THE PELICAN

In the land of Egypt, where the Nile runs and the palm-trees grow and the great Sphynx sits alone in the Desert, there lived a young man who kept a jeweller’s shop in a crowded street. He was tall and grave, and he wore a yellow kaftan which clothed him from head to heel.

In the afternoon, when the street was full, he would sit in front of his shop looking at the people, and sometimes exchanging a word with the passers-by.

It chanced that, as he sat in his accustomed place one day, there passed a countryman carrying under his arm a young Pelican, which he had caught on the river. He held it very roughly, and a crowd of boys followed behind jeering at the strange, half-fledged creature, and sometimes pulling its tail or its legs and laughing when it opened its mouth in terror. Now the young man was angry that the bird should be so used, for he had read many books and thought many thoughts, and he knew that birds and beasts had feelings like other people. He pitied the poor frightened Pelican, and as one of the boys passed, he gave him a great cuff which nearly knocked him over.

“Good man,” said he to the countryman, “where are you going with that Pelican?”

“To the other side of the city,” replied the countryman, “where I know a man who will buy him and cut his throat when he grows older for the sake of his skin and feathers.”

“You need not go so far,” said the young man in yellow, “for I myself will give you what price you name for him.”

At this the countryman was glad enough, for he was tired of carrying the bird, and the young man paid him and took the poor Pelican into the court behind his shop, where he put him down near a small fountain in the middle of it.

As time went on, the Pelican grew so big that there was scarce room for him in the little tank, and the young man took him to sit in front of the shop.

One day, as they were there together, there passed before them a girl carrying a basket of melons on her head. She was slender, and her naked feet and ankles were as fine as though she had been a great lady; she had long, dark eyes, and the plait of her hair hung down behind her, below the edge of her veil. With one hand she drew the black folds over her mouth.

The young man in yellow was so much struck that he could not refrain from speaking his thoughts aloud. “That is the most charming girl I have ever seen,” he said. “I wonder where she lives.”

“On the banks of the Nile some way down stream,” said the Pelican, who was standing behind him.

At this, his master was so exceedingly astonished that he nearly fell off his seat, for he never suspected that the bird could talk.

“How do you know that?” he asked.

“There is a patch of brown Nile mud upon the border of her garment,” replied the Pelican.

“That is very well,” said the other, “but how can you tell what distance she comes from?”

“Her face is unveiled,” was the reply, “like those of the women in the remoter country places.”

“And how do you know that her home is down stream?” asked the young man again.

“Sir, I observed that the stems of the melons were freshly cut, and must have been gathered this morning. Those who bring melons to the town embark early, as soon as their load is ready. Had the owner of these lived up the river he would have arrived with his merchandise before noon, being carried by the current. But it is now afternoon.”

“You are a great reasoner,” exclaimed the young man, “but how do you know that the girl has not been in the city since morning?”

“Her basket is full,” answered the bird.

“Since you are so clever,” continued he, “perhaps you will inform me if she often comes this way. I have never seen her before.”

“Neither have I,” rejoined the Pelican, “but I can answer, for all that. She draws the end of her veil over her mouth as she goes; this is because she has seen much of the ways of city women who veil themselves. You may also have noticed that she turned under the gateway by the mosque. Now that gateway is small and mean, and only those acquainted with this street know that there is a passage through it to the thoroughfare where the cloth-merchants live; where every man is rich and keeps a pile of melons behind his wares for the entertainment of visitors. Doubtless she has been there many a time.”

The young man was still more astonished. “I perceive,” said he, “that one of the jewels in my shop is the rare jewel of wisdom.”

At this the Pelican rejoiced in his heart. “Wisdom is like other wildfowl, and roosts with its kind,” he replied.

“I perceive also that you have learnt to speak with great civility,” continued the young man.

“Sir,” said the bird again, “while sitting here I have observed the manners of the grave and reverend persons who pass by, and of the aged sheikhs who come on their donkeys to drink coffee with the merchant opposite.”

After this the two lived together in great content till, one day, the young man in yellow spoke his mind.

“Friend,” said he, “we have now been companions for some time; but I must tell you I think this no suitable life for a bird of your talents. You see nothing of your own kind here, nor anything outside my shop. It is time we began to think of your future. You should marry and rear a family instead of sitting here. Wisdom is good, but it is also portable, so you can carry it away when you go. I have been thinking this over, and I have found a good opening for you; my uncle’s brother-in-law is keeper of the garden at Prince Hassan’s palace outside the city. There, there are great trees, lakes, islands, fruits, and a very high family of Pelicans has been settled there for many years. At my request you would be well received, and you could then marry and live respectably. I shall be grieved beyond measure at parting from you, but, having your welfare at heart, I shall make up my mind to it. Besides, I will go to see you regularly every Friday.”

At first the bird was very unwilling to agree to this plan, for he was much attached to his friend, but at last he consented: and the young man hired an ass and rode to Prince Hassan’s garden with the Pelican sitting before him on the saddle. His uncle’s brother-in-law received them warmly, and installed the Pelican on a fine lake where there were islands covered with long grass, and, at one side, a mass of tall scarlet flowers standing by the banks with their roots in the water.

The Pelican was attracted by these beautiful plants and made his home in their midst, having an eye for colour; the life suited him but for one thing, and that was the dull company which he found among the other birds. He hardly cared to speak to them, for, though they were civil and pleasant enough, he had been so long accustomed to the talk of the young man in yellow that all other seemed dull in comparison. As for marrying, he gave up the idea, for he could not find one hen-pelican whose silly chatter did not drive him mad. In spite of the luxury in which he lived, he counted the days of each week till Friday should come round and bring his friend to sit with him for an hour or two among the scarlet flowers.

Now it happened that the girl who sold melons, and whom the young man in yellow had never seen since the day on which the Pelican first spoke, was sitting one afternoon by the Nile. The reason he had not seen her was that her father, a cross old man, had begun to sell his fruit on the bank of the river, and now made her sit by it from morning till night.

One day it was very hot, and the sun was so fierce that she grew sleepy and laid herself down under a palm tree to rest. While she slept a string of camels came by, and one of them knocked its foot against the pile of fruit; with a great splash all the melons rolled, one over the other, like round balls, down the bank, and were carried away by the running water. The girl jumped up, wringing her hands, and calling to the camel-drivers to save them, but they only laughed and passed on. “Who sleeps long at noon weeps long at night!” they shouted.

The poor girl did not wait till night, but sat down at once in the dust and cried. When she looked up she saw her father coming along on his donkey, for he had been to admire his melon beds on the river-bank some way off. She was so frightened that she began running away as fast as she could.

She ran and ran till she came to a great wall in which a door was standing open. Through it she went and found herself in a fine garden full of jessamine and orange trees. She was so tired that she looked about for water to bathe her hot face, and a shady place where she might rest and hide from the burning sun. Not far off she could see the shine of a lake, and a scarlet patch of high water plants in which a white Pelican dozed, half asleep.

“By the beard of the Prophet!” exclaimed the bird, “this is none other than the melon girl! O Master! Master! Would I could see your yellow kaftan approaching through the trees!”

But it was only Thursday, and there was no chance of the young man coming till the morrow.

When the girl had bathed her face and drunk some water he came forward, and, with much politeness, invited her to rest among the tall cannas, as the scarlet flowers were called. When he had heard her story his face grew subtle.

“If you are wise,” said he, “you will remain with me till to-morrow afternoon. To-day your father’s anger will not have cooled; in the morning he will go to the mosque (for it is Friday) and, when he has prayed, his heart will be softened. Then you can return in the afternoon and ask his forgiveness for losing the melons.”

This the Pelican said because he knew that the young man in yellow would come on the following day.

“But I have no food,” said the girl; “I shall be half-famished by to-morrow.”

“Are there not fruits in the garden?” asked the Pelican, “and have I not a bill a yard long? Lie down and rest and I will see that you do not starve.”

He gazed at her as she slept and saw that she was very beautiful. Her eyelashes were longer than a finger’s breadth, and her mouth scarlet like the canna-flowers over her head. When the evening was come, he went out and took as much fruit as he could get and brought it back in his pouch, washing it and giving it to the girl, who ate thankfully. Then the stars came out and they slept side by side among the cannas.

Next day, at the hour when he expected his friend, the bird went to the gate and stood watching. When he saw him approaching he went forward crying, “See what I have done for you! I have here got the melon girl for whom you spend your life in searching. Come in, and I will bring you to her.”

At this the young man was overjoyed and embraced the Pelican, and the two hurried into the garden.

At sight of the girl he fell more deeply in love than ever, and all the time he had meant to spend with his friend he sat with her by the water. The Pelican stood by. “See,” said he, “he has forgotten my very existence, though he has come all the way from the city for my company.”

But he understood too much to be angry, for he knew such things had been since the foundation of the world.

When the young man found that the girl was afraid to go back to her father, he saw a way by which he need not part with her. “Return with me,” said he, “my mother is old and lives with me; you shall wait upon her and cook the food for my house.”

So he took her back with him and presented her to his mother.

Now the young man’s mother was a jealous woman, and, though she liked the girl and was well pleased to have her work done for her, she soon began to do everything she could think of to make her miserable, because she saw that her son loved her. So unhappy did she make the household that the young man said, “I must go immediately and consult the Pelican, or there is no knowing what may happen.”

And, although it was not Friday, he went off to Prince Hassan’s garden and laid his difficulties before the bird.

“There is only one thing to be done,” said the Pelican; “I must come back to keep the peace.”

Now, wise as he was, he did not know that, where there is a jealous woman, not the Prophet himself and all the Khalifas can save a household. All the difference his coming made was that the old woman was jealous of two people instead of one, and there was no peace from morning till night.

It chanced, one day, that the young man had gone out and the Pelican was near the fountain. In a top room the girl sat at a window, looking down on the street where the merchants were lighting their lamps. The afterglow spread high over the roofs, and, in a patch of sky, she saw the evening star rising behind the mosque. She could hear the old woman’s voice talking to a butcher in front of the shop. “At noon my son will be out,” she was saying. “You must then come with your knife and slay the Pelican who lives in the courtyard. I will afterwards wash the blood from the stones and tell him that the impious and deceitful bird has flown away.”

Next morning the girl rose before anyone was stirring and hired an ass. “Come,” she said to the Pelican, “if you want to save your life, come with me. The old woman has hired the butcher, and, when the lord of this house has gone out, he is to come and kill you. Mount quickly in front of me and I will carry you through the town under my veil. When we get to the river you shall fly to Prince Hassan’s garden, and I will return before any one awakes and tell her that you have died in the night, and that I have buried you near the fountain. I will make a little mound beside it.”

“Alack! Alack! I shall never see my master again!” cried the Pelican.

“I will tell him the truth privately,” said she, “and on Friday he will go to see you as before.”

So the two fled before the cocks crowed.

When they reached the banks of the Nile the Pelican flew away across the bridge to the garden, and the girl turned about and set her face to the city.

But, before she had gone ten yards, a hand was laid on her, for her father had seen her ride by from his boat. He dragged her on board, beating her, and took her away to his melon beds on the river-bank where he set her to drive the ox that worked the well.

When the young man in yellow rose and found that his friend and the melon girl had both disappeared, he made a great to-do and caused the bazaar to be searched from end to end. Criers went about describing them and calling on all who might have seen them to bring news to the jeweller’s shop, where they would be rewarded handsomely. But no one had seen them pass. The mother was as much astonished as anybody.

“Son,” she said, “no doubt the Pelican, in his wonderful wisdom, will return, and certainly, no one will run away with that ugly slut of a girl. She will come back fast enough.”

But the young man would not be comforted. He bethought him of Prince Hassan’s garden, and, next day, he set out to see if haply the bird had gone back to the scarlet cannas and the fresh grass growing by the lakes. He had no sooner entered than he saw him in his accustomed place.

“Friend!” he cried, “this is a sorry trick you have played me! My heart has despaired, and the voice of the crier, searching the bazaar with beat of drum, has not ceased since yesterday morning!”

“One day longer and he would have found my skin in the butcher’s shop,” replied the Pelican. And he related everything that had happened.

The young man was so enraged at what he heard that he beat the grass with his staff till the sods flew. “When I get home,” said he, “I will hire a house in a different street for my mother, and she shall abide there; and when I meet the butcher, I will make every bone in his body ache.”

“That is right,” said the Pelican, enjoying the thought.

“It is; and I will do it,” said the young man; “but oh! where is the beautiful one? Her eyes were like stars shining on the Nile, and her mouth like the canna-flowers. When she walked, her passing was as the wind in the lebbek-tree, and when she drew her veil across her face, it was as though a trail of river-mist crossed the moon.”

And he wept bitterly, making many holy vows that, when he had found her, he would marry her, taking none other to wife. The Pelican was much moved.

“Through silence everything is heard,” said he, “and by waiting everything is attained. May the young Pelicans laugh at my pouch if I do not find her for you yet again.”

Now it chanced, very soon, that Prince Hassan, with all the beauties of his harem, returned to the palace which had stood empty more than a year. Among the ladies was one who surpassed all the others, and with whom Prince Hassan was deeply in love. One day, while walking in the garden, she fell into conversation with the Pelican, becoming so much charmed with his polite manners and sentiments that she would spend some time daily in his company.

“My lord,” she said to Prince Hassan, “I beg of you to come with me into the garden and divert yourself with the conversation of the Pelican who lives there. He is the most wonderful bird, and he assures me that he knows the whole of the Koran by heart.”

When the Prince was made acquainted with the bird he commended the lady’s wit in discovering such a companion, and he gave orders that nothing he desired should be denied him. But, in spite of the honour paid him, the Pelican never ceased to think of the young man in yellow and the melon girl, and to wonder how he could bring them together.

“Lady,” he said one day, “it is long since I looked upon the world. When you are carried abroad in your litter by the banks of the Nile I have a desire to go with you. While you remain inside, veiled, I can put my head through the curtains and see something of the river-life I once knew. If you will allow this my gratitude will not die while I breathe.”

The lady laughed heartily at the strange request, but she did not refuse it, thinking of the Prince’s orders; and, one evening, when the sun was low behind the Pyramids, she set forth in her gilded litter with the Pelican beside her.

While they went along the Nile bank they passed many places where melons were sold, and at last he saw the girl he sought beside a cloth spread on the ground and full of fruit. As the litter passed he stretched out his neck and cried: “The Sheikh’s tomb by the Nile! The Sheikh’s tomb by the Nile!”

She jumped up and would have approached the litter, but the slaves surrounding it pushed her away.

“Full moon!” cried the Pelican. “The Sheikh’s tomb by the Nile at full moon!”

Next day, when the lady came out to talk to the Pelican, he made a new request.

“Lady,” said he, “if you will make me your debtor once more, you will grant me another wish. Send a slave to the young man in the yellow kaftan who keeps a jeweller’s shop in the street of Selim Baba’s Mosque to tell him to go to the Sheikh’s tomb by the Nile at full moon.”

The lady marvelled, for she had fallen asleep in the litter, and had not heard the words he had cried to the girl.

“I will do what you please,” she said, “but, first, tell me who is the young man in the yellow kaftan?”

Then the Pelican began to describe his friend in such terms that the lady was filled with admiration, and calling a black slave, sent him immediately to the city. All that night she could not sleep for thinking of the young man in yellow, and, on the evening of full moon, she determined to see him for herself. So she bribed a servant to bring her the blue gown and black veil of a peasant woman, and, having dressed herself in them, she hid her own clothes in the jessamine-arbour in the garden and slipped out by a little hidden gate in the wall.

Now the black slave whom she had sent with the message was full of greed and cunning, so he went straight to the Prince on his return and said, “My lord, give me money, for I have discovered an infamous plot.”

And he told him how the lady had summoned a young man from the bazaar to meet her, at full moon, at the Sheikh’s tomb by the Nile. Prince Hassan was filled with rage, for in Egypt it is not the custom that ladies go alone to meet strange young men; and he also dressed himself and mounted his horse to ride to the tomb, having wrapped himself in a cloak that none might know him. The only person who was not on the road, journeying to the spot, was the Pelican.

The first to arrive at the tomb was the young man in yellow; his heart glowed, for he knew that the Pelican had sent the message and guessed that the wise bird had made this plan that he might meet his love. So he sat down to wait under the palm-trees and listened to the creak of the well-wheels in the fields. Presently he heard a footstep and saw a woman come gliding between the stems, but as he rushed forward to embrace her, he perceived that it was not the melon girl but a stranger.

“What are you doing here?” he cried, in wrath at his disappointment. “Off with you, or I will throw you into the river!”

The lady, who had hoped that her beauty would have made him fall in love with her on the spot, was terrified and ran away; but when she had gone a few yards, curiosity overcame her and she turned back, unnoticed by the young man, and slipped behind the tomb.

He sat waiting till he saw the melon girl approaching softly like a shadow in the moonlight; then he ran forward and held her in his arms, kissing her and praising the Pelican who had brought them together.

While they sat under the palm-trees thus happily employed, a sound of galloping hoofs drew near, and Prince Hassan, in his dark cloak, rode into the palm grove, and, drawing his sword, rushed upon them. But, when he found the melon girl and not the lady he expected, he stood still.

“Where is the lady who was to come here at full moon?” he cried.

“Sir, there is no such person,” replied the young man. “A peasant woman came by not long ago, but she has gone into the fields.”

At the sound of Prince Hassan’s voice the lady behind the tomb nearly died of terror, for she knew that if he caught her he would certainly cut off her head. So she slipped away and ran to the river-bank while the Prince remained behind, questioning the lovers, and it chanced that the first person she met was a man on a trotting camel.

“If you will take me as fast as you can to the wall of Prince Hassan’s garden,” she said, “I will give you as much money as will make you rich for the rest of your life.”

The camel-driver asked nothing better, so he took the lady up behind him and went like a flash of lightning to the place to which she directed him.

Then, having asked his name, she entered by the little door in the wall and went to the jessamine-arbour, where she put on her own clothes, hid the others, and sat cooling herself in the night air and thanking heaven which had protected her.

In a short time Prince Hassan came riding back and entered the palace, calling her loudly.

“She is not here,” said the slaves, “we do not know where she has gone.”

Then the Prince ran, raging and stamping, into the garden, and as he passed the arbour, the lady called him softly.

“Where have you been all this time, my lord?” she cried. “It is but dull work sitting alone thinking of you as the stars wane and you do not come. Alas! what a hard fate it is to have a cold-hearted lover!”

Then the Prince, who was so much relieved in his mind that he could almost have cried, rushed into the arbour and embraced the lady, vowing that he would never leave her again for so much as an hour. The Pelican looked on from his canna-flowers by the lake. Wise as he was, he did not understand what was happening, for the subtlety of woman was a thing too great even for him.

And the young man in yellow took the girl home and married her next day; and when he grew rich, which he soon did, he built a house by the Nile and raised a fine garden of oranges and pomegranates. In it the Pelican lived to a ripe old age, sustaining the household by his wisdom, and standing sponsor to the children.