THE CITY OF LABTAYT.[FN#139]
There was once a royal-city in the land of Roum, called the City
of Labtayt wherein stood a tower which was always shut. And
whenever a King died and another King of the Greeks took the
Kingship after him, he set on the tower a new and strong lock,
till there were four-and-twenty locks upon the gate, according to
the number of the Kings. After this time, there came to the
throne a man who was not of the old royal-house, and he had a
mind to open these locks, that he might see what was within the
tower. The grandees of his kingdom forbade him this and pressed
him to desist and reproved him and blamed him; but he persisted
saying, "Needs must this place be opened." Then they offered him
all that their hands possessed of monies and treasures and things
of price, if he would but refrain; still he would not be
baulked,--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased
saying her permitted say.
When it was the Two Hundred and Seventy-second Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that the
grandees offered that King all their hands possessed of monies
and treasures if he would but refrain; still he would not be
baulked and said "There is no help for it but I open this tower."
So he pulled off the locks and entering, found within the tower
figures of Arabs on their horses and camels, habited in
turbands[FN#140] hanging down at the ends, with swords in
baldrick-belts thrown over their shoulders and bearing long
lances in their hands. He found there also a scroll which he
greedily took and read, and these words were written therein,
"Whenas this door is opened will conquer this country a raid of
the Arabs, after the likeness of the figures here depicted;
wherefore beware, and again beware of opening it." Now this city
was in Andalusia; and that very year Tárik ibn Ziyád conquered
it, during the Caliphate of Al-Walíd son of Abd al-Malik[FN#141]
of the sons of Umayyah; and slew this King after the sorriest
fashion and sacked the city and made prisoners of the women and
boys therein and got great loot. Moreover, he found there immense
treasures; amongst the rest more than an hundred and seventy
crowns of pearls and jacinths and other gems of price; and he
found a saloon, wherein horsemen might throw the spears, full of
vessels of gold and silver, such as no description can comprise.
Moreover, he found there the table of food for the Prophet of
Allah, Solomon, son of David (peace with both of them!), which is
extant even now in a city of the Greeks, it is told that it was
of grass-green emerald with vessels of gold and platters of
jasper. Likewise he found the Psalms written in the old
Ionian[FN#142] characters on leaves of gold bezel'd with jewels;
together with a book setting forth the properties of stones and
herbs and minerals, as well as the use of characts and talismans
and the canons of the art of alchymy; and he found a third volume
which treated of the art of cutting and setting rubies and other
precious stones and of the preparation of poisons and theriacks.
There found he also a mappa mundi figuring the earth and the seas
and the different cities and countries and villages of the world;
and he found a vast saloon full of hermetic powder, one drachm of
which elixir would turn a thousand drachms of silver into fine
gold; likewise a marvellous mirror, great and round, of mixed
metals, which had been made for Solomon, son of David (on the
twain be peace!) wherein whoso looked might see the counterfeit
presentment of the seven climates of the world; and he beheld a
chamber full of Brahmini[FN#143] jacinths for which no words can
suffice. So he despatched all these things to Walid bin Abd
al-Malik, and the Arabs spread all over the cities of Andalusia
which is one of the finest of lands. This is the end of the story
of the City of Labtayt. And a tale is also told of
