The Caravan_The Caliph Stork_III

Sadly the enchanted ones wandered through the fields, without the slightest idea of what course they had better pursue in their present plight. They could neither get rid of their feathers, nor could they return to the town with any hope of recognition; for who would believe a stork, were he to proclaim himself Caliph? or, even believing the story, would the citizens of Bagdad be willing to have a stork for their Caliph?

So they stole about for several days, supporting themselves very poorly on fruits, which, on account of their long bills, they could eat only with great difficulty. For lizards and frogs they had no appetite, fearing lest such tit-bits might disagree with their stomachs. The only consolation left them in their wretchedness was the power of flight; and they often flew to the roofs of Bagdad, that they might see what occurred there.

For the first day or two, they noticed great excitement in the streets, followed by sadness. But about the fourth day after their enchantment, while they were resting on the roof of the Caliph's palace, they observed down in the street a brilliant procession. Trumpets and fifes sounded. A man in a gold-embroidered scarlet coat sat upon a richly caparisoned steed, surrounded by a gay retinue. Half Bagdad followed him, and all shouted:

“Hail Mizra! Ruler of Bagdad!”

The two storks perched on the palace roof, exchanged a glance, and Caliph Chasid said—

“Do you perceive now the meaning of my enchantment, Grand Vizier? This Mizra is the son of my deadly enemy, who, in an evil hour, swore to revenge himself on me. But still I will not give up all hope. Come with me, you faithful companion of my misfortune, we will make a pilgrimage to the grave of the Prophet. Perhaps in that sacred place the spell will be removed.”

They rose from the palace roof and flew in the direction of Medina.

But so little practice had the two storks had in flying, that it fared hard with them.

“Oh, Sire!” groaned the Grand Vizier, after a few hours’ flight, “with your permission I shall have to stop. You fly much too fast! And it is now evening, and we should do well to look out for a place on which to alight for the night.”

Chasid harkened to the request of his follower, and, perceiving a ruin that promised to afford a shelter, they flew down to it. The place they had selected for the night bore the appearance of having once been a castle. Beautiful columns rose out of the ruins, while several rooms still in a fair state of preservation, testified to the former splendor of the building. Chasid and his companion strolled through the passages, seeking some dry sheltered spot, when suddenly the stork Mansor stopped.

“Sire,” whispered he softly, “I wish it were not so unbecoming in a Grand Vizier, and even more in a stork, to fear ghosts! My courage is fast failing me, for near here there was a distinct sound of sighing and groaning!”

The Caliph also stopped, and very plainly heard a low sobbing that seemed to proceed from a human being, rather than from an animal. Full of curiosity, he was about to approach the place whence the sounds came, when the Vizier caught him by the wing with his bill, and begged him most earnestly not to plunge into new and unknown dangers. All in vain! For the Caliph, who even under a stork's wing, carried a stout heart, tore himself away with the loss of a few feathers, and hastened into a dark passage. He shortly came to a door, through which he plainly heard sighs intermingled with low groans. He pushed open the door with his bill, but remained standing on the threshold in surprise.

In the ruined room, lighted but dimly by a small lattice window, he saw a large owl sitting on the floor. Large tears fell from its great round eyes, while in passionate tones it poured forth its complaints from its curved beak. But when the owl saw the Caliph and his Vizier, who by this time had stolen up, it raised a loud cry of joy. Daintily brushing the tears from its eyes with the brown spotted wings, it exclaimed in pure human Arabic, to the wonder of the listeners:

“Welcome, storks! You are a good omen, as it was once prophecied that storks would be the bearers of good fortune to me.”

As soon as the Caliph had sufficiently recovered from his astonish-ment, he made a bow with his long neck, brought his slender feet into a graceful position, and said—

“O owl of the night! From your words I believe I see in you a companion in misfortune. But, alas! Your hope that we can give you relief is doomed to disappointment. You will yourself appreciate our helplessness when you have heard our story.”

The owl requested him to relate it; which the Caliph did, just as we have heard it.

大漠商旅_鹭鸶哈里发_Ⅲ

被魔法变成了鹭鸶的哈里发和他的大臣忧伤地穿过田野，对自己遇上的这种倒霉事一筹莫展。他们没法脱掉身上鹭鸶的外衣，也没法回到城里让人们认出他们。谁能相信一只鹭鸶就是哈里发呢？就算相信了，巴格达的市民还能让一只鹭鸶当哈里发吗？

几天来他们就这样游来荡去，可怜巴巴地靠野果充饥。即便这样，由于嘴太长了，啄野果也很困难。再说，他们又不敢吃壁虎或者青蛙，怕这样的美食把胃搞坏。在这些忧伤的日子里，他们聊以自慰的是还能够飞行。因此他们常常飞到巴格达城上空，看看下面发生了什么事情。

开头几天他们发现，大街小巷充满了不安和悲伤。可大约在第四天，他们正歇在哈里发宫殿的屋顶上，就看见下面街上走过来一队华丽的人马，同时锣鼓喧天。一个穿着绣金的鲜红色长袍的人，骑着一匹披红挂绿的骏马，被仆从们兴高采烈地簇拥着。半个巴格达城的市民紧跟在后面，使劲地呼喊：“巴格达的君王米兹拉万岁！万岁！”

宫殿屋顶上的两只鹭鸶面面相觑，随后哈里发查希德说：

“大臣，你现在明白了吗，我怎么会中魔法？这个米兹拉是我的仇敌卡史奴——一个有名的魔法师——的儿子。卡史奴曾发誓一定要向我复仇，让我遭受劫难。可我不会失去信心。你是我生死与共的忠实朋友，和我待在一起吧！咱们到穆罕默德的墓地去，也许在圣地魔法就能够解除了。”

于是他们离开宫殿的屋顶，向麦地那[3]飞去。

然而飞行并不轻松，因为这两只鹭鸶还没怎么飞过。

“哦，陛下！”飞了几小时后，大臣唉声叹气地说，“原谅我，我实在坚持不了啦！您飞得太快了些！再说天也要黑了。最好先找一个地方过夜，对吗？”

查希德同意了他仆从的恳求。他发现山谷下面有一片废墟，也隐隐约约看见了屋顶，于是就朝那里飞去，打算在那里过夜。废墟看样子以前是一座宫殿，在断垣残壁中还矗立着漂亮的石柱。从好几间保存得相当完整的房间看来，这宫殿曾经十分豪华。查希德和他的伙伴穿过走廊，踅来踅去想找一个干燥点的地方。突然，曼梭尔站住不动了。

“陛下，”他悄悄地说，“假如一个大臣怕鬼算不上愚蠢，那对于鹭鸶，怕鬼就更算不了什么了，对吧！我真的害怕极了，在这附近我清清楚楚地听到了叹息声和呻吟声。”

哈里发也停下脚步，十分清楚地听见了像人而不是动物发出的啜泣声。他想朝发出声音的地方走去，搞清楚是怎么回事。大臣却用喙紧紧拽住他的翅膀，哀求他不要又陷入新的莫名其妙的危险中。但毫无作用！哈里发尽管长着鹭鸶翅膀，胸中仍然跳动着一颗勇敢的心。他使劲挣脱开来，掉了几片羽毛也毫不在意，快步朝一条黑暗的走廊奔去。一会儿，他就到了一扇虚掩着的门前，刚才听到的叹息和呻吟声就是从里边传出来的。他用嘴顶开门，却一下子惊呆了，站在门槛上一动不动。

这是一间倾倒了的小屋，透过装有栅栏的小窗射进来的稀疏光线，他看见一只大猫头鹰蹲在地上。从猫头鹰又大又圆的眼睛里不断地滚出大滴大滴的眼泪，它弯弯的嘴巴发出嘶哑的声音，诉说着它的哀怨。当它看见哈里发和跟在他后面进来的大臣时，高兴得大声叫了起来。它轻轻地用褐色的翅膀擦去眼泪，用人的声音说起了标准的阿拉伯语，令他俩大吃一惊：

“欢迎你们，鹭鸶先生！你们是我获救的吉兆，因为有人曾经预言，鹭鸶能给我带来好运气。”

哈里发从惊讶中回过神来，弯下长长的脖子，用细长的双腿摆出了一个优雅的姿势，然后说：

“猫头鹰，照你的说法，我完全可以把你看成我的难友啊！但是，唉，你希望我们救你出苦海，却是不可能的。你只要听听我们的遭遇，就会明白我们真的是爱莫能助啊。”

猫头鹰请他讲讲自己的故事，哈里发马上满足了它的要求。