Episode 1:
The Three Princes Adventures
There was (and there was not) a Sultan who had three sons whose
names were Hassan, Hussein, and Ali.
One day he called them to his Diwan and before the assembled ministers
and told them that he had decided to give up his throne. "It
is time for me to rest" he said "but before I can retire
I want to make sure that my people will have a worthy ruler, so
each of you will undertake a journey.
A year and a day from today I will hear you tell your adventures
and decide which one of you is the most fit to reign in my place"
So the princes said goodbye to their mother and their sisters, prepared
themselves for a long journey, and the next day they set off.
Hassan rode towards the rising sun, and after travelling for a hundred
and fifty days he came to a mountain range, and ordered his soldiers
to set up camp at its foot for the night. When his followers were
all asleep, he was woken up by a Marid, grey as the mountains which
were his home, whose form almost blocked out the stars.
The prince's terror showed in his face, but he before he could open
his lips to plead, the Marid reassured him: "It is true that
you have entered my territory without permission" he said,
"but as you are a prince on a quest I shall regard you as my
guest".
Hassan was profuse in his apologies and effusive in his praise his
host's generosity, knowing that the shortest way to gain a Marid's
friendship is flattery, and plenty of it; and this Marid was so
pleased with the Hassan's honeyed talk that he decided to help him.
"Prince Hassan" he said "you have interested me,
and I ask you, in the name of the one who will turn the mountains
into dust, to tell me what you most wish for, and I, Wahib brother
of Wahab, shall grant it".
"I wish to be chosen as my father's successor" was Hassan's
quick reply.
"A young man like you, with all the qualities that become the
finest monarch, deserves to rule lives and judge deaths, but I your
father is a good and pious man, and I cannot influence him"
Hassan made no attempt to hide his disappointment "What is
the world coming to" he said, "a being who calls himself
a Marid has less power than mere Jinn, and can't perform a task
that Ala'uddin 's Jinni, who dwelt in an old lamp, not a mountain,
would have accomplished while resting between arranging the marriage
of a beggar to the daughter of the Sultan, and raising a palace
overnight for them to live in".
A Marid has a short temper as everyone knows, and this one was no
exception. But while Wahab would have liked nothing better than
to punish Hassan for such a comparison, he had pronounced the formula
granting the prince a wish he was bound to serve him. For the time
being he could only point out that Ala'uddin 's Jinni had as much
power as Shahrazad decided to give him, and then promise the prince
a gift that would outshine anything his brothers might bring back
from their adventures, and so secure him his father's approval.
The Marid clapped his hands and what had seemed to be a seamless
rock face opened to reveal a massive chiseled silver door, which
swung open at a touch of his fingertip as he invited the prince
to enter. Inside was a palace whose walls were covered in silver
polished to mirror those walking past and dazzle their sight by
reflecting the light shining from thousands of wrought silver lamps.
The Marid led his marvelling guest through glittering halls and
corridors to his treasury, filled with nuggets of pure silver, the
rarest find as any miner would tell you, and told the prince to
take as much as he could carry away.
Hassan was overjoyed, and went back to the camp to bring his men.
They worked so fast that after they prayed the noon prayer they
started the long journey home, with every available container, from
waterskins to clothes chests, emptied of its contents and filled
with silver instead.
Hassan's brother, Hussein journeyed eastwards for a hundred days,
and one day while marching across a sea of burning sand when he
came upon an oasis and decided to rest for a day.
As the sun rose to its zenith a sudden sand storm announced the
coming of a Marid who regarded this oasis as his haven and did not
appreciate sharing it, and therefore made sure that anyone who stayed
in it would have a tale to tell that would warn future travelers
to avoid it as a haunted place.
While the sandstorm raged the prince noticed that the wind was deliberately
playing games with his servants and soldiers who were battling to
save the tents, the baggage and the animals, and knew that they
faced something more than the desert's fury.
Prince Hussein thought he faced a mischievous waha spirit, and called
out for it to face him, but instead the sandstorm gathered to form
a giant who closed the eye of the sun, who answered the prince's
challenge by introducing himself as a Wahab the brother of Wafi.
But Hussein was famed for his arrogance, and he showed no fear.
"Whoever and whatever you are" he said "you have
no right to harass a party of travellers taking their rest in an
oasis" and he gave the Marid a tongue lashing in language more
suited to hagglers in the souk than a noble prince.
But Wahab acted as if he was impressed by the prince's words, apologised
for the damage he had caused and offered to grant any wish Hassan
might have as proof of his regret. Of course Hussein, like his brother,
wanted to be the next King, and Wahib like his brother, could not
promise that he would be. "The King your father will make his
own judgement, that I have no power over" he said "but
what I will give you will make anything your brothers bring back
look like dry bread set beside stuffed pigeons".
He clapped his hands and part of what had seemed to be a sand dune
lifted like a curtain to reveal heavy doors of beaten gold which
swung open as the Marid walked up to them, followed by Hussein,
who struggled to keep his amazement hidden as he was led past rooms
with golden walls engraved with fantastic decorations, in which
everything from chairs to the incense holders was carved out of
solid gold, and the carpets, cushions and wall hangings were woven
from threads spun of gold covered silk.
In a few minutes the prince saw ten times the amount of gold in
all his father's kingdom, and when they finally reached the treasury,
its dull iron door was a relief after the endless yellow glare.
The treasury was full of gold dust, and Wahab told the prince to
take as much as he could manage back with him. That night he and
his followers turned towards the setting sun, and with every man,
horse, and camel loaded with gold started toward his father's palace.
During their days and nights of traveling Hussein never tired of
describing the golden palace in the sands to his companions, and
they united in praising their leader for his bravery, but no one
remembered the fact that he had insulted a powerful being, a Marid
who holds a grudge for longer than a Bedouin.
Prince Ali, the youngest brother, had travelled south and on the
fiftieth day came out of a thick forest to find himself on a wild
and deserted sea shore, so he decided to set up camp on the beach
and decide how to find a boat the next morning. While his servants
were busy setting up the tents and grilling freshly caught Faruj
for dinner, the placid blue green sea was disturbed by violent waves,
and a Marid of the same colour, with a foam white beard, rose to
question the strangers who had come to disturb his peace.
Ali's eloquence calmed the Marid's anger without Hassan's feebleness,
and he faced him bravely without Hussein's self-importance, and
Wafi the brother of Wahab was so pleased with his politeness and
courage that he declared himself Ali's true friend from that day
onwards.
But when he was offered the fulfillment of any desire, Ali unlike
his brothers did not ask for the throne, instead he said "I
came here in search of the Lady of Goodness and Beauty, and my wish
is to marry her".
"Well" said Wafi "She lives in an island in the middle
of this sea ruled by her father the Sultan, and I have helped him
and his ancestors protect their kingdom from invasions and sea raids
for generations. Give him this ring, and tell him that you ask for
his daughters' hand with my blessing, and he shall not refuse you"
Ali was delighted with this assurance, and thanked his new friend
profusely. But he had one question: "how do I get to the island?
There are no boats or ferries in this deserted place".
But if the prince hoped to be magically transported across the waves
was disappointed, as Wafi thought he should earn the hand of the
Lady of Goodness and Beauty by striving for her. So he told Ali
to travel along the shore until he came to a port city founded on
trade with the fabulously rich kingdom of the Sultan of the Sea,
where he would be able to find a ship that would take him to the
island.
And that is precisely what prince Ali did.
To be continued
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