第46章

Then he walked forward a couple of steps and stopped finding himself alone in a wild and perilous wold wherein was none to company with him，so he wept sore and recited the verses before mentioned.Then he walked on a few steps farther beside the river，till he came upon two little boys of the sons of the sorcerers，before whom lay a rod of copper graven with talismans；and beside it a skull-cap[162] of leather，made of three gores and wroughten in steel with names and characts.The cap and rod were upon the ground and the boys were disputing and beating each other，till the blood ran down between them；whilst each cried；'None shall take the wand but I.'So Hasan interposed and parted them，saying，'What is the cause of your contention？'and they replied，'O uncle，be thou judge of our case，for Allah the Most High hath surely sent thee to do justice between us.'Quoth Hasan，'Tell me your case，and I will judge between you；'and quoth one of them，'We twain are brothers-german and our sire was a mighty magician，who dwelt in a cave on yonder mountain.He died and left us this cap and rod；and my brother saith，'None shall have the rod but I，'whilst I say the like；so be thou judge between us and deliver us each from other.'Hasan asked；'What is the difference between the rod and the cap and what is their value？ The rod appears to be worth six coppers[163] and the cap three；'whereto they answered，'Thou knowest not their properties.''And what are their properties？''Each of them hath a wonderful secret virtue，wherefore the rod is worth the revenue of all the Islands of Wak and their provinces and dependencies；and the cap the like！''By Allah，O my sons，discover to me their secret virtues.'So they said，'O uncle，they are extraordinary；

for our father wrought an hundred and thirty and five years at their contrivance，till he brought them to perfection and ingrafted them with secret attributes which might serve him extraordinary services and engraved them after the likeness of the revolving sphere，and by their aid he dissolved all spells；

and when he had made an end of their fashion，Death，which all needs must suffer，overtook him.Now the hidden virtue of the cap is，that whoso setteth it on his head is concealed from all folks'eyes，nor can any see him，whilst it remaineth on his head；and that of the rod is that whoso owneth it hath authority over seven tribes of the Jinn，who all serve the order and ordinance of the rod；and whenever he who possesseth it smiteth therewith on the ground，their Kings come to do him homage，and all the Jinn are at his service.'Now when Hasan heard these words，he bowed his head groundwards awhile，then said in himself，'By Allah，I shall conquer every foe by means of this rod and cap，Inshallah！ and I am worthier of them both than these two boys.So I will go about forthright to get them from the twain by craft，that I may use them to free myself and my wife and children from yonder tyrannical Queen，and then we will depart from this dismal stead，whence there is no deliverance for mortal man nor flight.Doubtless，Allah caused me not to fall in with these two lads，but that I might get the rod and cap from them.'Then he raised his head and said to the two boys，'If ye would have me decide the case，I will make trial of you and see what each of you deserveth.He who overcometh his brother shall have the rod and he who faileth shall have the cap.'They replied，''O uncle，we depute thee to make trial of us and do thou decide between us as thou deems fit.'Hasan asked，'Will ye hearken to me and have regard to my words？'；and they answered；'Yes.'Then said he，'I will take a stone and throw it and he who outrunneth his brother thereto and picketh it up shall take the rod，and the other who is outraced shall take the cap.'And they said，'We accept and consent to this thy proposal.'Then Hasan took a stone and threw it with his might，so that it disappeared from sight.The two boys ran under and after it and when they were at a distance，he donned the cap and hending the rod in hand，removed from his place that he might prove the truth of that which the boys had said，with regard to their scant properties.The younger outran the elder and coming first to the stone，took it and returned with it to the place where they had left Hasan，but found no signs of him.So he called to his brother，saying，'Where is the man who was to be umpire between us？'Quoth the other，'I espy him not neither wot I whether he hath flown up to heaven above or sunk into earth beneath.'Then they sought for him，but saw him not，though all the while he was standing in his stead hard by them.So they abused each other；saying，'Rod and Cap are both gone；they are neither mine nor thine： and indeed our father warned us of this very thing；but we forgot whatso he said.'Then they retraced their steps and Hasan also entered the city，wearing the cap and bearing the rod；and none saw him.Now when he was thus certified of the truth of their speech，he rejoiced with exceeding joy and making the palace，went up into the lodging of Shawahi，who saw him not；because of the cap.Then he walked up to a shelf[164] over her head upon which were vessels of glass and chinaware，and shook it with his hand，so that what was thereon fell to the ground.The old woman cried out and beat her face；then she rose and restored the fallen things to their places，[165] saying in herself，'By Allah，methinks Queen Nur al-Huda hath sent a Satan to torment me，and he hath tricked me this trick！ I beg Allah Almighty，deliver me from her and preserve me from her wrath；for，O Lord，if she deal thus abominably with her half-sister；beating and hanging her，dear as she is to her sire，how will she do with a stranger like myself，against whom she is incensed？'--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.