45-1
- The
Enchanted Horse:
The Flying Horse Takes the Prince Away
The
Navrooz, the New Year's day, is a day for a great feast in Persia from the
time of idolatry, but the rejoicing is the most extraordinary at the court
only where Kings and strangers are invited from neighboring countries to
show their wonders. On one of these feasts many entertainers came to
Shiraaz entertained the King and were given merit for their entertainment.
As the assembly was breaking up, an Indian appeared with a wooden
horse looking so real that people mistook it as a real horse.
He
greeted the King and said - "I want to show you something so
wonderful which you have not seen so far." The King said - "I
see nothing than the horse and another workman can make it better
than this one." The man said - "Sir it is not about its
outer appearance I am talking about; I am talking about its use. It can
fly in the air in a very short time. This is the wonder I am talking about
and I want to show you this if you permit me to do so." The King was very
adventurous so he told him that he would like to see this with his own
eyes. The man mounted the horse and asked the King where he wanted him to
go. About three leagues away there was a mountain which could be seen from
the palace. King showed him that mountain and asked him to go there and
since he would not be able to see him himself, that is why he asked him to
bring a branch of a palm tree which grew in the foothills of that
mountain only.
The
man turned a peg fit into the horse's neck and in an instant the horse
rose and took the rider to the top of the mountain; and within 15 minutes
the man came back carrying the branch of the palm tree in his hand. He
gave that branch to the King. The King was very impressed and wanted that
horse for himself, so he asked him if it was for sale. The man said - "I had
no doubt in my mind that Your Majesty will put the price as soon as he will see this
horse. I have a request which you may not disapprove. In fact I have not
bought this horse, but got it from its inventor by marrying my daughter to
him. He requested me never to sell it, but if I parted with it I should
have something in exchange of it."
The King
said - "I have a large kingdom, I can give you whatever you
like." The man said - "Please forgive me, although I do not want
to sell it, still I can give it to you if you marry your Princess to
me." All the courtiers broke into laughter, but the King's son Firoz
Shaah didn't like it, but the King didn't mind it, still he was
undetermined what to do. The Prince thinking lest his father agrees with
the man, spoke to him - "Father, Think first logically then
decide." The King said - "I appreciate your ideas but you are
not considering its excellence; and if I will not buy it, he will give it
to somebody else which will put me in an awkward situation, because I can
afford it. I may make another agreement, but before I start bargaining
with him, you try yourself this horse and give me your opinion about
it."
The
man helped the Prince to mount the horse and told him how to manipulate
it. But the Prince mounted it without the man's assistance and turned the
peg which he saw the man handling. Immediately the horse rose and started flying. The
man got alarmed seeing this. He immediately prostrated before the King and
said - "Your Majesty himself saw what happened, the Prince was in so
much hurry that he did not hear my instructions fully. Now he does not
know how to bring it back, therefore I ask a favor Your Majesty, that I
should not be kept responsible for any accident, if it happens."
The King
got worried hearing this and asked him that why didn't he call him back if
he saw him in danger? The man said - "Your Majesty himself saw the
swiftness of the horse. Even if I called him he could not hear me, because
he had already gone too far from us. But Sir, there is a room of hope,
that if the Prince finds himself in a loss and check the horse here and
there, he may find another peg to come back." But all this could not
satisfy the King. He again said - "Lest the horse may fall on the
rock or the sea." The man said - "I assure you for this that it
will never fall down in the sea or on rock, and it will take the rider
wherever he has a mind to go." The King said - "As I am not
satisfied with your answers, if my son does not return in three days time
or I hear that he is safe and alive, I will cut your head." He asked
his people to imprison the man.
In the
meantime, the horse flew so high that the Prince could not make out any
thing on the earth. He got confused and thought to come back to the same
place where he came from. He twisted the peg in reverse order but the
horse continuously rose higher and higher. He was not able to bring it
back. Now he realized his mistake that why he didn't listen to that man
carefully. He immediate thought about the danger he was in but this did
not deprive him with the reason, so he again started looking for anything
else. Soon he found another peg, smaller and less visible, behind its
right ear. He turned the peg and noticed that he was descending with less
speed than the one he went up.
The
night had fallen on that part of the earth on which he was descending now.
He was careful for not being descending in a river, desert or sea. At last
the Prince dismounted the horse at midnight weary, tired and hungry. He
found himself on the terrace of a magnificent palace. He saw a staircase
going downward, so he climbed down those stairs and came into a big hall.
He saw black servants and naked sabres sleeping near them. he thought that
it should be the room of a guard for some Princess.
There
was another room whose door was open. He went into that room and he saw a Princess
sleeping on a bed. The Prince immediately fell in love with her, so he
awoke her softly and the Princess also immediately woke up. She asked him
what was the matter. The Prince said - "I am in danger. Yesterday I was in
Persia and now I am in a strange country." The Princess was the Princess
of Bangaal, the eldest daughter of its King. She said - "You are not
in a barbarous country. This is the kingdom of Bangaal, and the whole kingdom
gives you the protection. I would wish to know that how have you come here
from such a far country? And how did you enter my room without being seen
by my guards? But I think first you need some refreshment." She called
her maids and they took him to another room and gave him some nice food.
When
the maids had finished their work, they came again to the Princess' room.
The Princess asked them what did they think about the Prince. They said -
"You are very fortunate that such an amiable Prince has come to you.
If the King agrees, you marry him; because there is none like him in the
whole kingdom of Bangaal." Next day, the Princess woke up early, got
ready carefully and sent her maids to check whether the Prince of Persia
was up, and if he was then the Princess wanted to visit him. The Prince
said - "As the Princess thinks fit." The Princess came there
asked him about his adventure. The Prince told her everything from the
beginning.
For
two months the Prince lived there as a guest of the Princess of Bangaal as
if he had nothing else to do except passing his time like that. After that
he asked her leave and promised her to come back to marry her. He said -
"I am not a false lover, and if she is not offended, he could ask her
father to marry her even now and take her to his country. The Princess
consented. The only difficulty was that he did not know how to manage the
horse well.
Next
day, the Prince came on the terrace. He mounted the horse, let the
Princess also sit behind him. He asked her to hold him tightly. He twisted
the peg, the horse rose and in two hours time he found his kingdom. He
dismounted the horse not at the palace but a little far from the town. He
kept the Princess in a beautiful apartment and asked her to wait for him till he
informed his father of his coming back. He took a real horse and rode to
his palace. When he was going on the streets, people were very happy to
see him again.
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