Have you ever heard of
Sinbad the Sailor?
How about Aladdin?
Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves?
They all come from an
ancient collection of short
stories called Arabian
Nights, also known as The
Thousand and One Nights.
The stories are told by
Scheherazde, who tries to
prevent her husband from
killing her by entertaining him
with a different tale every
night.
We will be reading one of the
stories from the collection
called
“The Story of the Enchanted
Horse”
On the festival of the Nooroze, which is the
first day of the year and of spring, the
Sultan of Shiraz was just concluding his
public audience, when a Hindu appeared
at the foot of the throne with an artificial
horse, so spiritedly modeled that at first
sight he was taken for a living animal.
The Hindu prostrated himself before the
throne, and pointing to the horse, said to
the Sultan, “This horse is a great wonder;
if I wish to be transported to the most
distant parts of the Earth, I have only to
mount him. I offer to show your Majesty
this wonder if you command me.”
The Sultan, who was very fond of
everything that was curious, and who had
never beheld or heard anything quite so
strange as this, told the Hindu that he
would like to see him perform what he
had promised.
The Hindu at once put his foot into the
stirrup, swung himself into the saddle, and
asked the Sultan whither he wished him to
go.
“Do you see yonder mountain?” said the
Sultan, pointing to it. “Ride your horse
there, and bring me a branch from the
palm tree that grows at the foot of the
hill.”
No sooner had the Sultan spoken than the Hindu
turned a peg, which was in the hollow of the
horse’s neck, just by the pommel of the saddle.
Instantly the horse rose from the ground, and
bore his rider into the air with the speed of
lightning, to the amazement of the Sultan and all
the spectators. Within less than a quarter of an
hour they saw him returning with the palm
branch in his hand. Alighting amidst the
acclamations of the people, he dismounted and,
approaching the throne, laid the palm branch at
the Sultan’s feet.
The Sultan, still marveling at this unheard-of
sight, was filled with a great desire to
possess the horse, and said to the Hindu,
“I will buy him of you, if he is for sale.”
“Sire,” replied the Hindu, “there is only one
condition on which I will part with my
horse, namely, the hand of the Princess,
your daughter, as my wife.”
The courtiers surrounding the Sultan’s
throne could not restrain their laughter at
the Hindu’s extravagant proposal. But
Prince Feroze Shah, the Sultan’s eldest son,
was very indignant. “Sire,” said he, “I hope
that you will at once refuse this impudent
demand, and not allow this miserable
juggler to flatter himself for a moment with
the hope of marriage with one of the most
powerful houses in the world. Think what
you owe to yourself and to your noble
blood!”
“My son,” replied the Sultan, “I will not
grant him what he asks. But putting my
daughter the Princess out of the question,
I may make a different bargain with him.
First, however, I wish you to examine the
horse; try him yourself, and tell me what
you think of him.
On hearing this, the Hindu eagerly ran
forward to help the Prince mount, and
show him how to guide and manage the
horse. But without waiting for the Hindu’s
assistance, the Prince mounted and turned
the peg as he had seen the other do.
Instantly the horse darted into the air,
swift as an arrow shot from a bow; and in
a few moments neither horse nor Prince
could be seen…
…The Sultan was much alarmed at his son’s
evident danger, and said to the Hindu,
“Your head shall answer for my son’s life,
unless he returns safe in three months’
time, or unless I hear that he is alive.