第28章

Kanmakan smiled and answered，'Why should I turn my back for thee？Is there no justice in thee？Dost thou not fear to bring blame upon the Arab men by driving a man like myself captive，in shame and disdain，before thou hast proved him on the plain，to know if he be a warrior or of cowardly strain？'Upon this Sabbah laughed and replied，'By Allah，a wonder！ Thou art a boy in years told，but in talk thou art old.These words should come from none but a champion doughty and bold： what wantest thou of justice？'Quoth Kanmakan，'If thou wilt have me thy captive，to wend with thee and serve thee，throw down thine arms and put off thine outer gear and come on and wrestle with me；and whichever of us throw his opponent shall have his will of him and make him his boy.'Then Sabbah laughed and said，'I think this waste of breath de noteth the nearness of thy death.'Then he arose and threw down his weapon and，tucking up his skirt，drew near unto Kanmakan who also drew near and they gripped each other.But the Badawi found that the other had the better of him and weighed him down as the quintal downweighs the diner；and he looked at his legs firmly planted on the ground，and saw that they were as two minarets[83] strongly based，or two tentpoles in earth encased，or two mountains which may not he displaced.So he acknowledged himself to be a failure and repented of having come to wrestle with him，saying in himself，'Would I had slain him with my weapon！'Then Kanmakan took hold of him and mastering him，shook him till the Badawi thought his bowels would burst in his belly，and he broke out，'Hold thy hand，O boy！'He heeded not his words，but shook him again and，lifting him from the ground，made with him towards the stream，that he might throw him therein： where upon the Badawi roared out，saying，'O thou valiant man，what wilt thou do with me？'[84] Quoth he，'I mean to throw thee into this stream： it will bear thee to the Tigris.

The Tigris will bring thee to the river Isa and the Isa will carry thee to the Euphrates，and the Euphrates will land thee in shine own country；so thy tribe shall see thee and know thy manly cheer and how thy passion be sincere.'Then Sabbah cried aloud and said，'O Champion of the desert lair，do not with me what deed the wicked dare but let me go，by the life of thy cousin，the jewel of the fair！'Hearing this，Kanmakan set him on the ground，but when he found him self at liberty，he ran to his sword and targe and taking them up stood plotting in himself treachery and sudden assault on his adversary.[85] The Prince kenned his intent in his eye and said to him，'I con what is in thy heart，now thou hast hold of thy sword and thy targe.Thou hast neither length of hand nor trick of wrestling，but thou thinkest that，wert thou on thy mare and couldst wheel about the plain，and ply me with thy skene，I had long ago been slain.But I will give thee thy requite，so there may be left in thy heart no despite；now give me the targe and fall on me with thy whinger；either thou shalt kill me or I shall kill thee.''Here it is，'answered Sabbah and，throwing him the targe，bared his brand and rushed at him sword in hand；Kanmakan hent the buckler in his right and began to fend himself with it，whilst Sabbah struck at him，saying at each stroke，'This is the finishing blow！'But it fell harmless enow，for Kanmakan took all on his buckler and it was waste work，though he did not reply lacking the wherewithal to strike and Sabbah ceased not to smite at him with his sabre，till his arm was weary.When his opponent saw this，he rushed upon him and，hugging him in his arms，shook him and threw him to the ground.Then he turned him over on his face and pinioned his elbows behind him with the baldrick of his sword，and began to drag him by the feet and to make for the river.Thereupon cried Sabbah，'What wilt thou do with me，O youth，and cavalier of the age and brave of the plain where battles rage？'Answered he，'Did I not tell thee that it was my intent to send thee by the river to thy kin and to thy tribe，that thy heart be not troubled for them nor their hearts be troubled for thee，and lest thou miss thy cousin's bridefeast！'

At this Sabbah shrieked aloud and wept and screaming said，'Do not thus，O champion of the time's braves！ Let me go and make me one of thy slaves！'And he wept and wailed and began reciting these verses，'I'm estranged fro' my folk and estrangement's long：

Shall I die amid strangers？Ah，would that I kenned！

I die，nor my kinsman shall know where I'm slain，

Die in exile nor see the dear face of my friend！'

Thereupon Kanmakan had compassion on him and said，'Make with me a covenant true and swear me an oath to be a comrade as due and to bear me company wheresoever I may go.'''Tis well，'replied Sabbah and swore accordingly.Then Kanmakan loosed him and he rose and would have kissed the Prince's hand；but he forbade him that.Then the Badawi opened his scrip and，taking out three barley scones，laid them before Kanmakan and they both sat down on the bank of the stream to eat.[86] When they had done eating together，they made the lesser ablution and prayed；after which they sat talking of what had befallen each of them from his people and from the shifts of Time.Presently said Kanmakan，'Whither dost thou now intend？'Replied Sabbah，'I purpose to repair to Baghdad，thy native town，and abide there，until Allah vouchsafe me the marriage portion.'Rejoined the other，'Up then and to the road！ I tarry here.'So the Badawi farewelled him and took the way for Baghdad，whilst Kanmakan remained behind，saying to himself，'O my soul，with what face shall I return pauper

poor？Now by Allah，I will not go back empty handed and，if the Almighty please，I will assuredly work my deliverance.'