Short Stories, - [books to read fiction .txt] 📗

were as the Milky Way for the glitter of jewels, and as the nest of the Phœnix for sweet smell of musk and myrrh and frankincense; and the swaying of her body as she walked was as the bending of the willow withes on the banks of Jordan when the wind of sundown reveals the inward whiteness of their leaves.

And King Solomon’s eyes waxed swollen for gladness to look upon her, and he said, “Peace be unto thee, O daughter of mine uncle.” And she answered, “Peace be unto thee, O my lord, and the mercy of the One Merciful.”

And Solomon said, “O, damsel, who art thou and whither goest thou?” And she said, “Thy servant is a slave girl of the household of Ahimaaz, to whom thy lord and mine, King Solomon, on whom be peace, hath given his daughter Basmath in marriage; and even now am I bound to the house of Ben Abinadab, to whom our lord King Solomon hath given his daughter Taphath in marriage, for there is a feast there toward this night, and thy slave hath been sent for to sing. And men call me Admatha, the daughter of Adaiah.”

And the King said, “What songs canst thou sing?” And she said, “O my lord, thy slave girl hath but little skill, and her voice to the many soundeth harsh and untuneable; yet the lover, when he swooneth in the extremity of his passion, is fain to hearken unto me, and my song is blessed of the wise man to whom the vanity of all things hath been revealed.”

And Solomon said, “O Admatha, it is not yet the hour of the feast; come with us awhile to our lodging that we have prepared, and let us pass the time with wine and music until it behoveth thee to depart.” And she answered, “Peace be upon ye; I will well.” So they came into the lodging, and Zabud let call for wine and they made merry.

Then King Solomon said, “Let bring tables, that thou and I may play a bout at the chess, and then shalt thou sing us a song to the lover in the torment of his passion.”

But Admatha said, “O my Lord, as for playing at the chess at this time, I pray thee hold thy slave excused.”

“Wherefore so?” exclaimed King Solomon; “for my heart is set to play with thee at the chess.”

Then said Admatha, “O my lord, the One Merciful, to whom be all glory, hath laid a burden on thy slave, forasmuch as she may in no wise lose a game at the chess, strive she never so sore; and if she play with thee and win her game, thou wilt haply be an-angered with her, and she should seem ungrateful to thee for this grace that thou hast shown her.”

And Solomon said within himself, “I have held converse with this damsel aforetime, for of a surety I do remember this word she hath spoken that none may have the upper hand of her at the chess.” And he looked upon her straitly for a long time, yet could he call nothing to mind as of her face or favor. And he said within himself, “Behold, that which is, that which hath been, and that which shall be, shall be even as that which is. Belike it was one of them I have defeated of old who boasted himself thus.”

But he spake with his lips and said, “O Admatha, even to lose a game at thy hands were sweeter than to overcome the King of Damascus, and, behold, I give thee this cloak in earnest of thy victory.”

Then Zabud let call for tables, and Solomon the King played at the chess with Admatha the slave girl; and Solomon’s men were of the white and Admatha’s men of the black. And Admatha played without thought, as one that could but little of the chess, so that in a brief space King Solomon had taken prisoner both her elephants and a knight of the right hand and a camel of the left, besides four of her foot soldiers, while Admatha had taken but one foot soldier of King Solomon. And Solomon said within himself, “What glory is it unto me to win at the chess of this music girl? Shall I lift a cimeter of the steel of Cathay to crop a flower of the balsam? I will contrive a combination and make an end of her.” So he made a combination and took her captain.

Then Admatha rose up and made as though she would go. But Solomon said, “Whither away, O Admatha? for the game is not yet played out.”

Then Admatha turned about and said, “O my lord King Solomon, when it listeth thee to sit on thy carpet the winds become thy chariot, and all the beasts of the field fare under thee to subdue thine enemies; and the fowls of the air fly overhead to shield thee from the sun; yet these chess men, that are but of ebony wood and the tusk of behemoth, refuse to obey thee. See now and behold; if thy slave should move yonder foot soldier on to the next square, where would my lord the King be then? As for playing at chess, thy slave girl knoweth naught, yet knoweth she more withal than my lord King Solomon.”

And when Solomon looked at the tables, behold if his adversary should move the foot soldier on to the next square the King was checkmated without redress.

And when he understood that he was known of Admatha and that he was defeated, a mighty wrath gat hold upon King Solomon, and the world was straitened upon him; the vein of fury stood out between his eyebrows, and the fire flashed from his eyes as the blaze leaps from a burning mountain, and the darkness which gathered on his brow was as the smoke thereof, and his words rolled forth even as the molten stone from the mouth of the caldrons of Eblis in the hills of Sikkel. And he drew his sword and smote off the head of Admatha as she stood.

And he cried aloud to Zabud, “Cast me this swine’s carcas into the ditch without the city, that the fowls of uncleanness may feast themselves therewithal.”

But, behold, there was no dead body, neither was there any blood; and Zabud said, “God preserve my lord the King! this damsel was a sorceress.”

“Nay,” said King Solomon, “for my ring spake no word of warning. But said she not that she was bound to the feast at the house of Ben Abinadab? Now, therefore, go straightway thither and bring me tidings.”

And as Zabud went toward the house he met a great company of men and women weeping and wailing and rending their garments; and when they saw Zabud they cried: “O my lord, mayst thou survive my lord Ben Abinadab! for, behold, as we all were feasting and making merry a certain slave girl came into the company whom my lord bade sing to her lute. And when she had tuned her lute she began to sing, and before ever she had sung two words my lord turned his face to the wall and died. Now, therefore, bear the tidings to King Solomon with haste, for our lady Taphath, the widow of Ben Abinadab, is a daughter of my lord the King.”

Then Solomon was sore troubled, and rent his garments and cast ashes upon his head, and the days were darkened upon him. And he said: “Who is this slave girl? for of a surety I do remember all these things of aforetime.” Howbeit he remembered not Jareb ben Othniel, and he said: “I am as one that resteth on his oar when the image of his oar is bent awry by reason of the water that is over it, so that he seeth not aright that which he seemeth to see. O! the waters! the waters! They have covered the whole world, so that no man seeth truly the things that have been for the waters that are above them.”

And about a space of one-and-twenty years, yet once more King Solomon and his chief vizier disguised themselves and went forth into the city, if haply they might find one to play at the chess with the King. And as they came nigh unto the Water Gate of the Temple, behold there stood at the bottom of the steps an old man, as it were a sheikh of the Sons of the Desert, and his hair was white as the water courses of the hills in winter, and his beard flowed down to his knees, as it were icicles of stone in the caverns of Hermon, and his eyebrows were as the snow on the branches of the cedars of the forest, and his eyes as the torches of them that seek for Thammuz on Lebanon.

And Solomon said unto him, “Peace be unto thee, O mine uncle.” And the old man answered, “Peace be unto thee and mercy from the One Merciful.” And Solomon said, “By what name shall I speak to my father’s brother, and whitherward shall we bear him company?”

And the old man said, “I am Habakkuk ben Methusael, the chief of the Benou Methusael, children of the Great Desert, and I have come hither to Jerusalem that I may play a game at the chess with my lord King Solomon.”

And Solomon said, “O Habakkuk, is there any of the Sons of the Desert who is the equal of my lord King Solomon?”

And Habakkuk said, “Nay, my son, there is none among the Kings of the earth who may be compared with my lord King Solomon in riches, or in majesty, or in wisdom; yet haply in this matter of playing at the chess, the Lord, to whom be all the glory, hath been minded not to lay up the whole of his treasure in a single treasure house; for thy servant hath played with men of understanding as well as with others these two hundred years and more, yet hath he never lost a game to any of the children of men.”

And Solomon said within himself, “Now will I win a game of this patriarch of the Desert, and afterward we will bring him to the palace, and when he seeth that it was none other than King Solomon himself who hath defeated him his shame shall be the less.”

So he spake to the old man and said, “Behold, as at this time my lord King Solomon hath gone to sup with the daughter of Pharoah, in the House of Lebanon, and of a surety he will not return till after midnight, for thy servants but even now met the bearers returning with his litter. Wherefore do thou come with us to our lodging, and if it irk thee not, win a game at the chess of thy servant.”

And Habakkuk said, “I will well.”

So they came into the lodging, and Zabud let call for wine and they made merry; howbeit Habakkuk excused himself as for drinking of the wine for that he was of kindred with Hammath of the tribe of Rechab.

And Zabud let call for tables, and Solomon the King played at the chess with Habakkuk the Son of the Desert, and Solomon’s men were of the white and Habakkuk’s of the black. And Habakkuk played without thought as one that could but little of the chess, so that in a brief space King Solomon had taken prisoner both his elephants and a knight of the right hand and a camel of the left, besides four of his foot soldiers, while Habakkuk had taken but one foot soldier of King Solomon. And Solomon said within himself, “What glory is it to win at the chess of a dog of the desert such as this? Doth the lightning make boast of slaying