man may abide with us or reach to us or tread our earth： and betwixt us and the abiding-place of the Queen who ruleth over us is a month's journey from this shore，all the lieges whereof are under her hand，as are also the tribes of the Jinn，Marids and Satans，while of the warlocks none kenneth the number save He who created them.