The Tale of Azaroth's Son ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ [Editor's note: This is from One Thousand and One Calormene Nights, a collection of tales from all parts of Calormen, written over the centuries. It's also an Indonesian folk tale, so I can't take credit for it.] O, it is said in the far south city Teebeth that Azaroth, the twice-sexed God, had a son. The boy had the form of a strong Tarhhaan, and was playful and carefree, mischievous and forever playing tricks on the other gods. When the gods sent rain to Calormen the boy, whose name was Kazeesh, travelled down on the raindrops to the wonderous kingdom. Making himself invisible, he tickled sleeping children and Tarkheenas' ankles as they were carried through the streets on litters. When the winds blew he flew with them, and again he scampered everywhere, making waves upon the lake at Mezreel and sending duststorms through Tehishbaan. But the gods forgave him, for he was but a child. Alas, one day a demon, spawn of Tash, lured the boy-god away to visit the forbidden chambers of the goddess Zardeenah, Lady of the Night and Mistress of the Moon. This was a terrible crime among the gods, and he could not be forgiven this time. The gods gathered to decide his fate. For two days and two nights (for what is that to a god?) they sat and at last they declared their verdict. "From this day forward," Tash announced, "the son of Azaroth, Kazeesh, will be known as the Keesarung, the Monkey, and he will jabber with the other monkeys, and his face will be ugly and fierce instead of noble and proud, and shall remain so until a fair Tarkheena of Calormen falls in love with him." And so, Kazeesh, or as we must call him now, Keesarung, came to Calormen, to the southern forests. For many years he lived among the jungle creatures, wandering always, friend to the monkeys but lonely, and longing for the world he had lost. And he longed for love. At this time lived the mighty Talkana Tisroc, a fierce and terrible ruler even among Tisrocs, who conquered many of the smaller kingdoms which surround Calormen. His power grew and grew, and no-one could overcome his might. He fought upon the back of a mighty war elephant, a beast with four golden tusks, eight tiger eyes and the skin of a Tashbez crocodile. All those who looked at the elephant turned to stone, and whose who heard its mighty trumpet turned at once to clay. Every land he visited was his for the taking, but in one particular conquest he found a woman he desired to marry. She was a beauty among Tarkheenas, skin fragant as jasmine, and the light of Tash's silver temple was in her eyes. The Tisroc married her, and upon their wedding day they sailed to the lake of Mezreel, in the valley of a thousand perfumes. The crowds gathered about, and the Tisroc cried, "Here is the most beautiful maiden in all the world, and all will worship her!" Then he turned his head upward and cried to the gods, "I commit you to protect my royal wife, the loveliest blossom of the empire!" But upon these words, a black cloud appeared in the sky above, and from it descended a vulture, black of feather and face. It circled down to the Tisroc, and alighted on the sailing craft. It spoke in a cackling voice, "The gods have heard your plea, but they wish you to know that the loveliest blossom of your empire is not the woman who sits beside you, but her sister the Tarkheena Lasassari." The Tisroc frowned, but he had not yet learned his lesson, and questioned the bird. "Where is this girl?" The vulture answered, "She sleeps in her father's gardens in a nest with the parrots, the bees and spiders, and the butterflies. She does not wish to see the face of any man." As soon as Talkana Tisroc heard this, he sent his slaves to fetch the Tarkheena Lasassari. "I must see this woman," he said, "for if she is as lovely as this bird says she is, I will find a husband worthy of her." The slaves and servants of the Tisroc journeyed to Calavar, where the Tarkheena's father was Lord. The Tarkaan agreed at once to fetch his remaining daughter, and called up to the trees, but Lasassari would neither come down nor show her face. "I will not come!" she cried. "It is here among the creatures of the sky and fragrant blossoms I wish always to live." Her father was horrified, for he faced the wrath of the Tisroc. He sent birdcatchers to flush her from the tree, but they could not reach her. The parrots carried her higher. Her father sent for hunters, but when they climbed the trees and called "We have her!" they found they had caught the legs of a parrot, and fell down to earth." On and on went the hunt for the Tarkheena. As the parrots moved about, carrying her higher and away, one came to graze its wing on a branch and fall to the earth. The Tarkheena climbed down at once to help, but the birdcatchers were waiting and caught her in their nets. "Now," said her father, "you will stop your foolishness!" She was sent to the palace of the Tisroc. When Talkana Tisroc saw her, he could not catch his breath, as mesmerized as he was by her beauty, for she was the most extraordinary woman in the empire. He looked into her eyes, and saw they were dark and full of the mysteries of the world. "Servants!", he ordered, "the Tarkheena Lasassari will live as she wishes. Build her a nest as soft and large as the largest in the empire, and place this upon the banks of the Southern River." And there it was that the Tarkheena lived. She was happy to see her sister, but missed her father's gardens and the parrots and other creatures who had been her friends. Suitors came from near and far to woo the fair maiden, but not one of these men pleased the girl who spent her days sadly dreaming of the life she had lost. Years passed, and the Tisroc spoke of nothing but the Tarkheena Lasassari. "She is magnificent. Her neck is as delicate as rose petals, a mouth of orchids' petals." He praised the Tarkheena until his wife grew terribly jealous. The Tisroc's woman wished only that her sister would flee the kingdom, and she came up with a plan to frighten her sister that she might run away. One day, while the Tisroc was away hunting, she went to her sister and said, "Dear sister, though it grieves my heart to say it, the Tisroc (may he live forever) is angry with you for you have shamed all his finest Tarkaans that sought to make you their wife." Lasassari replied, "May Tash forgive me, but I love no-one. I wish only to live in my nest, happy and safe." "That cannot be," said the Tisroc's wife. "The Tisroc (may he live forever) has ordered you to go to the south forests of Teebeth. There you must damn the channel that you might find there. If you do not finish the dam by tonight, you shall die." Lasassari was a brave girl, and but bowed her head. She went to the river, and all day she carried huge boulders from the quarries to the channel. Her hands and legs grew sore and tired. As the sun began to set, she looked at the channel and began to weep, for the waters still flowed. Suddenly, she heard a voice behind her. "Why are you crying, maiden?" She turned and saw the hideous face of an enormous monkey. She screamed and began to run, but the monkey caught her arm. "Tell me your troubles," he begged. Now Lasassari saw that the monkey's eyes were gentle and his voice was soft, though his face was cruel, so she calmed herself and told the story. At once, the monkey gibbered loudly, and hundreds of monkeys appeared from the forest, and set to work hauling stones to dam the channel. Before dark, the channel was blocked. The Tarkheena stared in wonder. "Dear monkey, how can I ever reward you?" "Look at me," he said "and if you see anything in my face that you might love, take me for your husband." The Tarkheena looked into his eyes, and said, "You have been good to me, and though you are ugly, your touch is gentle and your word is good. I will marry you." And with her words, the monkey turned into a handsome Tarkaan, and told her of the gods' spell. "Now I shall return to the gods to ask them to take us to their kingdom. Return to your sister and tell her you have finished the task, and meet me here tomorrow at dawn." Joyfull, the Tarkheena ran to the palace. Alas, the Tisroc rejected her. "Your sister, my wife, has told me of your evils. You are working with demons, and upon their command have dammed the channel so the crops will dry and Teebeth has flooded. For this, I sentence you to death!" The Tarkheena pleaded to tell her story, but the Tisroc did not believe a word. That very night, the servants of the Tisroc carried her to the forest of Teebeth, and burried her in a deep pit and left her to die. At dawn, Kazeesh returned to earth, but could not find his bride. He called to his noble friends the monkeys, and said, "You are keen of eye and sharp of smell, your ears hear the lullabies of the palms and all the secrets of the world. Help me find the Tarkheena Lasassari!" The monkeys led him to the spot, and dug for a day and a night, and at last they found the body. Kazeesh took her in his arms, and washed her with the morning dew. The butterflies she had known in the garden appeared, and fanned her with their delicate wings. The spiders wove compresses to cool her cheeks, and the parrots wrapped their wings around her feet to warm them as the bees spread rich honey on her lips. And all together, they brought Tarkheena Lasassari back to life. "Take me away!" the Tarkheena begged. "I fear my sister and the Tisroc. We must go at once to the home of the gods!" But Kazeesh shook his head. "The gods have declared we may enter their kingdom together only when our life here has ended, and when our hair is silver and our limbs exhausted." So it was that Kazeesh, son of Azaroth, and Lasassari Tarkheena lived in the jungle with the nation of monkeys. But one day, a hunter visited the palace of the Tisroc and spoke of a beautiful maiden who lived in the treetops among the monkeys. When he described her beauty, the Tisroc flew into a rage, "The Tarkeena Lasassari!" he cried, and sent his warriors to kill her, for he beleved still that she worked with the demons and meant to destroy him. When the warriors reached the forest, hundreds of monkeys rushed out and drove them into the river. The Tisroc was left alone upon the back of his terrible elephant, and Kazeesh stood before him. "Do you have the courage to fight the son of the gods?" he crief. The Tisroc drove forward. Their battle went on through the whole rainy seasonm until the fires at the Mountain of Lagour themselves were ignited for the first time, and fire and smoke spewed forth across the whole of Calormen. At last, both fighters were coming to the end of their strength. A black cloud, blacker than the smoke from the volcano, appeared in the sky, and the dark vulture decended once again. "The gods have decreed that you must fight no longer," he said. "From this say on, Tisroc Talkana, your empire shal end on the north bank of the river. The left bank will be the kingdom of monkeys and Kazeesh, son of Azaroth. Any who cross the river from one to the other will be cursed." And that was the end of the long battle. Kazeesh and Lasassari lived the rest of their lives happily in their own kingdom, and when their hair turned grey and their limbs grew weak with age, they went to live in the heavens, in the kingdom of the gods.