"Once upon a time when old Baghdad was new and shiny, there was a beggar and what a rascal!" "He called himself the king of beggars." "Having convinced himself that he was a king of some kind," "He'd roam the streets at night seeking adventure disguised as a prince." "In a great palace in the city lived a great lady." "A beautiful lady." "And she had quite a time with this prince." "Of course, she didn't know that he was only a beggar." "Her lord and master was the Grand Vizier." "A very powerful man." "When you know him better, you won't wonder that she wandered." "On the throne sat the young caliph, ruler of this great empire." "But he was not content to sit and rule." "He wanted the truth about his kingdom and his people." "And to learn the truth, he also roamed the streets of Baghdad at night disguised as a gardener's son." "And one day in this disguise, he met his fate." "An adorable maid." "And who do you think she was?" "None other than the daughter of that rascal, the king of beggars." "Here is the fabulous old city." "Let's cross the river with this caravan right into the exotic heart of romantic, fantastic Baghdad." "A caravan!" "Look, a whole dinar." "Dinar, bah." "Pigeon food." "Look here comes the feed for elephants." "Round is the moon. 'Round goes the moon." "The wind and the rain and the moon 'round again." "Halt, the magical great of the earth." "Here's a creature who will talk thy mother-in-law to death." "She puts on her best feathers, and comes from nowhere only to greet nobility." "A thousand blessings, my benefactor." "May the golden cupboards of the water of life be open to thee." "Alms for the love..." "The stench of my soul increases from dawn to dawn." "Alms for the love of Allah." "Hurry, hurry, the buzzards are waiting for thee." "Look, the rich dervish miser." "Not one dinar from him in twenty years." "I've been much too patient with him." "Get away from there, mongrel." "One moment, kind merchant, in the name of Allah." "Must the poor give away their blessings forever, oh great of heart?" "Out of my way, beggar." "But this small boy looks hungry." "A little compassion." "Put that back." "As thou sayest." "Let the little boy starve." "What, already hatched?" "How time flies." "Give me that." " Very well, my friend, very well." " No, give it to me." "All right, all right, but don't let it fall." "You know how young it is." "It's just a baby." "How did the donkey's ear lay an egg?" "You're holding up the caravan." "Out of the way." "A thousand pardons, kind merchant." "...Alms for the love of Allah..." "Did you see that?" "That thief." "Sharp eyes, sharp ears, very useful." "Gold?" "An embarrassment of riches." "Fate has been very kind." "Tonight I shall celebrate." "Moolah, take my place." "Moolah you can extract from the caravan." "Watch him, Feisal." "See he doesn't fall asleep." "You're not leaving with all these fine pickings?" "I have a rendezvous." "Scum!" "To the caliph I may be dirt but to dirt, I am the caliph." "Salam, dirt." "What are you doing up there, old cactus?" "Looking for a sweetheart?" "Never you do that again." "Marsinah." " My little lotus bud." " Good evening, father." "Open your pretty lips, my little dove." " Delicious." " And why not, my pigeon?" "It's mixed with sugar and vinegar like the good and bad things in life." "Rose water to give it perfume, and sweet seeds for flavor." "And it's all put together by honey bees I have working for you in a corner of the caliph's garden." "A special flock of bees?" "Very special." " And look what I'm making for you." " Mm, delicious." "I thought you might come home late and be ravenously hungry." "What a pity." "I must go to a banquet tonight." "Again?" "Again?" "As king of the world of magic, I'm very much in demand." "How is this little hand going to look when you grow up and marry the prince I promised you?" "Maybe he'll be hungry sometime." "Your prince is never hungry." "A little thirsty but never hungry." "I have a confession, father." "Let's have it." "I promised Karsha I would tell you." "I was looking over the wall without my veil." "That's why Karsha was on the ladder trying to see what I was looking at." "Outside those wall, my blossom, is a very ugly world." "Except in a palace of your own." "That's why I built the wall around you." "Leave it there." "Until your prince comes to batter it down and carry you off to a world as lovely as you are." "The fairy tale always comes true." "Never forget that, my little princess." "Now, I must dress for the feast." "Sorry, kitties, but he's going out with royalty tonight." "Thank you, my beauty." "Let me see how you look." "Oh, beautiful." "Now that you have me beautiful, off to bed with you and get your beauty sleep." "Blessings, my rose, sleep well." "I've hung a lovely moon in the sky for you." "Sometimes the old moon keeps me awake." "Turn your pretty little nose into the pillow or I'll come up and blow out the moon." " Bah!" " Huh?" "I said, Bah!" "That's all I've heard you say in thirty years." "One of these days, I'll say more than that." "Police, guards, police." "Police?" "I don't see any police." "What are you fighting for on a night like this?" "I called them liars." "They were liars." "So's everybody." "Not when you make them lose their jeppers." "Then they tell you the truth." " Is that what you want?" " Yes, I want the truth." "Truth, my friend, is boredom." "Maybe so but it's exciting and worth fighting for." "Give me a man who laughs when he fights." " Come and have some wine." " Thanks, I will." "Hey, Prince..." "Don't expect the truth from anyone here." "They're charming people." "They don't bother with it." "Charming people?" "They look like a bunch of back alley merchants and cutthroats to me." "To you?" "My friend, they are all nobility." "I don't recognize any of them." "How should a young elephant like you recognize nobility?" "I go to all the parades." "Excellency, I have a place for you." "Salam, ladies." "I won't tell you their names but they're all queens in disguise." "Magic black eyes." "Take one look and turn away." "They're dangerous." "Don't worry." "He told me I was the only girl in Baghdad." "So you are, my blossom." "Hardy young antelope I've fell in with." "What draggle tail part of the city do you come from?" "Mind if I choose for myself?" "Save me Laeida?" "She is not in yet." "Drink some wine." "In a few minutes, you'll see a young beauty worth fighting for." "I hope I can agree with you." "Agree with me?" " The insolence." " I'm sorry." "My friend, if she weren't a lovely sight to behold, she wouldn't be coming here for an evening with me." "Oh?" "Well, might I ask just who you are?" "Keep it to yourself." "One of the princes of the empire." "I sit in the counsels of the caliph." "Oh." "You do?" "Then you know the new caliph." "Tell me, what's he like?" "The new caliph is a yahoo." "A yahoo?" "His father left him a score of lovely ladies." "And what does the young gander do?" "He turns them loose." "Bah!" "Heart of a king should be big enough for all the women in the world." "If a king can't act like a king, he's a yahoo." "He doesn't tell you what to do about the ladies, does he?" "My friend," "No one has to tell me what to do with the ladies." "You're sitting with the master." "Oh, magic." "And very handy in case of trouble." "You must see this." "I have secured a new meeting place - a tower by the river." "Come at once." "Hassan will guide you." "Jamilla" "Bad news?" "On the contrary." "It's from a queen." "I haven't seen her for..." "Oh, it's been much too long." "What about Lady Laeida?" "Oh, she's late." "You'll have to take what's left." "She might even like you." "Thank you." "Farewell, my friend." "Say to the Lady Laeida, urgent matters call me." "Why didn't you wait for Laeida?" "I have a rendezvous of my own." "Does the master approve?" "Is she beautiful?" " The sweetest girl in Baghdad." " Magnificent." "Where?" "In a boat tied up to a cypress tree." "Boat, romance in a bouncing boat." "Go away." "Spoil the night for someone else." "Never let tomorrow break the spell." "And when autumn breezes hear our sighs, may our lips never say fare thee well." "Keep him near, never far." "Never leave, evening star." "His royal highness, the Prince of Hassir." "He's not the Prince of Hassir." "He's only the prince of liars." "But charming." "You may show him in." "You may enter." "..and when autumn breezes hear our sighs ...may our lips never say..." "Jamilla, Lady of the Moonlight." "So we meet again, my prince." "Let me feast my eyes on you." "It really is you." "This is a pleasure." "I've tried giving you up." "How could anything so beautiful be so merciless, so cruel?" "We have a week of delirious happiness and suddenly you're gone." "My nights are sleepless, my days burning sands." "I didn't know who you were, where you were." "I shouted the name Jamilla through every palace window." "From Tehran to Mosul." "There wasn't even an echo." "Finally," "I take the long journey home to Hassir eh, my own little kingdom praying for a thunderbolt to explode you out of my heart." "But no thunderbolt." "Charming." "I ride home." "I am desolate." "In my palace," "I have a corner I call the Garden of the Stars." "I like that." "There I sat night after night." "And with my astrologers..." "A very stupid lot." "They don't know anything about women." "But you do, my prince." "There never was another woman in all the world I couldn't forget but you." "You weren't looking for me in that cafe where they found you." "But how fortunate I was there." "It was the hand of fate." "Kiss me." " Kiss?" " What else?" "I stopped a fight in the street." "I took a poor old battered lad inside and washed the blood off him." "A foul, reeking place, yes, but I..." "I couldn't leave him in the street, could I?" "And you couldn't keep Laeida waiting, could you?" "How could you profane this moment with chatter like that?" "After the torture you've made me endure." "Adorable man, don't stop." "Don't ever stop." "I'd rather listen to you telling lies than to all the wise men with all the truth of the ages." "Beard of my ancestor!" "No one calls me a liar with impunity." "Who are you, Lady of the Moonlight?" "I must know." "You'll never escape me again." "I warn you to leave things as they are, prince." "I never leave things as they are." "The night is enchanting." "Have you ever been on the river when the moon is like this?" "The river has romance from here." "Let it be." "That young lout I told you about." "Yes, you washed the blood off him." "He has a boat under a cypress tree." "They're possibly cripples by now." "My boat was built for the queen of Sheba." "Is it written that Solomon never went fishing with her at night?" "What are you thinking?" "Nothing." "Just listening." "So soft and so lovely." "Isn't your life always soft and lovely?" "I don't know." "I've never lived before." "Who built the high wall around you?" "My father." "Why?" "To keep everybody out." "To keep me inside." "Is no one ever going to be allowed inside?" "Oh, yes." "The prince I'm going to marry someday will batter the walls down." "I'd batter the walls down but I'm only a gardener's son." "That's why I'm laughing." "Where is this prince supposed to come form?" "Kismet, my fate." "Where else?" "You believe in fate, don't you?" "I do indeed." "My father thinks he can give romance to fate." "I want a prince for my daughter and nothing else will do." "You've never told me much about your father." "If I said he was a beggar, then you'd think he was a beggar." "No I'm not." "He's the king of beggars." "He's a king of some kind." "Or he couldn't be your father." "If he ever knew the wall wasn't high enough..." "He'd kill me." "No, darling, nobody's going to kill you." "If he knew I'd been kissed by a gardener's son..." "Oh, well." "The moon is almost gone." "Take me home now, please." " You wicked..." " Oh, Karsha." "Is this the first time?" "Allah, look down." "I'm in love, Karsha." "Love with some poverty stricken camel boy?" "Your father would kill you." "But you're not going to tell him." "Swear to me me you'll never do this again or I will tell him." "Did you make such promises when you were in love, Karsha?" "Go to bed, you." "Besides, if you tell father, he'll cut both our throats." "You get to bed." "You ought to be too ashamed to draw a breath much less sing." "There's no room in my heart for shame." "Who is this young creature anyhow?" "Isn't he wonderful?" "He can jump but who is he?" "He's a gardener's son." "Salt of the world, a gardener's son!" "Wait, his father's chief gardener of the palace, the caliph's gardener." " What gets you up so early?" " I'm not up so early." " No?" " No." "I haven't been to bed." "Ah, come, my friend, I..." "If I'm your friend, why don't...what's that?" "Brawling again." "Why don't you stop it?" "I've prowled mt last prowl." "I've found what I've been looking for." "All thanks to Allah." "So from now on, you can sleep in peace." " You found what?" " I found a queen." "And such a queen." "What eyes!" "The kind our poets call deep pools." "Always thought they were crazy before now, but they're not." "I suppose queens do play around the streets of Baghdad at night." "Oh no, not this one." "I had to leap a high wall for my queen." "And here's something to make you more cheerful." "I want you to get in touch with our astrologers and tell them this is a wonderful day for a wedding." "And don't you let them tell you it isn't." "Wedding?" "Who is she?" "What's the difference?" "I know what she is." "Her name's Marsinah." "Good name, isn't it?" "What about her family?" "And her father." "Who is he?" "If I told you he's a beggar, you'd think he's a beggar." "He's the king of beggars." "Are you serious?" "Very serious." "King of beggars." "You'll have to conjure up some new title for this king of beggars." "But tell me more about the girl." "She's a queen, my friend." "Heart of a queen, mind of a queen, soul of a queen." "I suppose she has a body." "Ravishing, my friend, ravishing." "Well, you didn't mention the body first." "That's promising." "Blessings of the Prophet on your wedding day." " Long life and great happiness." " Thank you." "I'd better call off the parade to the mosque." "Oh no, we can't do that." "That would disappoint my people." "But the court's this afternoon." "We'll have to dispense with that." "That would disappoint the Grand Vizier." "What's the matter?" "You look worried." "I am, very much worried." "You committed a blunder yesterday." " A very serious blunder." " Did I?" "Name of Allah!" "You summoned the Grand Vizier of Baghdad to court like a common thief." "A thief's a thief." "But he's the most powerful man in the empire." "My father let this jackal skin people alive." "Taxes, tributes, plain robbery." "And I'm going to stop it." "But he hasn't even acknowledged your summons." "He'll laugh at you." "And he won't come." "He'll come." "Or I'll go get him myself." "And like doing it." "I can only repeat that he is the most powerful man in the empire." "Achmed." "Let me have this." "I want to keep it." "Her head was resting on your shoulder." "For the empire and her, I will do my best." "And nothing on earth will stop me." "That was spoken like a king." "And why not?" "If a king isn't a king, he's just a yahoo." "Yahoo?" "What is a yahoo?" "You won't find that word in books, Agha." "Blessings of the Prophet on this day of days." "This brand new caliph, this presumptuous peacock, has the gall to summon me to open court." "When he stands before the mosque today," "I want you to send an arrow through his heart." "But see that the arrow flies straight." "Yes, milord." "If you fail, your head will come off." "I will not fail, milord." "That will be the shortest career any caliph ever had in Baghdad." " Good morning, father." " Ah, my little lotus." "Fresh from the hills." "The dew is still on them." "I waited for the sun to open them up." "Enchanting!" " Aren't they gorgeous." " Go on with you sining." "And how is my little nightingale this morning?" " In good voice?" " Too good." "What's troubling my little Marsinah?" "She's not in the mood for learning." "My mind is wandering this morning." "I'm sorry." "Why not?" "Everyone's mind should wander on a morning like this." "I knew you'd understand, father." "And today, I am not your father." "Today I am the shah of Molla Bashi." "Bah!" "And to what do I owe the pleasure of this visit, your excellency?" "Word of thy beauty is blowing down the wind." "I am here to offer gifts at your feet." "It's lovely." "Where did you get it?" "I never remember where I get anything." "Now, you sing for me." "Very well." "Bah!" "Tell me, tell me little evening star, is this world as lovely as it seems." "Did some magic carpet from afar bring this love to the land of my dreams?" "Keep your light forever in his eyes." "Never let tomorrow break the spell." "And when autumn breezes hear us sigh," " Did you teach her to sing that song?" " I did not." "...lips never say fare thee well." "Where did that song come from?" "How do I know?" "I dreamed songs like that at her age." " Where did she learn it?" " I don't know." "Something's happened." "Who is it?" "What is it?" "If there's any trouble, there's no one to blame but you." "You brought her up on fairy tales." "You made fantastic promises." "Built walls around her then went roaring through Baghdad and forgot about her." "Forgot?" "You can't forget her any longer." "Do you think she's going to wither away waiting for your fairy tales to come true?" "She's waiting for her fate and all its splendor." "The fate for a beggar's daughter is a camel boy." "Silence, misery." "Let no one make hash of fairy tales, my rosebud." "They're the only things in the world that come true." "Alms for the love." "What's wrong with him?" "Oh, him." "He worries me." "Alms for the love of Allah." "Everybody's in a gay and festive mood and you sit here." "What ails you?" "Guess the rendezvous must have made him sick." "Maybe he drank too much." "I never thought I'd have a problem and no answer for it." " He has a problem." " What's that?" "Oh." "One of those things..." "I never thought you'd have a problem." "I know the answer." "Don't worry." "For a dozen years" "I made golden promises to my little girl." "Suddenly she's not a baby anymore." "What about the golden promises?" "A prince and nothing less." "A handsome prince, fabulously rich." "I spread a carpet of dreams before her." "This morning, I'm just a beggar." "Princes live in another world." "My rose will bloom for some camel boy." "He'll never know how sweet she is." "I guess he has been drinking too much." "It's the Caliph." "That man will never make another attempt of the kind." "I made sure of that." "Also, he can't answer any questions, can he?" "Dead men tell no tales." "Feisal." "What was that gossip of yours about the big people?" "About the Grand Vizier." "He was invited to the court like any criminal." "That's what I said." "I think he just replied to the invitation." "He came within inches of being ruler of the empire." "I could tie my chariot to such a star." " Lord of the Grand Illusion." " Or we just do nothing." "There's only one place for the loveliest of daughters." "The household of the greatest of men." "The Grand Vizier?" "You're closer to him today than you will be in a thousand years." "Now, by the glories of Paradise to come," "Allah hath opened the gate of action to me." "Lead me to a bazaar where they trade in royal silks." "Jewels from India, beads from Damascus, sashes from Constantinople, turban cloth from Vocarra." "My Marsinah was born to make a palace dance." "Allah, save us." "That, my friends, is the golden promise of a king, and the word of a king is good." "Water, water, it's good." "I never knew it was like that." "Yeah well, I had a bath." "Say, Bobo, why are we hiding here in a public bathing place?" "Don't worry." "This is one place they'd never look for us." " No?" " Police, police!" "Police, police!" "They're here, the police." "They're here." "Why not police?" "There was an attempt on the caliph's life this morning." "They're looking for accomplices everywhere." "Attendant." "Attendant." "Yes?" "Yes, your highness." "One of my men tells me the police are here." "They're looking for a beggar for robbery." "Tell the captain I wish a word with him." " At once." " What?" "There's a wise proverb:" "Seize the horns of the charging bull." "Your highness, the captain of police." "Why do you enter a place where weary travellers relax?" "Must the peace of the hammam be disturbed?" " It's a matter of duty." " Duty?" "In my country, I allow no such impertinence." "What duty?" "We are looking for a thief." "Must have stolen the sacred jewels." "No, milord." "Apparel of great value." "Trinkets a rat steals and a captain becomes a ferret?" "In my country my captains don't annoy visiting royalty chasing petty thieves." "Look int he yard." "See if my elephant is still there." "Your highness, I did not know." "You didn't know." "What's happened to Baghdad?" "My last visit here, eleven years ago, when I was a day's journey away, the police of Baghdad knew I was coming." "Your highness, no elephant." "By the dried skin of the hyena." "Have I come a thousand parasangs to visit the Grand Vizier only to be robbed?" "I demand safe conduct." "and another elephant." "If your soul isn't too weasel to stop this rat catching, send a messenger to Mansur's palace." "And say the Prince of Hassir has arrived with toot sweet." "On matters of great importance." "Very well, you shall have your escort and you shall have your elephant." "But now..." " I want privacy." " Very good, your highness." "Is that carpet for us?" "No, that's for the elephant." "Tell the merchant the tax is direct." "Unless they pay it immediately, it will be my personal pleasure to roll their heads through their bazaar." "What do you want?" "How large a guard shall I prepare for your visit to the royal court?" "You should know better than that, captain." " But, milord." " Forget the summons to court." "This young peacock is beginning to spread his tail." "He just might send the police after me." "It'll give him a chance to find out I'm the police." "What is it?" "His royal highness, the Prince of Hassir." "Hassir, Hassir?" "He must come from the far ends of the world." "That's the farthest corner of the empire, my lord." "Did he send a messenger for an appointment?" "No, milord." "These heathens have customs but no manners." "Yes, milord." "Let's give him a royal reception." "Let's amaze him with it." "I wonder what this barbarian wants to have travelled so far." "His royal highness, the Prince of Hassir." "I'll wager he's been preparing a long speech all the way across the desert." "A long, horrible speech." "Welcome, your highness." "A wide brow proclaims an open heart." "May heaven trust me, your lordship." "I never ask prosperity where it comes from." "Right, milord." "The devil could do you a good turn now and then." "That they may be seated." "I have a contemptibly small gift." "My caravan is delayed." "So if you will accept this in the meantime," "I would be most honored." "This is exquisite." "This is really fine." " Good hands made this." " Very young hands." "Is the design a copy?" "Copy, milord?" "It's a creation." "She did all of it." "She?" "It's a gift from the loveliest girl in Hassir." "Perhaps in the empire." "If I guess right, there's a mission you want me to perform." " Is there, milord?" " Yes." "You want me to propose the lovely young girl for the caliph's household." "Milord..." "But you've come at a very bad moment." "The caliph does not love me as he should." "At the moment." "Milord..." "If I wish to visit the caliph," "I will visit the caliph." "Splendid, splendid, your gift honors me." "Will your highness honor me by accepting eh..." "These?" "I am overwhelmed, your lordship." "Alfife." "The living isn't very good on the journey from Hassir to Baghdad, is it?" "I once knew a magician in your province." "His name was Abdul Laka." "How is he?" "The one with a beard like a field of ripe corn?" "No, no, no, he had a short eh... scruffy wisp of a beard." "Oh, that Abdul." "The brigand." "He stole so brazenly, my executioners had to cut his hands off." " No." " Bled to death in public." "That should teach him a lesson." "Let's drink to poor Abdul." "We have the finest wine, music and dancing." " Dancing?" " You like dancing?" "It's the flowers on the mountaintop." "Then you're about to see the finest in the kingdom." "I have scores of them." "My kind of dancers don't come in scores." " No?" " No." "I'll wager you haven't anything like this in your pastures." "The girl who made you the gift makes these look like swamphens." "Swamphens?" "These girls were selected from every royal house in the empire." "Milord, my little girl would be a queen among these." "Great dancing takes brains and heart." "Alfife." "I have a great dancer." "She has brains but no heart." "Say to her gracious majesty I have a distinguished visitor." "The prestige of my court is sinking." "Say that I am pleading that she save the glory of the court." "Your ladyship?" "Well?" "I'm commanded to request that you appear in the hall of the white columns and dance." "I'm very sorry." "I'm not in the mood for dancing." "But it is for a distinguished guest." "Must I call Hassan?" "We've been robbed, lord." "Alfife, one moment, please." "The royal merchants have been robbed." "They want justice." "Tell them to wait." "I have troubles enough." "Quiet, quiet." "Her ladyship is not in the mood." "Salt of my ancestors!" "A man who cracks a whip over an empire." "If I cracked a whip over this lady, she'd take it right out of my hands." "It takes a great man to admit it." "She's a gift from Macedonia." "I can't offend Macedonia." "That sounds more like the caliph than your lordship." "Well, upon my soul!" "You all stay." "Watch the dancing and have some wine." "Why do you continue to deprive us of the pleasure of your incomparable dancing?" "Didn't Alfife tell you?" "Doesn't the look of desperation in my eyes soften your mood just a little?" "I'm in a very pleasant mood." "Very." "I have a charming and distinguished guest." "It's your luck that he pleases you." "Pleases me?" "He scorns my dancing girls as swamphens." "Oh, a man of judgement." "Lady Jamilla, I have granted you exceptional privileges." "You granted nothing." "You have an agreement with Macedonia that I should do that thing." "And you have agreed never to come to this tower except at my invitation." "I'm waiting patiently for the invitation." "And as far as dancing is concerned..." "You have ladies who dance when you strike the gong." "I don't." "But, Lady Jamilla..." "I give your lordship my answer politely." "It's outrageous hospitality." "He's had a long hard journey and we mustn't disappoint the Prince of Hassir." "The Prince of Hassir?" "Now, don't try to trick me." "There's no such thing under the sun as the Prince of Hassir." "I'm absolutely certain." "There's no such man." "There's nothing more to be said." "Some day I'm going to cut your head off even if I lose Macedonia." "Hassan has something important to tell you." "Hassan?" "I'll see him." "She says there is no Prince of Hassir." "Lady of the Moonlight." "Lady of the what?" "Well, she came down from some celestial spot." "She didn't come down." "She came up." "Marvelous." "Pity custom forbids my telling her so." "We are bigger than our customs." "Tell her so." "Don't be afraid." "She doesn't bite strangers." "Your lordship is great indeed." "Lady of the Moonlight." "You are ravishing." "I warned you to leave things as they were." "How could you do this terrible thing to me?" "What have I done?" "When you said you shouted my name in the windows of all the palaces," "I knew it was nonsense but I loved it." "To me, you were all the romance of old Baghdad." "When I was bored to exhaustion, I could escape and find you." "You were priceless." "Jamilla, listen to me." "No, no, no." "This is farewell, my friend." "What a shame." "I am just as much the Prince of Hassir as I ever was." "As much, no more." "You're a charming liar at times." "Don't be absurd." "The Grand Vizier doesn't roll out the red carpet for stray vagabonds." "When my royal blood is up, no one can deny me." "And no one does." "Nothing has changed." "You mean you hoaxed your way in here?" "This is magnificent." "You took your life in your hands to see me." "A poor risk for such a reward." "Then I must see you tonight." "You must tell me all about this before you forget any of it." "What you said, every word." "What the great man said." "Oh, this is wonderful!" "I'll laugh in his face every time I look at him." "You'll never laugh in his face again." "We're leaving tonight you and I for my Garden of the Stars." "If you will accept this little gift, beautiful dancer, it may remind you of the pleasure you gave a weary traveller." "You're too gracious, your highness." "Well?" "Well." "She's a great artist, milord." "Then we'll hear no more about the maid of Hassir." "Of course, she's much younger." "But she's queen of them all." "You're not suggesting I get rid of Jamilla?" "No, no, no, my lord." "But of course, fate moves queens into place and out again so..." "You never can tell." "We're too shaking with Macedonia right now, aren't we?" "I didn't come here to give you the shakes." "I just wanted you to see the girl, that's all." "To see her dance." "And when she sings, my lord, the angels are still." "In the name of the seven burning lakes, do you expect me to travel all the way to Hassir to see this paragon?" "No, she's here with me in Baghdad." "Then before you start singing her praises all over again," "I'll send for her in state." "That's something I must do myself, if you don't mind." "No, anything you want, of course." "The superlative hand that fashioned the gift shall have something from me." "Here." "Give this to the miracle of all girls and say to her that never before in it's history has this palace held its breath as it does now." "And what's her name?" " Marsinah." " Marsinah." "And now gentlemen, to the Princess Marsinah." "This needlework!" "What material!" "I poured all my love into it." "Oh, Karsha." "I like it myself." "Listen." "Listen." "Oh, he sounds happy." "Sounds like an extra glass of wine or a new fairy tale." "Here, you come take that off." "That's not for everyday." "Please, Karsha, I want father to see it." "Ah, my blossoming flower, greetings, my unblossoming cactus." "Salam, salam, salam." "Happiness." "Where did you get it?" "To those of royal blood, one never asks, "Where did you get it?"" "Those pearls." "Gorgeous." "Who was it said every son's a blessing, every daughter a desolation?" "Who'd dare say anything so wicked?" "I wouldn't barter you this day for all the sons of all the guardians, all the nobles or..." "am I talking like a king?" "Who went crazy." "Silence, cactus." "Or I'll call my slaves to chop your head off." "How would my little princess like to live in a palace?" "With pillows of ostrich plumes, in courts of marble with ceilings of molten gold." "She'd go blind in the eye, enslaved." "Come on, slave, the feast." "Ha, quiet." "Your wishes, princess?" "I shall have a sherbert." "In my costliest china bowl." "With exquisite spoons made from the pear tree." "Here is pheasant from Mazanderland." "Here are the choicest bites of the wild antelope." "I get the bellyache just listening to them." "So, I go roaring through Baghdad, do I?" "Such a roar was never heard through Baghdad." "Please, father, tell me what did you do?" "I have had wine with the greatest man in Arabia." "Wine, music, he even brought out his dancing girls." "I looked at them, I thought of you." "Milord, I said, these are swamphens." "He said, "Off with his head." I said, "Wait", said I, "Wait."" "Not until you've seen the Princess Marsinah and so..." "He sends you this." "With his compliments." "Now, my lotus, my little pigeon, you are to dance for the Grand Vizier!" "I?" "I dance for the Grand Vizier?" "I promised you when the time came, a king should bow his turban to the dust for you." "All day your father has been stepping from one mountain peak to another." "But don't be uneasy, my little Marsinah." "You'll dazzle them all." "Open up in the name of justice." "This way, quick!" "In here, both of you." "Quick!" "The police, police." " I knew they wouldn't be far behind you." " Stay there." " The robber." " The rascal." " That's my tunic" " My shoes." " My ring." " My turban." " He stole my purse." " Quiet." "They're lying dogs, captain." "These clothes in this shack?" "These clothes are mine and those too." "You can have them back." "Here..." "Come along, you're under arrest." "Alfife, this is an outrage." "I'm a man of religion and peace." "Three doomsday break if I lie." "Father." "I'll be back, my little one." "Don't worry." "I'll see my friend, the Grand Vizier." "He'll send them all where they belong." "Come along." "I knew it." "I knew it." "Karsha." " Karsha." " Come, my little one." "No, no, I must get help." "The king of beggars." " Gardener?" " Yes?" " What is it?" " This young lady wants to see you." "Wants to see me?" "Yes, please." "A flower from the caliph's garden." "Is that what she was?" "Here." "Thank you." "That has a blessing." "Where can I find your son?" "My son?" "This garden is the only wife I ever had." "Thousands of these flowers are my only children." "Oh, see what you've done." "Forgive me." "Milord..." "My friend, I didn't believe it when they told me." "I've seen princes made and unmade pretty fast in my time." "But never with a speed like this." "Go ahead." "The accusers may speak one at a time." "Quiet." "I have heard the accusations." "And what has his highness of Hassir to say?" "And what of the magician?" "Can he juggle his way out of this?" "Come, speak." "Milord, when the trick fails, when it's exposed, the magician's a poor thing." "The other gift, the bracelet you gave the princess, milord." "Oh, no, hang it around your neck again." "I did enjoy you." "You surprised a man pretty hard to surprise." "And you remember poor Abdul?" "Yes." "You know the law." "If a man steals, you cut off his hands in front of his victims." "My hands!" "Actually, you'll cut my heart out." "If a man knows the law, he should think of that before he steals" "Milord!" "It is no pleasure to see rare talent cut off before its time." "But it is so written in the law." "There can be no compromise." "What is it?" "A message from the imperial palace." "I have come from the all highest of the center of the universe to give his compliments to you." "He has sent a very substantial number of his royal guard." "His serene highness is thus assured that you will be conducted to his presence in a manner befitting your exulted position and the distinction of your house." "Did you say royal guard?" "By the express orders of the caliph." "Your palace is now completely surrounded by your escort." "Milord." "Milord, shall we proceed?" "What are we waiting for?" "Cut off his hands and dismiss the court." "Milord, wait, these hands can serve you." "Silence, mountebank." "But I can tell you of my master in Morocco." "He toppled the king off the throne." "When everything else had failed." "Halt." "My friend, your story will have to be exceedingly good." "Or it will be exceedingly short." "It's both, milord." "It's good and short." "But..." "I need my hands to tell it." "And now, what did your master of Morocco do?" "While the king was amazed at the lightning in one hand, the other drove a dagger through his heart." "Proceed." "I heard the king's messenger." "The words sounded fair but..." "Your lordship is trapped." "Before the mosque this morning, a mans' head rolled in the gutter." "He'd fumbled his job." "You told me yourself how much the caliph loved you." "Of course, you know you've just written your death warrant." "Unless I can serve you." "What you want done in Baghdad today, only these hands can do." "Get me before the king today and you will rule the empire by sundown." " You have courage, my friend." " I have for this, milord." "I'm keeping a golden promise." "I'd rather die than break it." " A promise to whom?" " To my daughter, milord." "Dear to me beyond the hopes of Paradise." "The highest place in the world I've promised her since she was a baby." "If you serve me today, I'll make you a prince of Islam, and she can have anything she wants." "If I send this peacock to Paradise one split second later, I'll be dead." "You risk that, of course." "Now, what do you want?" "This and it must be done rapidly." "My Marsinah brought here in state." "I must see her installed not as one of your dancers but as queen." "As head of your household." "But what about the tiger cat?" "Leave the tiger cat to me." "Another assignment in magic?" "You met the lady for only a brief moment." "It was love at first sight, milord." "I can always tell." "Very well, my friend, very well." "Your princess Marsinah shall be brought here in state." "And now some wine." "That means good things." "Like a bursting sunrise." "You've heard many fables, child." "But the sands never lie." "What's that?" "Have you risen from the dead?" "Marsinah, my child, there's nothing to be distressed about." "A word to my friend, the Grand Vizier, and those hounds went off yelping." "Tears, my poor baby?" "Has this croaking old parchment frightened you?" "I've good news for you." "The greatest of all news." "You are to be queen of the household of the Grand Vizier." "Think of it." "The Princess Marsinah." "Not just one of a score of dancing girls." "But queen of them all." "Don't lie to her anymore." "I do not lie, cactus." "Before the sun goes down, she'll be the greatest lady in Baghdad." " Why must you make life so horrible?" " Marsinah, it is written." "I love you, father, but I can't obey." "What's this?" "What's happened?" "She's fallen in love." "That's what's happened." "Who?" "When?" "I'll send him floating down the river without his head." "Where is he?" "He told her his father's the royal gardener but he lied." "The royal gardener has no son." "I want to put you on the mountaintop but you choose the gutter." "Don't you see how miserable I am?" "My little Marsinah," "I built these walls to protect you." "Every day of your life," "I've tried to bring a world of dream in here." "And now those dreams are coming true." "I know what life with the gardener's son will mean." "Slavery, poverty, ugliness." "A few short years and life will be over." "That's not true." "Leave me alone." " Captain of the guard." " Father." "Bring them in." "Don't make me do this." "For this I've risked my life a dozen times today." "For this I descended a bottomless pit." "The bargain is made." "You mean I..." "I'm to marry a..." "I'm giving you the place in the sun I promised you." "Deliver this maid to the Grand Vizier." "They don't have to touch me." "I'll go." "When will she arrive?" "Just before sunset." "After the gardener's son has battered the wall down." "The messenger has returned." "You may speak." "You majesty, this beggar we've been searching for seems to have vanished." "Ridiculous." "Beggars don't vanish from Baghdad." "He must be found and found today." "In your search, did you learn anything about him?" "He calls himself king of beggars." "He masquerades at night as the Prince of Hassir." "He is also quite a magician." "Double your efforts." "Set a watch around the house where he lives." "You may go." "You're not serious about this wedding after what you've just heard?" "Nothing can change my mind." "I shall bring her here myself." "In the name of Destiny, you..." "It's insane to risk your neck in the streets." "You can send a thousand men with me if you like." "But the gardener's son is going to lead her through the royal gardens." "I'll tell her nothing till we're here." "I want the memory of this day to live in her heart forever." "I'm ready, milord." "Where's the princess?" " She's being costumed." " Good." "Your appearance in court has been arranged." "The caliph has accepted your petition." "And he..." "What are you laughing at?" "There's vast excitement among the ladies because of the Princess Marsinah." "Her highness, Queen Jamilla, refuses to leave the tower, milord." "You hear?" "She won't leave the tower." "There's a good deal at stake." "I think she'll have to." "Right, but what are you going to do, put her under a spell?" "Exactly." "As soon as you've formally dethroned her." "There are formalities, milord." "All right." "Stay here." "I'll take care of the formalities." "Don't you dare come up here." "Or I'll drive a dagger through your heart." "But, Lady Jamilla..." "I shall stay in this tower as long as it pleases me." "And only when I decide to leave, shall I leave." "Oh, you decide." "Remember I told you I would cut your throat even if I lost Macedonia." "Now the time has come." " I'll call out the..." " Never mind." "I have decided to leave." "You what?" "Jasmina." "Marsinah." "Prince Charming." "Let no one make hash of fairy tales, my rosebud." "Your veil, please." "You should have brought a poet to talk about her." "Arise, my dear." "And be honored." "From now on, this distinguished young lady is queen of the household." "There will be a marriage ceremony later in the day." "A word to your father before I lead you to the tower." "Once, milord, there grew a single rose in a beggar's garden." "He swore it should never bloom for some camel boy." "How do you do things like this?" "Magician." "You brought this girl here?" "Yes, I brought her here." "So that I would be free?" "It was a bargain." "I was going to tear the place to pieces." "And I would have." "If I hadn't seen you." "I told you you couldn't escape me." "Can a woman escape her destiny?" "The name of Jamilla still echos in palace windows." "And the Garden of the Stars is written in the sand." "I'll come back for you in an hour." "Another hour here?" "I'm a deposed queen." "Forgive me." "First I've a duty to perform." "It's not as simple as I thought." "Was is this duty?" "My part of the bargain." "If I live through it," "I'll be here." "You'll live through anything." "There's a secret entrance." "My slave will be looking for you." "Near the eastern gate." "If you don't see me within the hour," "I'll be dead." "You'll be alive when the man in the moon is forgotten, my beloved." "The Lady of the Moonlight will be waiting." "Come quickly." "Did I hear you laugh?" "Oh, no." "Why tears at this great moment?" "You've reached about the highest place a woman can have in this kingdom." "What good is a high place if your heart breaks?" "We women are not supposed to have hearts, my dear." "Who was he?" "Nobody." "A gardener's son." "I see." "You do strange things in Hassir." "Hassir?" "Yes, your province." "I've never heard of the place." "But you have been formally presented by the Prince of Hassir." "I've never been out of Baghdad." "But who's the man who brought you?" "You mean my father." " Your father?" " Yes." "He didn't bring me from anyplace but the shack we live in." "But who is your father if he's not the prince of Hassir?" "My father is a beggar." "A beggar?" "Yes, he sits on a rock before the beggar's mosque." "This magnificent man a beggar." "Oh, how wonderful." "How wonderful!" "A beggar!" "And his daughter a queen." "What fun." "Oh, I didn't mean to hurt you." "Come on, cheer up." "Hear that?" "Come here." "The song of ceremony for the new queen." "You're supposed to sing it." "I..." "We expect it." "Sing for them." "Like the willow in the wind, I have a weeping." "Like the willow in the wind moaning low" "Like a willow leaf, love is ever brief" "So my heart weeps away never sleeping" "Weeps away like the night winds that blow" "Like a willow leaf" "Love will come to grief" "Only yesterday spring was here to stay" "The voice is good." "I could do with a happier song." "Youth can be sad without rhyme or reason." "Now that I've signed the marriage agreement," "I've fulfilled my part of the bargain." "See that you don't fail to do yours." "Not I, milord." "If I don't juggle you out of trouble," "I've done nothing for her." "That's true, that's true." "Alfife." "Double the guard around the tower." "And what's so amusing?" "I was thinking if I fail with the caliph, they'll kill me." "If I don't then your lordship will do it." "I might not." "Milord, I've an inheritance." "My father lived to be 100, my grandfather 110." "They won't be expecting me in either place for years." "They won't be ready for me." "Find courage, my friend, find courage." "Kismet." "His lordship, the exalted Grand Vizier of Baghdad." "Let every tongue be silent." "His serene highness, commander of the faithful, lion of the imperial forest, rider of the spotless horse, shadow of Allah on earth, ruler of all Arabia." "If it please the all highest..." "The ruler of faithful is not to be addressed except at his own request." "As you well know." "Your case is third on the list, your lordship." "But to summon me here on a few hour's notice, shows contempt for my great office." "In the name of dignity and high justice, I demand time to prepare myself against the accusations, no matter what they may be." "I will always listen when a man says, "In the name of justice."" "I'll grant you the time you ask." "And I'm going to tell you what you're accused of so you'll know how to prepare." "But during the time I'm granting you, all duties and power of office is stripped from you." "The seal is worthless." "But this is outrageous." "You are accused of brutal taxation, robbery of the poor, years of corruption." "My witnesses are here by thousands." "And I have it from their own lips throughout the kingdom." "When you have an answer you think we should hear, let us know." "When your serene highness apologizes to me, may I hope that he does it as publicly as this." "I will not keep your fate a secret I promise you." "Number one on the divan program, is the case of Alwah, the woodchopper against Wapu the barber." "Which is the barber?" "I am the barber, your excellency, I am the barber." "State your case." "Great keeper of all justice, this miserable woodchopper, he pays my barbershop a visit." "He inquires how much will be the charge to shave him and his friend." "I stated a most reasonable price." "I shaved the rascal and I said," ""Now, bring in your friend."" "And what does he do?" "He brings in his ass and says, "This is my friend."" "Well, Alwah?" "Most high and just," "Two moons ago, I brought to this b-barber a load of wood on the back of my friend here." "He bargained for all of the wood on the ass' back." "In those very words." "So this hard-hearted b-barber he took also my pack saddle saying that too was made of wood." "He said..." "Agha, have this overly smart barber shave the woodchopper's friend." "The next case is a petition from a stranger." "It is a tradition in Baghdad to hear strangers without delay." "The man is a magician from far off Morocco." "And craves assignment as conjurer to the imperial court." "This magician is the beggar we've been searching the city for." "The next case is your father-in-law." "The Prince of Hassir?" "That roustabout who kicked me and called me a yahoo?" "My father-in-law." "The heavens are having fun." "Perhaps not." "His petition came from the valets of the Grand Vizier." "Let's be on guard." "I shall not weary your serene highness." "I shall conjure before the eyes of the lion of the imperial desert only such feats of magic." "He's gone." "He's gone." "Now, oh rider of the spotless horse" "On my right is this beautiful young lady and here, the handsome lad she loves." "but it's springtime, your highness and with your royal permission." "Let me out of here!" "Hey, let me out of here!" "Let me out." "Thus demonstrating to the all highest that nothing in the world is real." "Excellent, excellent." "And now, oh, prince of true believers," "I will show you a feat so incredible it has staggered all the rulers of the world." "But the king must watch closely." "May a stranger beg humbly to approach?" "The king's eyesight is excellent." "Proceed." "What use if the king can't see?" "Proceed." "Watch the kerchief closely, milord." " See amazing things it can see." " Halt!" "Serene highness," "I am a failure." "My chance is a nothing unless you examine the kerchief closely." "Stay where you are." "Let him come up." "Allah reward thee, commander of the faithful." "Before your eyes, I will produce a forest and put it on the mountaintop." "I now summon the gods of thunder." " And from these changing colors..." " You will produce a knife." "You showed me the trick last night." "Remember the yahoo?" "Don't kill him." "Bring him to me." "Bring him to me." "I want silence." "Let every tongue be silent." "This is the second attempt today." "It is clear life is in the hands of fate." "Praise Allah." "Before this fool's execution," "I want him to hear something." "You were told of a royal wedding today." "That wedding will still take place." "I've combed the corners of Baghdad for this man." "And while he was plotting with my enemies," "I was arranging to make his daughter queen of the empire." "That girl must disappear immediately." "The Grand Vizier, stop him." "Stop him." "Don't let him get away." " Don't worry about him." " Don't let the Grand Vizier get away." "Our chancellor will now give you the order of the day." " Proceed." " Guards, get him!" "Where's Marsinah?" "She goes with us." "Quick, lead the way." "Come back, you fool." "He'll kill you." "Admit no one until we get the beggar's daughter out of here." "And his highness can try and find us in the wilderness of the desert." "We'll soon find out who rules in Baghdad." "Marsinah." "Marsinah." "Here's the key." "Let me open it." "Marsinah." "The Grand Vizier." "Where's the girl?" "Where is she?" "Alfife, call the guards." "Alfife, the guards!" "Alfife." "He died laughing, Excellency." "We'll see if you can do the same." "I've heard enough." "Bring him in." "Yes, the most beautiful pearl in my entire kingdom." "Release him." "You may rise." "What have you to say?" "Your highness," "You expect to be hanged, of course?" "Thou art the lord of my neck." "Hanging is much to easy a punishment for you." "Milord, torture?" "You love Baghdad, don't you?" "With the breath of my life, milord." "Rather a dead beggar in Baghdad than a living monarch of the wilderness." "Have you ever seen Hassir?" "Hassir is the dullest, drowsiest, most desolate corner of the empire." "So..." "You're exiled." "To Hassir." "And if you're in Baghdad one second after sundown, that second will be your last." "Exiled?" "From Baghdad?" " Oh, milord, bring on the hangman." " Silence!" "From this moment, you are our Prince of Hassir." "Prince of Hassir?" "You had a lot of fun being Prince of Hassir." "Oh, most exalted," "I will make this forgotten spot into a paradise." "The desert shall blossom like the rose." "The odor of decay will vanish before a breeze of orange blossoms." "There will thy name be honored." "Yes, but if you're caught in Baghdad one second after sundown, that second will be your last." "They're coming, Jamilla." "Karsha." "He's coming, Karsha!" "Jamilla!" "Marsinah!" "Father." "Marsinah." "Father." "You're alive?" "Yes and so are all my promises." "Round is the moon, 'round goes the moon, the wind and the rain to the moon 'round again," "Karsha." "Father, it's the gardener's son." "But why do you kneel?" "It's the revered one, the rider of the spotless horse." "The Caliph of Baghdad himself." "The ruler of all Arabia." "Why, it..." "Marsinah." "Now, say goodbye to your father." "Father." "My baby." "Blessings of the Prophet on your wedding day, my little one." "Your highness, the sun goes down." "Your wedding gift, my lotus." "And may Allah smile on you both forever." "Look." "Well, it's..." "It's the most beautiful pearl I've ever seen." "Hurry up, man." "I thought you were lost." "All Baghdad" "Well, wishes are horses." "Beggars can ride." "The daughter of a beggar" "The daughter of a king." "Farewell, Baghdad." "If you're ever again in trouble, send for me." "Sundown, your highness." "This way."