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intercession for them and beg of thee the boon of their lives.
 Thou sayst sooth, replied the Khalif,  I did indeed give
judgment as thou sayst, and I use not to go back on my word.
Then said he,  O Num, is this thy lord? And she answered,  Yes,
O Commander of the Faithful.  No harm shall befall you, said
he;  I give you to one another. Then he said to the young man,
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 O Nimeh, who told thee where she was and taught thee how to get
at her?  O Commander of the Faithful, replied he,  give ear to
my story; for by the virtue of thy pious forefathers, I will hide
nothing from thee! And he told him all that had passed between
himself and the Persian physician and the old woman and how she
had brought him into the palace and he had mistaken one door for
another; whereat the Khalif wondered exceedingly and said,  Fetch
me the Persian. So they fetched him and he made him one of his
chief officers. Moreover, he bestowed on him robes of honour and
ordered him a handsome present, saying,  Him, who has shown such
good sense and skill in his ordinance, it behoves us to make one
of our chief officers. He also loaded Nimeh and Num with gifts
and honours and rewarded the old woman; and they abode with him
in joy and content and all delight of life seven days; at the end
of which time Nimeh craved leave to return to Cufa with his
slave-girl. The Khalif gave leave and they departed accordingly
and arrived in due course at Cufa, where Nimeh foregathered with
his father and mother, and they abode in the enjoyment of all the
delights and comforts of life, till there came to them the
Destroyer of Delights and the Sunderer of Companies.
The princes wondered mightily at Behram s story and said,  By
Allah, this is indeed a rare story! They passed the night thus,
and next morning, Amjed and Asaad mounted and riding to the
palace, sought an audience of the King, who received them with
honour. As they sat talking, of a sudden they heard the
townsfolk crying aloud and shouting to one another and calling
for help, and the chamberlain came in to the King and said to
him,  Some King hath encamped before the city, he and his army,
with arms displayed, and we know not who they are nor what they
seek. The King took counsel with his Vizier and Asaad, and
Amjed said,  I will go out to him and learn the cause of his
coming. So he took horse and riding forth the city, repaired to
the stranger s camp, where he found the King and with him many
soldiers and mounted officers. When the guards saw him, they
knew him for an ambassador from the King of the city; so they
took him and brought him to their King. Amjed kissed the ground
before him; but lo, the King was a queen, who wore a chin-band
over her face, and she said to Amjed,  Know that I have no design
on your city and am only come hither in quest of a beardless
slave of mine, whom if I find with you, I will do you no hurt;
but if I find him not, then shall there befall sore battle
between you and me.  O Queen, asked Amjed,  what is thy
slave s name and what like is he? Said she,  His name is Asaad
and he is of such and such a favour. My name is Merjaneh, and
this slave came to my town in company of Behram, a Magian, who
refused to sell him to me; so I took him by force, but the Magian
fell upon him by night and took him away by stealth. When Amjed
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heard this he knew that it was his brother Asaad whom she sought
and said to her,  O Queen of the age, praised be God who hath
brought us relief! Know that he whom thou seekest is my
brother. Then he told her their story and all that had befallen
them in the land of exile, and acquainted her with the cause of
their departure from the Islands of Ebony, whereat she marvelled
and rejoiced to have found Asaad. So she bestowed a dress of
honour upon Amjed, and he returned to the King and told him what
had passed, at which they all rejoiced and the King and the two
princes went forth to meet Queen Merjaneh. They were admitted to
her presence and sat down to converse with her, but as they were
thus engaged, behold, a cloud of dust arose and grew, till it
covered the landscape. Presently, it lifted and discovered an
army, in numbers like the swollen sea, armed cap-a-pie, who,
making for the city with naked swords, encompassed it as the ring
encompasses the little finger. When Amjed and Asaad saw this,
they exclaimed,  We are God s and to Him we return. What is this
great army? Doubtless, these are enemies; and except we agree
with this Queen Merjaneh to resist them, they will take the town
from us and slay us. There is nothing for us but to go out to
them and see who they are. So Amjed mounted and passing through
Queen Merjaneh s camp, came to the approaching army and was
admitted to the presence of their King, to whom he delivered his
message, after kissing the earth before him. Quoth the King,  I
am called King Ghaïour, lord of the Islands and the Seas and the
Seven Castles, and am come out in quest of my daughter Budour, of
whom fortune hath bereft me; for she left me and returned not to
me, nor have I heard any news of her or her husband Kemerezzeman.
Have ye any tidings of them? When Amjed heard this, he knew
that this King was none other than his grandfather, his mother s
father, and kissing the earth before him, told him that he was
the son of his daughter Budour; whereupon Ghaïour threw himself
upon him and they both fell a-weeping. Then said Ghaïour,
 Praised be God, O my son, for safety, since I have foregathered
with thee! And Amjed told him that his daughter Budour and her
husband Kemerezzeman were well and abode in a city called the
City of Ebony. Moreover, he related to him how his father, being
wroth with him and his brother, had commanded his treasurer to
put them to death, but that the latter had taken pity on them and [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]