The Prince and the Vizier

Malek Nariman was the elderly ruler of Babylon, known throughout the world for his skill as a captain of his great fleet of ships. Nariman had a seven year old son whose mother, the queen, had died giving birth to him, and this boy was very dear to the king's heart. Once the king fell ill and felt death at his doorstep he called his half brother and his vizier to his bedside and said to him: "Jahan my own brother! I shall leave Babylon to your protection but most important of all is my dearest son. Counsel him on life as a king. Bring him up as a fair ruler. He needs your attention as he has lost his mother and you are the only one of his blood once I'm gone. Teach him how to arrange army ranks and sail ships and rule over his soldiers, and once he becomes a man, hand him his birth right like the kind and wonderful brother that you have always been"
These were Malek Nariman's last words; he fell into a deep sleep and died in two days, leaving his immense land in the hands of his half brother; who immediately began calling himself Amir Jahan. Nariman was a fair ruler and loved the people of his realm with all his heart. He was always drawing plans to increase their comfort and happiness, and people loved him dearly in return. Jahan turned out to be a cold hearted king though, much unlike his brother as he increased the taxes almost as soon as he sat on the throne and used the income to go on faraway lands seeking pleasure of every imaginable kind, forgetting about the poor boy completely.
Prince Khashayar, as the boy was named, was a young sapling of a boy at the age of seven when his father died. At the mercy of the castle's maids he was soon grown into a kind hearted youth, ignored by the only family member remaining to him, and he made the best of his time by riding through the fields on his horse and marveling at the beauties of nature all day. In one of these excursions he accidentally fell on his Royal uncle's polo camp when everyone was absorbed in play and nobody paid him any attention…except for the king himself. As Khashayar rode down the hill unaware of a pair of observant eyes, and descended gracefully to the ground, noticed his estranged uncle, politely bowed and passed by him towards the castle. The evil Jahan thought to himself: "he has grown almost into a man already! And he can ride a horse with so much ease and skill! Ah those traitors must have taught him how to ride and fight and who knows what? They might have even presumed as much as to teach him how to rule my land! I will find every one of his tutors and have them beheaded. I will have to think of something to do about the youth as well. He is a threat to my throne. I have to make sure he will never claim his kingship because it is only I who has a right to rule!" so Jahan left the camp early and slowly walked back to luxurious his castle while devising an elaborate plan to solve his problem.
Music could be heard miles off from the king's hunting party where he had gathered many skilled men and trained dogs along with movable kitchens and ordered them to camp in the middle of a dense forest. But this time he invited his nephew the Prince to accompany him and enjoy the day's amusements by his side. "Come Khashayar! Come and sit by my side and together we can marvel at the world's many beauties. What a strong young man you have become!"
Prince Khashayar was smart enough to feel anxious at his uncle's sudden change of heart towards him and felt this new found attention unsettling. But being that he was truly good natured young man he could not resist giving the man a second chance hoping that there might be a chance that he was somehow redeemed so together they went into the forest.
It was broad daylight and the knights' armors shone in the bright rays of the run. During the ride the young prince was thinking of his dear old nanny's anxious eyes and how she always warned him against sudden friendships. Nanny Nahid was an old woman and she had spent almost her entire life in the king's court. It was through her kind effort and love that Khashayar grew to be a strong and confident young man. She had taught him to be wary of trusting many and trusting too soon, because a prince would face many dangers during his lifetime that a common boy never even dreams of. And now after many years, Khashayar's mind was filled with all her warnings.
When the hunting party arrives in the hills, the men quickly set up the camp and made huge fires to start preparing the kingly feast. After the meal was enjoyed at leisure (a task that took a few hours at least), Amir Jahan called his nephew to his side. He showed him a massive field in front of them.
"That piece of land is home to a great number of deer. Show us how many you can catch in one day!" then he ordered everyone to leave from sight and now to disturb them at any cost. Thus they rode on their horses through the greenery and arrived at the spot. Despite all his worries, Khashayar enjoyed the beautiful scenery. Then the King said: "I have a strange habit, my dear nephew. Before I set off to hunt I always pick a flower and smell it deeply". Then he reached into his bag and brought out a half withered flower with yellow petals and held it out for Khashayar to smell. "It would improve your vision to surpass any falcon" and before Khashayar knew it, his nostrils were filled with the pungent smell of the flower and his world turned dark and he screamed in horror.
"Oh nephew what happened to you?" Khashayar fell off the horse and kneeled on the ground, vehemently rubbing his eyes and moaning in pain. He said: "I don't know a thorn might have pierced my eye, o uncle!" His cruel uncle smiled in pleasure and feigning concern said to him: "wait here and do not move I will come back with a medicine man" and he raced away thinking that he had done very wisely because if he had murdered the young prince the army and the common folk could have raised against him and put him in the risk of being overthrown.
The cruel Amir rode back to the camp but took a detour so he passed it unseen while the poor boy writhed in pain for hours and hours, unable to open his eyes to see anything. Soon he started to feel cold and realized the sun must have set so he decided to fall shelter. But what a difficult task, finding a place to hide when one cannot even see the dangers! So he blindly walked on, constantly falling into bushes and bruising his knees on sharp stones when he finally knocked into what felt like a great tree. With great difficulty he climbed it to be safe from wild beasts and when he reached a high branch he immediately fell asleep out of exhaustion.
He woke to the sounds of a hushed conversation. He tried to open his eyes and almost screamed in pain, but he held it inside because he felt by instinct that he should not make his presence known. Directly above himself he could hear a quick rustling sound and little high voices talking excitedly:
"Do you know what the Amir of Babylon has done? He blinded his nephew, that cruel man!"
"Oh but we must do something for the poor boy!"
"Mine own dear sister you know we are not allowed to intervene in the business of human folk!"
"But this very tree we are flying inside has magic leaves. If only we could find this boy and tell him to rub the leaves on his injured eyes he could regain his vision immediately!"
"And the cruel King cannot go unpunished. His terrible soul has been connected to a giant snake in the cave down this same hill. If a man was brave enough to go and kill the snake the king would die in terrible agony immediately. If the prince could find that snake, he would be the one man able to do this task. I have heard glorious tales of his bravery!"
Down on the heavy branch he was sitting on, Khashayar quietly grabbed a leaf and crushed it between his fingers quickly smelling the sweet perfume of the green magical remedy and he rubbed it on his eyes. Like water on flames he could immediately feel the pain leave his eyes and tentatively he opened them: his vision was back! "Thank you my Lord, Allah!" He could not stop tears of joy from streaming down his eyes. Slowly and quietly he climbed down the tree and set off in the darkness. He could feel painful pangs of hunger and he kept thinking of food and drink, but the young prince had something much more important in mind.
By the time the sun's first rays touched the forest, Khashayar had found the cave and now with the aid of sunlight he was looking for a suitable sturdy piece of wood to use as a club against the mighty snake. Soon, with his new weapon in hand he approached the opening of the cave and gathered his courage to lure the snake out.
At the palace the Usurper King was sitting on his feather cushions, feeling very pleased with himself over the horrifying task he had accomplished. He listened to the running stream that went through his throne room and the music of exotics birds that he kept for his amusement. He was eating pomegranate seeds from a golden bowl.
In the forest by the cave it was turning really hot and the black snake began uncoiling himself, unaware that a skillful hunter was watching him. As the serpent began to move towards the nearby brook the Prince gathered all his might and bashed the club directly on the monster's head. Its head fell down motionlessly on the ground, dead.
In the palace a seed caught in the King's throat. He could not draw a breath, his face started to turn blue. Before long the cruel man was as dead as the horrible snake his fate was tied with. It took but an hour for the whole empire to learn of the king's death and all hailed the new rightful King Khashayar, son of Nariman, and thus the reign of the brave young man began.