Princess Dunya cried the cry which must be cried, Merchant Ma’aruf
abated her maidenhead and that night was one not to be counted among
lives for that which it comprised of the enjoyment of the fair, clipping
and dallying _langue fourrée_ and futtering till the dawn of day, when
he arose and entered the Hammam whence, after donning a suit for sovrans
suitable he betook himself to the King’s Divan. All who were there rose
to him and received him with honour and worship, giving him joy and
invoking blessings upon him; and he sat down by the King’s side and
asked, “Where is the treasurer?” They answered, “Here he is, before
thee,” and he said to him, “Bring robes of honour for all the Wazirs and
Emirs and dignitaries and clothe them therewith.” The treasurer brought
him all he sought and he sat giving to all who came to him and lavishing
largesse upon every man according to his station. On this wise he abode
twenty days, whilst no baggage appeared for him nor aught else, till the
treasurer was straitened by him to the uttermost and going in to the
King, as he sat alone with the Wazir in Ma’aruf’s absence, kissed ground
between his hands and said, “O King of the age, I must tell thee
somewhat, lest haply thou blame me for not acquainting thee therewith.
Know that the treasury is being exhausted; there is none but a little
money left in it and in ten days more we shall shut it upon emptiness.”
Quoth the King, “O Wazir, verily my son-in-law’s baggage-train tarrieth
long and there appeareth no news thereof.” The Minister laughed and
said, “Allah be gracious to thee, O King of the age! Thou art none other
but heedless with respect to this impostor, this liar. As thy head
liveth, there is no baggage for him, no, nor a burning plague to rid us
of him! Nay, he hath but imposed on thee without surcease, so that he
hath wasted thy treasures and married thy daughter for naught. How long
therefore wilt thou be heedless of this liar?” Then quoth the King, “O
Wazir, how shall we do to learn the truth of his case?”; and quoth the
Wazir, “O King of the age, none may come at a man’s secret but his wife;
so send for thy daughter and let her come behind the curtain, that I may
question her of the truth of his estate, to the intent that she may make
question of him and acquaint us with his case.” Cried the King, “There
is no harm in that; and as my head liveth, if it be proved that he is a
liar and an impostor, I will verily do him die by the foulest of
deaths!” Then he carried the Wazir into the sitting-chamber and sent for
his daughter, who came behind the curtain, her husband being absent, and
said, “What wouldst thou, O my father?” Said he “Speak with the Wazir.”
So she asked, “Ho thou, the Wazir, what is thy will?”; and he answered,
“O my lady, thou must know that thy husband hath squandered thy father’s
substance and married thee without a dower; and he ceaseth not to
promise us and break his promises, nor cometh there any tidings of his
baggage; in short we would have thee inform us concerning him.” Quoth
she, “Indeed his words be many, and he still cometh and promiseth me
jewels and treasures and costly stuffs; but I see nothing.” Quoth the
Wazir, “O my lady, canst thou this night take and give with him in talk
and whisper to him:—Say me sooth and fear from me naught, for thou art
become my husband and I will not transgress against thee. So tell me the
truth of the matter and I will devise thee a device whereby thou shalt
be set at rest. And do thou play near and far[53] with him in words and
profess love to him and win him to confess and after tell us the facts
of his case.” And she answered, “O my papa, I know how I will make proof
of him.” Then she went away and after supper her husband came in to her,
according to his wont, whereupon Princess Dunya rose to him and took him
under the armpit and wheedled him with winsomest wheedling (and
all-sufficient[54] are woman’s wiles whenas she would aught of men); and
she ceased not to caress him and beguile him with speech sweeter than
the honey till she stole his reason; and when she saw that he altogether
inclined to her, she said to him, “O my beloved, O coolth of my eyes and
fruit of my vitals, Allah never desolate me by less of thee nor Time
sunder us twain me and thee! Indeed, the love of thee hath homed in my
heart and the fire of passion hath consumed my liver, nor will I ever
forsake thee or transgress against thee. But I would have thee tell me
the truth, for that the sleights of falsehood profit not, nor do they
secure credit at all seasons. How long wilt thou impose upon my father
and lie to him? I fear lest thine affair be discovered to him, ere we
can devise some device and he lay violent hands upon thee? So acquaint
me with the facts of the case for naught shall befal thee save that
which shall begladden thee; and, when thou shalt have spoken sooth, fear
not harm shall betide thee. How often wilt thou declare that thou art a
merchant and a man of money and hast a luggage-train? This long while
past thou sayest, My baggage! my baggage! but there appeareth no sign of
thy baggage, and visible in thy face is anxiety on this account. So an
there be no worth in thy words, tell me and I will contrive thee a
contrivance whereby thou shalt come off safe, Inshallah!” He replied, “I
will tell thee the truth, and then do thou whatso thou wilt.” Rejoined
she, “Speak and look thou speak soothly; for sooth is the ark of safety,
and beware of lying, for it dishonoureth the liar and God-gifted is he
who said:—
’Ware that truth thou speak, albe sooth when said ✿ Shall cause thee in
threatenèd fire to fall:
And seek Allah’s approof, for most foolish he ✿ Who shall anger his Lord
to make friends with thrall.
He said, “Know, then, O my lady, that I am no merchant and have no
baggage, no, nor a burning plague; nay, I was but a cobbler in my own
country and had a wife called Fatimah the Dung, with whom there befel me
this and that.” And he told her his story from beginning to end; whereat
she laughed and said, “Verily, thou art clever in the practice of lying
and imposture!” Whereto he answered, “O my lady, may Allah Almighty
preserve thee to veil sins and countervail chagrins!” Rejoined she,
“Know, that thou imposedst upon my sire and deceivedst him by dint of
thy deluding vaunts, so that of his greed for gain he married me to
thee. Then thou squanderedst his wealth and the Wazir beareth thee a
grudge for this. How many a time hath he spoken against thee to my
father, saying, Indeed, he is an impostor, a liar! But my sire hearkened
not to his say, for that he had sought me in wedlock and I consented not
that he be baron and I femme. However, the time grew longsome upon my
sire and he became straitened and said to me, Make him confess. So I
have made thee confess and that which was covered is discovered. Now my
father purposeth thee a mischief because of this; but thou art become my
husband and I will never transgress against thee. An I told my father
what I have learnt from thee, he would be certified of thy falsehood and
imposture and that thou imposest upon Kings’ daughters and squanderest
royal wealth: so would thine offence find with him no pardon and he
would slay thee sans a doubt: wherefore it would be bruited among the
folk that I married a man who was a liar, an impostor, and this would
smirch mine honour. Furthermore an he kill thee, most like he will
require me to wed another, and to such thing I will never consent; no,
not though I die![55] So rise now and don a Mameluke’s dress and take
these fifty thousand dinars of my monies, and mount a swift steed and
get thee to a land whither the rule of my father doth not reach. Then
make thee a merchant and send me a letter by a courier who shall bring
it privily to me, that I may know in what land thou art, so I may send
thee all my hand can attain. Thus shall thy wealth wax great and if my
father die, I will send for thee, and thou shalt return in respect and
honour; and if we die, thou or I and go to the mercy of God the Most
Great, the Resurrection shall unite us. This, then, is the rede that is
right: and while we both abide alive and well, I will not cease to send
thee letters and monies. Arise ere the day wax bright and thou be in
perplexed plight and perdition upon thy head alight!” Quoth he, “O my
lady, I beseech thee of thy favour to bid me farewell with thine
embracement;” and quoth she, “No harm in that.”[56] So he embraced her
and knew her carnally; after which he made the Ghusl-ablution; then,
donning the dress of a white slave, he bade the syces saddle him a
thoroughbred steed. Accordingly, they saddled him a courser and he
mounted and farewelling his wife, rode forth the city at the last of the
night, whilst all who saw him deemed him one of the Mamelukes of the
Sultan going abroad on some business. Next morning, the King and his
Wazir repaired to the sitting-chamber and sent for Princess Dunya who
came behind the curtain; and her father said to her, “O my daughter,
what sayst thou?” Said she, “I say, Allah blacken thy Wazir’s face,
because he would have blackened my face in my husband’s eyes!” Asked the
King, “How so?”; and she answered, “He came in to me yesterday; but,
before I could name the matter to him, behold, in walked Faraj the Chief
Eunuch, letter in hand, and said:—Ten white slaves stand under the
palace window and have given me this letter, saying:—Kiss for us the
hands of our lord, Merchant Ma’aruf, and give him this letter, for we
are of his Mamelukes with the baggage, and it hath reached us that he
hath wedded the King’s daughter, so we are come to acquaint him with
that which befel us by the way. Accordingly I took the letter and read
as follows:—From the five hundred Mamelukes to his highness our lord
Merchant Ma’aruf. But further. We give thee to know that, after thou
quittedst us, the Arabs[57] came out upon us and attacked us. They were
two thousand horse and we five hundred mounted slaves and there befel a
mighty sore fight between us and them. They hindered us from the road
thirty days doing battle with them and this is the cause of our tarrying
from thee.——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying
her permitted say.
Now when it was the Nine Hundred and Ninety-fifth Night,
She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Princess Dunya
said to her sire, “My husband received a letter from his dependents
ending with:—The Arabs hindered us from the road thirty days which is
the cause of our being behind time. They also took from us of the
luggage two hundred loads of cloth and slew of us fifty Mamelukes. When
the news reached my husband, he cried, Allah disappoint them! What ailed
them to wage war with the Arabs for the sake of two hundred loads of
merchandise? What are two hundred loads? It behoved them not to tarry on
that account, for verily the value of the two hundred loads is only some
seven thousand dinars. But needs must I go to them and hasten them. As
for that which the Arabs have taken, ’twill not be missed from the
baggage, nor doth it weigh with me a whit, for I reckon it as if I had
given it to them by way of an alms. Then he went down from me, laughing
and taking no concern for the wastage of his wealth nor the slaughter of
his slaves. As soon as he was gone, I looked out from the lattice and
saw the ten Mamelukes who had brought him the letter, as they were
moons, each clad in a suit of clothes worth two thousand dinars, there
is not with my father a chattel to match one of them. He went forth with
them to bring up his baggage and hallowed be Allah who hindered me from
saying to him aught of that thou badest me, for he would have made mock
of me and thee, and haply he would have eyed me with the eye of
disparagement and hated me. But the fault is all with thy Wazir,[58] who
speaketh against my husband words that besit him not.” Replied the King,
“O my daughter, thy husband’s wealth is indeed endless and he recketh
not of it; for, from the day he entered our city, he hath done naught
but give alms to the poor. Inshallah, he will speedily return with the
baggage, and good in plenty shall betide us from him.” And he went on to
appease her and menace the Wazir, being duped by her device. So fared it
with the King; but as regards Merchant Ma’aruf he rode on into waste
lands, perplexed and knowing not to what quarter he should betake him;
and for the anguish of parting he lamented and in the pangs of passion
and love-longing he recited these couplets:—
Time falsed our Union and divided who were one in tway; ✿ And the sore
tyranny of Time doth melt my heart away:
Mine eyes ne’er cease to drop the tear for parting with my dear; ✿ When
shall Disunion come to end and dawn the Union-day?
O favour like the full moon’s face of sheen, indeed I’m he ✿ Whom thou
didst leave with vitals torn when faring on thy way.
Would I had never seen thy sight, or met thee for an hour; ✿ Since after
sweetest taste of thee to bitters I’m a prey.
Ma’aruf will never cease to be enthralled by Dunyá’s[59] charms ✿ And
long live she albe he die whom love and longing slay,
O brilliance, like resplendent sun of noontide, deign them heal ✿ His
heart for kindness[60] and the fire of longing love allay!
Would Heaven I wot an e’er the days shall deign conjoin our lots, ✿ Join
us in pleasant talk o’ nights, in Union glad and gay:
Shall my love’s palace hold two hearts that savour joy, and I ✿ Strain
to my breast the branch I saw upon the sand-hill[61] sway?
O favour of full moon in sheen, never may sun o’ thee ✿ Surcease to rise
from Eastern rim with all-enlightening ray!
I’m well content with passion-pine and all its bane and bate ✿ For luck
in love is evermore the butt of jealous Fate.
And when he ended his verses, he wept with sore weeping, for indeed the
ways were walled up before his face and death seemed to him better than
dreeing life, and he walked on like a drunken man for stress of
distraction, and stayed not till noontide, when he came to a little town
and saw a plougher hard by, ploughing with a yoke of bulls. Now hunger
was sore upon him; and he went up to the ploughman and said to him,
“Peace be with thee!”; and he returned his salam and said to him,
“Welcome, O my lord! Art thou one of the Sultan’s Mamelukes?” Quoth
Ma’aruf, “Yes;” and the other said, “Alight with me for a guest-meal.”
Whereupon Ma’aruf knew him to be of the liberal and said to him, “O my
brother, I see with thee naught with which thou mayst feed me: how is
it, then, that thou invitest me?” Answered the husbandman, “O my lord,
weal is well nigh.[62] Dismount thee here: the town is near hand and I
will go and fetch thee dinner and fodder for thy stallion.” Rejoined
Ma’aruf, “Since the town is near at hand, I can go thither as quickly as
thou canst and buy me what I have a mind to in the bazar and eat.” The
peasant replied, “O my lord, the place is but a little village[63] and
there is no bazar there, neither selling nor buying. So I conjure thee
by Allah, alight here with me and hearten my heart, and I will run
thither and return to thee in haste.” Accordingly he dismounted and the
Fellah left him and went off to the village, to fetch dinner for him
whilst Ma’aruf sat awaiting him. Presently he said in himself, “I have
taken this poor man away from his work; but I will arise and plough in
his stead, till he come back, to make up for having hindered him from
his work.[64]” Then he took the plough and starting the bulls, ploughed
a little, till the share struck against something and the beasts
stopped. He goaded them on, but they could not move the plough; so he
looked at the share and finding it caught in a ring of gold, cleared
away the soil and saw that it was set centre-most a slab of alabaster,
the size of the nether millstone. He strave at the stone till he pulled
it from its place, when there appeared beneath it a souterrain with a
stair. Presently he descended the flight of steps and came to a place
like a Hammam, with four daïses, the first full of gold, from floor to
roof, the second full of emeralds and pearls and coral also from ground
to ceiling; the third of jacinths and rubies and turquoises and the
fourth of diamonds and all manner other preciousest stones. At the upper
end of the place stood a coffer of clearest crystal, full of union-gems
each the size of a walnut, and upon the coffer lay a casket of gold, the
bigness of a lemon. When he saw this, he marvelled and rejoiced with joy
exceeding and said to himself, “I wonder what is in this casket?” So he
opened it and found therein a seal-ring of gold, whereon were graven
names and talismans, as they were the tracks of creeping ants. He rubbed
the ring and behold, a voice said, “Adsum! Here am I, at thy service, O
my lord! Ask and it shall be given unto thee. Wilt thou raise a city or
ruin a capital or kill a king or dig a river-channel or aught of the
kind? Whatso thou seekest, it shall come to pass, by leave of the King
of All-might, Creator of day and night.” Ma’aruf asked, “O creature of
my lord, who and what art thou?”; and the other answered, “I am the
slave of this seal-ring standing in the service of him who possesseth
it. Whatsoever he seeketh, that I accomplish for him, and I have no
excuse in neglecting that he biddeth me do; because I am Sultan over
two-and-seventy tribes of the Jinn, each two-and-seventy thousand in
number every one of which thousand ruleth over a thousand Marids, each
Marid over a thousand Ifrits, each Ifrit over a thousand Satans and each
Satan over a thousand Jinn: and they are all under command of me and may
not gainsay me. As for me, I am spelled to this seal-ring and may not
thwart whoso holdeth it. Lo! thou hast gotten hold of it and I am become
thy slave; so ask what thou wilt, for I hearken to thy word and obey thy
bidding; and if thou have need of me at any time, by land or by sea rub
the signet-ring and thou wilt find me with thee. But beware of rubbing
it twice in succession, or thou wilt consume me with the fire of the
names graven thereon; and thus wouldst thou lose me and after regret me.
Now I have acquainted thee with my case and—the Peace!”——And Shahrazad
perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
[Illustration]
Now when it was the Nine Hundred and Ninety-sixth Night,
She continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the
Slave of the Signet-ring acquainted Ma’aruf with his case, the Merchant
asked him, “What is thy name?” and the Jinni answered, “My name is Abú
al-Sa’ádát.[65]” Quoth Ma’aruf, “O Abu al-Sa’adat what is this place and
who enchanted thee in this casket?”; and quoth he, “O my lord, this is a
treasure called the Hoard of Shaddád son of Ad, him who the base of
‘Many-columned Iram laid, the like of which in the lands was never
made.[66]’ I was his slave in his lifetime and this is his Seal-ring,
which he laid up in his treasure; but it hath fallen to thy lot.”
Ma’aruf enquired, “Canst thou transport that which is in this hoard to
the surface of the earth?”; and the Jinni replied, “Yes! Nothing were
easier.” Said Ma’aruf, “Bring it forth and leave naught.” So the Jinni
signed with his hand to the ground, which clave asunder, and he sank and
was absent a little while. Presently, there came forth young boys full
of grace, and fair of face bearing golden baskets filled with gold which
they emptied out and going away, returned with more; nor did they cease
to transport the gold and jewels, till ere an hour had sped they said,
“Naught is left in the hoard.” Thereupon out came Abu al-Sa’adat and
said to Ma’aruf, “O my lord, thou seest that we have brought forth all
that was in the hoard.” Ma’aruf asked, “Who be these beautiful boys?”
and the Jinni answered, “They are my sons. This matter merited not that
I should muster for it the Marids, wherefore my sons have done thy
desire and are honoured by such service. So ask what thou wilt beside
this.” Quoth Ma’aruf, “Canst thou bring me he-mules and chests and fill
the chests with the treasure and load them on the mules?” Quoth Abu
al-Sa’adat, “Nothing easier,” and cried a great cry; whereupon his sons
presented themselves before him, to the number of eight hundred, and he
said to them, “Let some of you take the semblance of he-mules and others
of muleteers and handsome Mamelukes, the like of the least of whom is
not found with any of the Kings; and others of you be transmewed to
muleteers, and the rest to menials.” So seven hundred of them changed
themselves into bât-mules and other hundred took the shape of slaves.
Then Abu al-Sa’adat called upon his Marids, who presented themselves
between his hands and he commanded some of them to assume the aspect of
horses saddled with saddles of gold crusted with jewels. And when
Ma’aruf saw them do as he bade he cried, “Where be the chests?” They
brought them before him and he said, “Pack the gold and the stones, each
sort by itself.” So they packed them and loaded three hundred he-mules
with them. Then asked Ma’aruf, “O Abu al-Sa’adat, canst thou bring me
some loads of costly stuffs?”; and the Jinni answered, “Wilt thou have
Egyptian stuffs or Syrian or Persian or Indian or Greek?” Ma’aruf said,
“Bring me an hundred loads of each kind, on five hundred mules;” and Abu
al-Sa’adat, “O my lord accord me delay that I may dispose my Marids for
this and send a company of them to each country to fetch an hundred
loads of its stuffs and then take the form of he-mules and return,
carrying the stuffs.” Ma’aruf enquired, “What time dost thou want?”; and
Abu al-Sa’adat replied, “The time of the blackness of the night, and day
shall not dawn ere thou have all thou desirest.” Said Ma’aruf, “I grant
thee this time,” and bade them pitch him a pavilion. So they pitched it
and he sat down therein and they brought him a table of food. Then said
Abu al-Sa’adat to him, “O my lord, tarry thou in this tent and these my
sons shall guard thee: so fear thou nothing; for I go to muster my
Marids and despatch them to do thy desire.” So saying, he departed,
leaving Ma’aruf seated in the pavilion, with the table before him and
the Jinni’s sons attending upon him, in the guise of slaves and servants
and suite. And while he sat in this state behold, up came the
husbandman, with a great porringer of lentils[67] and a nose-bag full of
barley and seeing the pavilion pitched and the Mamelukes standing, hands
upon breasts, thought that the Sultan was come and had halted on that
stead. So he stood open-mouthed and said in himself, “Would I had killed
a couple of chickens and fried them red with clarified cow-butter for
the Sultan!” And he would have turned back to kill the chickens as a
regale for the Sultan; but Ma’aruf saw him and cried out to him and said
to the Mamelukes, “Bring him hither.” So they brought him and his
porringer of lentils before Ma’aruf, who said to him, “What is this?”
Said the peasant, “This is thy dinner and thy horse’s fodder! Excuse me,
for I thought not that the Sultan would come hither; and, had I known
that, I would have killed a couple of chickens and entertained him in
goodly guise.” Quoth Ma’aruf, “The Sultan is not come. I am his
son-in-law and I was vexed with him. However he hath sent his officers
to make his peace with me, and now I am minded to return to city. But
thou hast made me this guest-meal without knowing me, and I accept it
from thee, lentils though it be, and will not eat save of thy cheer.”
Accordingly he bade him set the porringer amiddlemost the table and ate
of it his sufficiency, whilst the Fellah filled his belly with those
rich meats. Then Ma’aruf washed his hands and gave the Mamelukes leave
to eat; so they fell upon the remains of the meal and ate; and, when the
porringer was empty, he filled it with gold and gave it to the peasant,
saying, “Carry this to thy dwelling and come to me in the city, and I
will entreat thee with honour.” Thereupon the peasant took the porringer
full of gold and returned to the village, driving the bulls before him
and deeming himself akin to the King. Meanwhile, they brought Ma’aruf
girls of the Brides of the Treasure,[68] who smote on instruments of
music and danced before him, and he passed that night in joyance and
delight, a night not to be reckoned among lives. Hardly had dawned the
day when there arose a great cloud of dust which presently lifting,
discovered seven hundred mules laden with stuffs and attended by
muleteers and baggage-tenders and cresset-bearers. With them came Abu
al-Sa’adat, riding on a she-mule, in the guise of a caravan-leader, and
before him was a travelling-litter, with four corner-terminals[69] of
glittering red gold, set with gems. When Abu al-Sa’adat came up to the
tent, he dismounted and kissing the earth, said to Ma’aruf, “O my lord,
thy desire hath been done to the uttermost and in the litter is a
treasure-suit which hath not its match among Kings’ raiment: so don it
and mount the litter and bid us do what thou wilt.” Quoth Ma’aruf, “O
Abu al-Sa’adat, I wish thee to go to the city of Ikhtiyan al-Khutan and
present thyself to my father-in-law the King; and go thou not in to him
but in the guise of a mortal courier;” and quoth he, “To hear is to
obey.” So Ma’aruf wrote a letter to the Sultan and sealed it and Abu
al-Sa’adat took it and set out with it; and when he arrived, he found
the King saying, “O Wazir, indeed my heart is concerned for my
son-in-law and I fear lest the Arabs slay him. Would Heaven I wot
whither he was bound, that I might have followed him with the troops!
Would he had told me his destination!” Said the Wazir, “Allah be
merciful to thee for this thy heedlessness! As thy head liveth, the
wight saw that we were awake to him and feared dishonour and fled, for
he is nothing but an impostor, a liar.” And behold, at this moment in
came the courier and kissing ground before the King, wished him
permanent glory and prosperity and length of life. Asked the King, “Who
art thou and what is thy business?” “I am a courier,” answered the
Jinni, “and thy son-in-law who is come with the baggage sendeth me to
thee with a letter, and here it is!” So he took the letter and read
therein these words, “After salutations galore to our uncle[70] the
glorious King! Know that I am at hand with the baggage-train: so come
thou forth to meet me with the troops.” Cried the King, “Allah blacken
thy brow, O Wazir! How often wilt thou defame my son-in-law’s name and
call him liar and impostor? Behold, he is come with the baggage-train
and thou art naught but a traitor.” The Minister hung his head
groundwards in shame and confusion and replied, “O King of the age, I
said not this save because of the long delay of the baggage and because
I feared the loss of the wealth he hath wasted.” The King exclaimed, “O
traitor, what are my riches! Now that his baggage is come he will give
me great plenty in their stead.” Then he bade decorate the city and
going in to his daughter, said to her, “Good news for thee! Thy husband
will be here anon with his baggage; for he hath sent me a letter to that
effect and here am I now going forth to meet him.” The Princess Dunya
marvelled at this and said in herself, “This is a wondrous thing! Was he
laughing at me and making mock of me, or had he a mind to try me, when
he told me that he was a pauper? But Alhamdolillah, Glory to God, for
that I failed not of my duty to him!” On this wise fared it in the
Palace; but as regards Merchant Ali, the Cairene, when he saw the
decoration of the city and asked the cause thereof, they said to him,
“The baggage-train of Merchant Ma’aruf, the King’s son-in-law, is come.”
Said he, “Allah is Almighty! What a calamity is this man![71] He came to
me, fleeing from his wife, and he was a poor man. Whence then should he
get a baggage-train? But haply this is a device which the King’s
daughter hath contrived for him, fearing his disgrace, and Kings are not
unable to do anything. May Allah the Most High veil his fame and not
bring him to public shame!”——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and
ceased saying her permitted say.
Now when it was the Nine Hundred and Ninety-seventh Night,