The Kingdom of the Pearl
Myths & Legends
In the preceding chapters we have endeavoured to show briefly the part played by pearls in different civilisations, and their place in history, religion and literature. Taking them as our guide, we should be able to trace the origin of the myths and legends associated with them in every land, the echoes of which have resounded from generation to generation until they have reached us, somewhat transformed by their passage through many and various imaginations.
But it seemed preferable to us to seek in the literature of the countries which produce pearls, for legends concerning them. The Oriental writers, those impassioned admirers and incomparable story-tellers, make more real to us the deeds, enacted before their eyes, which inspired their inventive genius with such sumptuous dreams.
Thus the legends which we have collected in these pages, in which magic and symbolism play so great a part, have been culled from the records of lapidaries, geographers and travellers, and from the writings of the poets and sages of the East. They deal, principally, with the origin and discovery of pearls, or with the virtues which have been attributed to them. In the Indian treatise on precious stones already referred to, the "Ratnapariksa" of Buddhabhatta — the date of it is uncertain, but it consists of a number of sayings current in India since the sixth century — the origin and attributes of pearls are thus described:
Stanza 52. Pearls which are known to fame have their origin in one or other of these sources: the elephant, the clouds, the wild boar, the conch, fishes, the serpent, the oyster, and the bamboo. Of these pearls, the only one that is common is from the oyster.
Stanza 53. This is also the only one for which a value can be given, and for no other. Similarly, this pearl alone can be pierced; connoisseurs say it is impossible to make holes in the others.
Stanza 54. Pearls from the serpents, the bamboo, clouds, the conch, and the wild boar are, for the most part, without brilliance and are valuable only for their health-giving properties.
Stanza 55. These are the eight "mothers" of the pearl, as they are called by connoisseurs. The conch pearl is reputed to have most health-giving powers, that of the elephant the least of all.
Stanza 56. The conch pearl is of the same colour as the inside of the mother in which it is formed. Those which are born in the frontal bone of the elephant are the size of a large Kola berry, in colour of a yellowish-copper and without lustre.
Stanza 57. The shell fish belonging to the family of the queen of the conches, purified by contact with the lips of Visnu, and elephants of pure descent, are the producers of pearls.
Stanza 58. The fish pearl is similar in colour to the back of the catfish; it is very round, light in weight and fairly large; it is born in the mouths of fishes; these fish are of those which live in the sea.
Stanza 59. During the rites in honour of the Devas, of Agni and the Manes when practising yoga, at family festivals, the conch pearl should always be worn as a charm by him who desires prosperity.
Stanza 60. The pearl produced by the tusks of the wild boar resembles the point of these tusks. Such a wild boar will have been born in a certain place, and in a certain manner, on ground sacred to the king of the wild boars.
Stanza 61. Pearls formed from the knots of the bamboo are described as having the colour and lustre of hailstone. These bamboos do not grow upon the earth, but in a place accessible only to the gods.
Stanza 62. The serpent pearl is bluish, limp, round, absolutely splendid in colour and lustre, pure and scintillating in the highest degree.
Stanza 63. Magnificent jewels, wealth, fortune, the most unattainable splendour: such are the advantages which a pearl born in the head of a serpent assures to the virtuous man.
Stanza 64. Once, wishing to do honour to this great jewel, some zealous experts placed it, when the weather was fair, on the terrace of a palace protected by a guard of many soldiers.
Stanza 65. Whereupon, with a noise like the rolling of a great drum, flashing lightning across the space that divided them, and then re-uniting and descending from the heights, thick clouds covered the sky.
Stanza 66. Neither serpents, nor magicians, nor sickness, nor accidents can touch him who has and holds in honour a pearl born in the head of a serpent.
Stanza 67. The cloud pearl never reaches the earth; the gods seize it whilst it is still in the air. It is like the sun, a dazzling sphere the rays from which fill the whole of space.
Stanza 68. It eclipses the light of fire, of the moon, of the lunar constellations, of the stars and all the planets. As the sun is to the day, so is this pearl to the darkness of the night.
Stanza 69. The earth, adorned by the four seas, the waters of which glitter with the lustre of many jewels, the whole earth covered with gold, would scarcely attain to the value of this one pearl: such is my belief.
Stanza 70. He who, by reason of an act of virtue of the highest degree, becomes possessed of it, will remain without a rival in the whole world, so long as he retains it.
Stanza 71. It is not beneficial to the King only; its appearance brings good fortune to his subjects also; it drives away evil for a radius of a thousand yojanas around it.
Stanza 72. Scattered in the heavens like the lunar zodiac, the teeth of the great Asura, many coloured, and perfect in shape, fell into the waters of the Ocean.
Stanza 73. In every part of the sea wherein fell the splendid seed of this pearl, Queen of gems, perfect in form, lovely as the rays of the full moon;
Stanza 74. In that place, the water poured out by the clouds penetrated the oysters, reached the seed deposited there and became a pearl. Formerly, there were pearls from other sources.
Stanza 75. Ceylon, Paraloka, Surastra, Tamraparni, Pundra, and the country of the North (Kauvera), the Himalayas are the homes of the pearl oyster.
Stanza 76. There is an oyster pearl, not the most inferior in colour and possessing certain qualities of size and shape to be found at Barbara, in Persia, at Aravati, Kontara and Ceylon.
Other lapidaries sing the praises of the pearl as a precious talisman.
"If a pearl combines all the characteristics required by the Castras, what benefits are attached to the wearing of it? We shall state them.
"Listen all you, Rsis, to the proclamation of the Ratnacastras: the act of wearing this pearl erases the sins committed in the course of seven lives.
"All the penalties incurred by the murder of a cow, of a brahmin, of the daughter of a guru, will at once be wiped out."1
Or again:
"All these pearls, of high quality, procure for kings: sons, wealth, popularity, glory; they banish sickness and trouble and obtain for the owner all that he loves and desires."2
A Buddhist story, of Indian origin, taken from the Chinese Tripitaka, admirably illustrates the above quotations. All the magic virtues enumerated by the different lapidaries are combined in the "divine pearl," by means of which Buddha alleviates the miseries of mankind. This is the legend 3:—
"In those days the Bodhisattva was born as the son of a master of a house; as soon as he reached the earth he said: 'Living beings have many troubles. I shall deliver them from these. They have not seen Buddha; they have not heard the law of wisdom. I shall open their eyes and their ears, so as to dispel their blindness and deafness; thus I shall cause them to see and hear (the Bodhi) without rival, just and true, sovereign of all the saints and founder of the wise laws. By my generous deeds I shall attract them to me and there will be none who do not submit and obey.' His relations to the ninth degree were astounded, and said: ' From the days of antiquity until this day we have never heard of a child who has behaved thus; this must be a supernatural manifestation of some kind, by a deva or a naga, a demon or a geni. We must consult the fates on the matter.' The child hereupon replied to his relatives: ' A great saint has returned in me in another form; I have innate in me the power of universal knowledge; I am none of those malevolent beings which you have mentioned; do not venture to suspect it.' Having spoken thus, he was silent. His parents said: 'This child is resolved to exercise a benign influence as vast as the heavens and the earth; he can be no ordinary person.' They gave the child the name of P'ou-che (" Universal Freedom ").
"When this child was ten years of age, he understood all the canonical books of Buddhism and all the numerous lay sciences; he took leave of his parents in order to succour mankind and to help those in distress. His parents said to him: 'We are known to be extremely rich; we authorise you to give as much as you like to the poor.' Their son replied: 'That is not enough; I ask you for permission to become Cramana. Give me the robe of a religious, an alms bowl and a staff decorated with tin; it is thus that I will succour mankind; this has been my desire ever since the day of my birth.' His parents, recalling the sayings he had uttered at his birth, raised no further objection, and, in accordance with his desire, permitted him to become Cramana.
"In his travels throughout the world, preaching and converting, the young man came to a great kingdom. In this kingdom there was a man of noble family who also understood all manner of books. He noticed that P'ou-che had a very majestic bearing, that he was of brilliant and resplendent beauty, that he was gentle of nature and pure as divine gold, that he bore upon him all the marks of a great saint and that he would become one of the famous personages of the world. He said to P'ou-che: ' I have a desire to communicate to you; I hope it will meet with your approval, O, holy man. I have a daughter whom I wish to give to you that she may be your servant.' P'ou-che replied: 'It is well. Await my return.' He at once set out, and having reached the shores of the sea, he went on board a boat to cross it.
"When he had reached the further shore he came among mountains and to an uninhabited region. He perceived afar a city of silver, the buildings of which were glistening and beautiful. There was a venomous serpent which had wound itself seven times round the city, whose body was a hundred fathoms long; when it saw P'ou-che it raised its head and turned it towards him. P'ou-che thought: 'This being, full of venom, certainly has evil intentions; I will exercise an irresistible benevolence so as to destroy the venom. It is indeed true that perversity is like fire, and benevolence is like water; when water is used to put out fire, how can it fail to extinguish it? 'Thereupon he seated himself and contemplated benevolence, uttering this wish: 'May all living beings be delivered forthwith from the eight difficulties, may bad thoughts be far from their hearts, may they encounter Buddha, may they see the Law, may they be instructed, by the gathering of the Cramanas, in unrivalled wisdom, justice and truth, may their hearts be opened, may their stains be effaced, may they see that which I see?' When he had thus exercised the force of benevolence the venom of the serpent was destroyed; the serpent lowered its head and slept; P'ou-che climbed on its head and entered the city. In the centre of the city was a celestial geni, who, on seeing P'ou-che, cried joyfully: 'I have long thought with admiration of your saintly virtue; in coming thus you have fulfilled my most cherished desire; I should like to keep you here for a season, that is for ninety days.' P'ou-che consented to this. The celestial king then placed the affairs of government in the hands of his trusted counsellors; he himself made offerings to P'ou-che; full of reverence, from morning till evening he learned the lessons taught by all the Buddhas concerning noble conduct, which acknowledged the impermanence, the sadness and emptiness, the unreality of the body, and concerning the wise doctrines which save mankind. After having thus received offerings during the whole course of the season, P'ou-che made ready to resume his journey. The celestial king, on his departure, presented to him a true pearl, clear as the moon, with the words: ' Wear upon your person this pearl, whose light may be seen from a distance of forty li; within these li' according to the desires which you may express, all manner of jewels will come to you in abundance. If, later, you become Buddha, I hope to be your disciple and to serve you personally.' P'ou-che consented to this, and then he proceeded on his way.
"He perceived next a city of yellow gold, the beautiful decoration of which surpassed that of the city of silver; here also there was a venomous serpent which had wound itself fourteen times round the city; its enormous body was twice as large as that of the first serpent; its head was reared to a height of many feet; P'ou-che meditated once more on universal benevolence; the serpent immediately lost its venom; it lowered its head and fell asleep. P'ou-che climbed its head and entered the city; in the midst there was a holy man who, when he saw P'ou-che, rejoiced and said: 'I have long thought with admiration of your supernatural glory; it is a cause of great joy to me that you have come hither; I wish to keep you for two seasons, that is one hundred and eighty days; I wish to make continual offerings to you; I hope to retain your majestic and divine person.' P'ou-che gave his consent to this; he remained there to expound the law and the life of wisdom which has no equal. When this was done he took leave of him. The holy man gave him, in his turn, on his departure a sacred pearl, saying to him: 'The lustre of this pearl shines forth in a radius of eighty li; within these li you will find all the jewels you could possibly desire to possess. When you have attained wisdom, I wish to be your disciple and to be second to none in supernatural powers.' Having received this sacred pearl, P'ou-che proceeded on his way. He perceived the city of Lieou-Li, the splendour of which surpassed that of the previous city; here also there was a venomous serpent, whose enormous body was of immense girth; it had wound itself twenty-one times round the city; with raised head and angry gaze it forbade access to the gates of the city. Once again P'ou-che seated himself, meditated deeply on universal benevolence and made a vow to succour all mankind. The serpent felt its venom disappear and lowered its head; and P'ou-che climbed on its head and entered the city. In the middle there was a holy man who rejoiced in the same terms as the preceding ones; he invited P'ou-che to remain for three seasons, wishing to offer him all that he might desire; when this period was over, P'ou-che took his leave; his host gave him, in his turn, as a parting present, a sacred pearl, saying to him: ' The lustre of this pearl shines forth in a radius of 160 li; wherever this pearl may be, all kinds of jewels accompany it and fill the space which it illuminates; whatever your wish may be you will obtain all that you ask for. When you have attained the wisdom of a just, true and unrivalled knowledge, I would be your disciple and be possessed of the clearest understanding of all.' P'ou-che replied: 'Your wish shall certainly be fulfilled.'
"When P'ou-che had received these gifts, he said to himself: 'These will suffice to deliver all men from their misery.' He set out to return to his own country. All the gods of the sea held council together and said: 'In all our vast sea these three pearls are the most magnificent of all our possessions; now this man has them all three; what glory is left to us? Better to lose all our other jewels than to lose these pearls.' Then a sea-god took the form of a man and appeared before P'ou-che and said to him: 'I hear that your grace has received the most beautiful jewels in all the world; may I see them?' P'ou-che showed them to him, but the god struck him on the head and took his pearls. P'ou-che said no more than: 'I have surmounted every kind of obstacle, and I have traversed the great sea in order to obtain these jewels, of which I desired to make use in order to deliver all living beings from their miseries; must I, in spite of this, be robbed of them by this god? ' He then said to him: 'Give me back my pearls; if you do not, I will dry up your sea.' The sea-god replied: 'How foolish is your talk; this vast sea that you behold is deep, wide and bottomless; who could dry it up? The sun in the heavens may perish and the raging wind may cease, but it would be as difficult to dry up the sea as to destroy space.' P'ou-che said: 'Once, in the time of Buddha Ting-Kouang (Dipamkara), I expressed the wish to have the power of wisdom which could agitate all the seas, pluck out the Sumeru, shake the heavens and the earth and displace all the temples; Buddha gave heed to my prayer, and granted that which I desired; now that I have received this privilege, your power, oh demons, will be like a thread or a hair; how can it oppose my true and just strength?' He then expounded the holy books and said: 'In the course of the innumerable Kalpas which have taken place up to the present, the maternal milk which I have sucked, the tears shed by me in grief, the blood which has flowed from me when I died, the sea itself could not contain them; it is hard to break tender affections, it is difficult to arrest the cycle of births and deaths; nevertheless, I have desired to shatter the principle of tender affections, to stay the genii of life and death; if, by drawing water from the sea during this generation, I have not exhausted it, I shall continue to draw it generation after generation.' Thereupon, he stood firmly on his feet and began to draw off the water of the sea with a calabash and to throw it outside the circle of iron.
"Now, a deva called Pien-tsing (Universal Purity) heard talk of him from afar, and after having thought deeply he said to himself: 'When I was with the Buddha Ting-Kouang (Dipamkara), I heard it said that this man had obtained the fulfilment of his wish and that he would certainly become the most highly honoured in all the world and would save us all.' This deva, therefore, descended to assist him in drawing the water from the sea. When they had withdrawn eight-tenths, the sea-gods became alarmed and said among themselves: ' Who is this man, that he should possess such limitless supernatural powers? When this water is exhausted our dwellings will be ruined.' Thereupon they produced all manner of jewels and emptied their treasure caskets, and offered them to P'ou-che; but he refused them, saying: 'I wish for nothing but my pearls.' The gods then returned his pearls and P'ou-che restored to them their water. He then returned to his country; on his journey he dispensed charity; in every place through which he had passed there were no more poor people; in all these kingdoms there was not one who had not changed his conduct; the five prohibitions and the ten excellent actions became the principle of government; prisons were opened and all who had done wrong were forgiven; the benevolence of P'ou-che extended to all living beings; thus it was that he attained to the dignity of Buddha.
"Buddha said to the Cramanas: ' P'ou-che was I, myself; his father was the King Po-fan (Cudhodana); his mother was my mother Chö-miao; the daughter of the wise man is now K'ieou-yi (Gopa). He who was the geni in the city of silver is now Ananda; he who was in the city of gold is Maudgal-yayana; he who was in the city of Lieou-Li (vaidurya) is Cariputra. Thus the Boddhisattva, through the many Kalpas, has endeavoured to practise the four kinds of good deeds and he has expressed with an oath the desire to succour all mankind.'
"In this manner does the Boddhisattva's pèramitâ of charity practise benevolence."
There were three distinct traditions as to the origin of pearls, (1) The eight sources enumerated in the "Ratnapa-riksa." (2) The drops of rain which fall into the oysters under the sign of Svati. (3) The teeth of Asura Bala struck by Indra's thunder-bolt.
These origins are all given in the hymn of Arthava-Veda IV.—X., which is sung after the initiation of the young Brahmans, when a pearl, or pearl shell, is hung round their necks to preserve them from all evils. This is the translation of the Invocation of the Pearl:
"Born of the wind, of the air, of the lightning, and of celestial light, born of gold, may this shell (cankha), may this pearl, protect us from danger. With this shell, born of the summit of the celestial arch, and of the ocean, we strike and vanquish the devouring Raksas; with this shell, sickness and improvidence, with this shell the she-devils. May this shell, may this pearl, the universal remedy, protect us from danger. Born in the heavens, born in the sea, brought from the ocean, born of gold, may this shell, may this gem, prolong our days. May this gem, born of the sea, born of Vitra, whose home is in the heavens, protect us in every part, as with a javelin, against the Asusras. Thou art of gold, thou art born of Soma. Thou appearest on the chariot, thou glitterest on the quiver. May it prolong our days! The bone has become the pearl for the gods. Living it died in the midst of the waters. I fasten it on thee for life, for light, for power, for longevity. For a lifetime of a hundred years may the pearl protect thee!"
The legend which ascribes the origin of pearls to drops of rain which have fallen in the sea and been collected in a shell is illustrated by the following apologue, taken from the "Boustan," or Orchard, of Saadi. The Persian poet sees in it a symbol of humility:
"A drop of rain fell from the bosom of the clouds; seeing the immensity of the sea she was bewildered.
"' What am I,' she said,' compared to the ocean? In truth I shall be lost and vanish in its immensity! ' As a reward for this modest avowal, she was gathered up and nourished in the heart of a shell-fish; by the grace of Providence she became a pearl of great price and adorned the diadem of kings. She became great because she had been humble, she was granted existence because she had assimilated herself to nothingness."
Another Persian legend reproduces Saadi's idea, but with a slight difference:
"When the first drop of rain fell from the clouds into the great blue sea she was tossed, small and wistful, by the waves.
"' How minute I am in this immensity!' she cried. And the sea replied: ' Thy modesty pleases me, I shall make of you, little drop of water, a drop of light. Thou shalt be the purest jewel among jewels, thou shalt rule the world, thou shalt even rule woman.' And a pearl was born."
A drop of rain or a dewdrop!
Legends of different countries give evidence of similar beliefs, and Indian and Persian superstitions are to be found also in the West, in the following sonnet taken from Souvenirs Inédits d'un Voyageur: 4
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"A Isabelle de B———. "Sur la foi d'un berger, Isabelle, à votre âge,J'ai cru, quand l'arc-en-ciel semblait, a l'horizon, Du bout de son écharpe effleurer le gazon, Qu'une fée y venait s'asseoir après l'orage; J'ai cru qu'elle cachait dans les creux de sillon Une perle magique, inimitable ouvrage; Et j'ai voulu l'atteindre, et j'ai perdu courage, En voyant devant moi toujours fuir le rayon. Je viellis, et ma course à travers la prairie N'est plus pour y saisir la pearl de Féerie; Mais je n'accuse pas le berger suborneur; De ces contes naifs j'aime la transparence, Cet arc-en-ciel qui brille et fuit, c'est l'esperance, Et la perle introuvable, enfant, c'est le bonheur!" |
It is a fact that, in some provinces, the shepherds assert that where the rainbow touches the earth (and by an optical illusion this often seems to happen) a fairy places a magic pearl which is alone worth all the treasures of the Emperor Charlemagne.
Children run to seek it and are in despair at finding no other pearls on the grass than the dewdrops.
An idea somewhat similar to this occurs in the song of Sinbad the Sailor. The Oriental traveller compares the worth of pearls to fame.5 Both are the reward of effort and stimulate courage.
"Troubles render fame more glorious once it is attained; man's glory is the immortal daughter of many long nights spent without sleep!"
"He who would find the incomparable treasure of the pearls of the sea, white, grey, or pink, must become a diver before securing their beauties."
"He who would win glory without effort will pursue an impossible hope all his days!"
Finally, the two Indian legends given below illustrate the whole history of the pearl.
We see here the dangers and sufferings involved in its discovery and the delight caused by its possession.
YÉTIMA.6
Many sailors have spoken to me of the famous pearl known by the name of Yetima (orphan), because it has not its like in the world. These are the details of its history as they have been told to me. There was, in Oman, a man called Muslim, son of Becher. He was a pious man and well behaved, his trade the fitting out of divers for the pearl fishery. He had a considerable fortune; but his business with the divers was so little successful that he lost all his property, and one fine day found himself bereft of everything, without food, without garments, without a single object by which he could obtain money, with the exception of a bracelet worth a hundred dinars belonging to his wife.
"Give it to me," he said to his wife, "so that I may use the money from it to fit out some more divers; perhaps God will favour us with some good fortune." "Come, come," said his wife, "We have no other means of subsistence. Let us live on the price of this bracelet, rather than lose it in the sea!"
But the husband knew how to cozen her and took the bracelet, which he sold. All this money was used to equip the divers, with whom he set out for the fisheries. It had been arranged that the fishing should last two months and no longer. For fifty-nine days the men dived, brought up oysters and opened them, but found nothing. On the sixtieth day they dived in the name of Eblis (Satan) "whom may God curse!" and this time they brought back an oyster containing a pearl of great value; it may have been worth all the property ever owned by Muslim from the day of his birth until that very day. "See," said the fishermen, "what we have found in the name of Eblis!" Muslim took the pearl, ground it to powder and threw it into the sea.
"What!" said the divers, "is that how you treat it? You have nothing left, you are reduced to destitution; you come across a magnificent pearl which is probably worth millions of dinars and you grind it to dust!" "Glory be to God!" he replied. "Would it have been lawful for me to profit by good fortune obtained in the name of Eblis? God would not have blessed it. He permitted this pearl to fall into my hands in order to try me. If I had kept it, you would all have followed my example and would have dived only in the name of Eblis, a sin for the gravity of which no profit, not even the greatest, could atone. By the one and only God! if I were to have all the pearls of the sea, I would not wish for them at such a price. Go, dive again, and say: ' In the name of God and by His blessing!'"
The fishers dived again according to his orders and the prayer at the setting of the sun had not yet been said on that day, which was the last of the sixty, before they laid their hands on two pearls, one of which was the Yetima and the other of less value. Muslim took them both to the Caliph Rachid. He sold him the Yetima for 70,000 dirhems and the small one for 30,000, and returned to Oman with 100,000 dirhems. He built there a large house, bought slaves and acquired property. His house is well-known in Oman; and that is the story of the pearl Yetima.
The Legend of the Black Pearls.
One day when Amry the diver had come to sell to the court jeweller the pearls for which he had sought under the golden waters of Bahrein, the lovely Anouba, wife of the Caliph, caused her palanquin to stop at the merchant's door and showed him a beautiful black pearl with golden lights.
"Can you show me a pearl like this?" she said.
The merchant took the pearl, placed it on his silken cushion, and contemplated it, his two hands crossed on his breast like a brahmin in the act of worshipping. But he soon shook his head discouragingly and said: "There are not two pearls like this in the whole world."
Amry, who had approached, repeated the merchant's words in a low voice.
"So," said the lovely Anouba, "you will not even try to gain the twenty thousand sequins which I am offering for this jewel?"
"Princess," said the merchant, bowing to the ground, "ask me for emeralds as large as pigeons' eggs, for branching agates, for topaz sparkling like the eyes of the tiger, for rubies of Ceylon which emit tongues of fire in the night. Your humble slave will lay all these treasures at your feet. But the stars will fall in a golden rain on the dome of your palace before another pearl like this one shall have been found."
While he was speaking, the Princess had been looking from under her veil at Amry, who had remained leaning against a bamboo pillar, his eyes fixed on the pearl.
"Is this man one of your slaves?" she asked the merchant.
Amry proudly raised his head and said: "I am Amry, the pearl fisher; the son of my mother is free."
"Amry," said Anouba, "do you wish to gain the twenty thousand sequins?"
"Ask me rather if I wish to die," replied the fisherman in a solemn voice.
"What do you mean?"
"In the bay of the Island of Bahrein," replied Amry, "at a depth of two hundred fathoms, there is a bank of coral on which old Phangar, the most famous fisherman in the Gulf, found in his youth the black pearl worn by Prince Mescheb in the hilt of his dagger; but Phangar has never descended again to this abyss, and he grows pale and shivers with terror when he passes in his boat over the bank where he found the precious pearl."
"What did he see there?" asked the beautiful Anouba, with eager curiosity.
"When Phangar, with his right foot in the loop of the rope, gave the signal to his comrades, and the leaden weight attached to the line dragged him down into the abyss, he went through a layer of emeralds which boiled and surged round him like lava from a volcano. When the line touched the bottom, the shock was so great that he fell on his hands and knees. The keen blades and points of the coral, which burn like red-hot irons, caused his blood to flow from a hundred wounds, but he could not think of these. He set to work, and had already collected some twenty shell-fish in his canvas pocket, when it seemed to him that part of the bank near him rose up, and that a floating mass, greyish in colour, like the corals, was slowly advancing, waving long flexible branches like creepers. One of the branches slid on to his breast and fastened there, but Phangar could not cry out. A gigantic sea-spider was floating two fathoms from his face, fixing upon him its pale green eyes from which darted two rays of light.
"When Phangar's companions, who had remained in the boat, suddenly felt the signal line grow taut, they hastened to pull it up. The fisherman had lost consciousness and his sides bore the marks of the monster's embrace. Three days afterwards, when he opened the pearl oysters which he had gathered, he found in one of them a superb black pearl, which he sold for a hundred pieces of gold to Prince Mescheb."
"Well," said the Caliph's wife, "since you know exactly where black pearls are to be found, you must dive in the Bahrein Gulf, kill the monster who guards the treasures and bring back to me the pearl which I desire to possess."
Amry replied: "I have an old and infirm mother whom I support by my work, I have a bride, an orphan whom I must love and protect . . . besides, I should risk my life in vain to satisfy your desire, in all the oceans of the world there are not two pearls alike."
Anouba looked at the fisherman for a moment between the folds of her yashmak, and said to him: "Come to the Palace to-morrow at the fifth hour."
Then she returned to her palanquin.
The next day, Amry, clothed in his festal robes, went to the Caliph's Palace. A black mute, who was awaiting him at the door of the gardens, led him to the Princess's apartment. Anouba, still veiled, was reclining on cushions. She made a sign to the black man, who bowed low and vanished.
"Approach," said the Princess to the fisherman.
The latter took two steps forward and knelt before her.
"You say," Anouba continued, "that nature cannot produce two pearls alike; behold!"
Her arm, loaded with sounding bracelets, passed across her face, and the silk gauze which had veiled it fell away.
Amry uttered a cry of admiration and remained motionless as a statue. It was not with mere mortal eyes that the Princess seemed to gaze at him, but rather with two black diamonds set in the face of an enchantress, polished like ivory, whiter and purer than a lily bathed in the rays of the moon. The brilliance which had dazzled Amry was gradually dimmed, as though veiled by a cloud, and he saw no more than two soft, gazelle-like orbs, suffused with an intoxicating warmth, which looked into his very heart.
Anouba opened her lips to speak; but Amry, stretching his arms towards her, whispered in a broken voice: "I will go and seek the pearl in the depths of the abyss of Bahrein, and I will leave my flesh and my blood on the jagged points of the corals, as I leave here my heart and my soul!"
The next day, at the earliest dawn, Amry took his boat and steered for the place where he knew the treasure was to be found. When he had descended to the depths of the sea he hastened to fill his canvas pocket with the finest shell-fish. He was about to return to the surface, when he saw in a fissure of a rock, an oyster of extraordinary size. He seized it. But, at the same moment a monster which he had not previously seen, darted towards him and twined itself round him, seeking to suffocate him. Amry struggled with all his might, he felt life flowing from him from numerous wounds; at last, with a supreme effort, he freed his right hand and plunged his dagger between the eyes of the gigantic spider.
He pulled the signal cord and his comrades hastened to draw him up; but when he reached the light of day he lost so much blood through his eyes, nose and mouth, that he fainted and only regained consciousness several hours later, in the palace of the Caliph's wife, who had caused him to be brought thither.
When he came to himself, he was greatly surprised to find himself in this strange place, and above all to see the lovely Princess, with unveiled face, alone in his company.
"Well," she said in her melodious voice, "have you been succesful?"
"Yes," replied Amry, "the monster has drunk my blood, but I killed him, and here is the treasure which he was guarding in the depths of the sea." He held out to her the open oyster in which lay a marvelous pearl, more beautiful even then that owned by Prince Mescheb.
The Princess uttered a cry of admiration and remained in an ecstay before this incomporable work of nature.
"Tell me, what is it you desire?" she said to him; "if you wish it, my fortune is yours."
But Amry, prostrate at her feet, replied:
"Princess, keep your riches, Amry would not know what to do with them. You have taken from him his heart and his soul; the poor fisherman cannot hope for your love, so he prefers to die."
And quicker than thought, he plunged his dagger into his heart.