King Shehriyar marvelled at these things and Shehrzad said to
him, "Thou marvelledst at that which befell thee on the part of
women; yet hath there befallen the kings of the Chosroes before
thee what was more grievous than that which befell thee, and
indeed I have set forth unto thee that which betided khalifs and
kings and others than they with their women, but the exposition
is long and hearkening groweth tedious, and in this [that I have
already told thee] is sufficiency for the man of understanding
and admonishment for the wise."
Then she was silent, and when the king heard her speech and
profited by that which she said, he summoned up his reasoning
faculties and cleansed his heart and caused his understanding
revert [to the right way] and turned [with repentance] to God the
Most High and said in himself, "Since there befell the kings of
the Chosroes more than that which hath befallen me, never, whilst
I abide [on life], shall I cease to blame myself [for that which
I did in the slaughter of the daughters of the folk]. As for this
Shehrzad, her like is not found in the lands; so extolled be the
perfection of Him who appointed her a means for the deliverance
of His creatures from slaughter and oppression!" Then he arose
from his session and kissed her head, whereat she rejoiced with
an exceeding joy, she and her sister Dinarzad.
When the morning morrowed, the king went forth and sitting down
on the throne of the kingship, summoned the grandees of his
empire; whereupon the chamberlains and deputies and captains of
the host went in to him and kissed the earth before him. He
distinguished the vizier with his especial favour and bestowed on
him a dress of honour and entreated him with the utmost kindness,
after which he set forth briefly to his chief officers that which
had betided him with Shehrzad and how he had turned from that his
former usance and repented him of what he had done aforetime and
purposed to take the vizier's daughter Shehrzad to wife and let
draw up the contract of marriage with her.
When those who were present heard this, they kissed the earth
before him and offered up prayers for him and for the damsel
Shehrzad, and the vizier thanked her. Then Shehriyar made an end
of the session in all weal, whereupon the folk dispersed to their
dwelling-places and the news was bruited abroad that the king
purposed to marry the vizier's daughter Shehrzad. Then he
proceeded to make ready the wedding gear, and [when he had made
an end of his preparations], he sent after his brother King
Shahzeman, who came, and King Shehriyar went forth to meet him
with the troops. Moreover, they decorated the city after the
goodliest fashion and diffused perfumes [from the
censing-vessels] and [burnt] aloes-wood and other perfumes in all
the markets and thoroughfares and rubbed themselves with saffron,
what while the drums beat and the flutes and hautboys sounded and
it was a notable day.
When they came to the palace, King Shehriyar commanded to spread
the tables with beasts roasted [whole] and sweetmeats and all
manner viands and bade the crier make proclamation to the folk
that they should come up to the Divan and eat and drink and that
this should be a means of reconciliation between him and them. So
great and small came up unto him and they abode on that wise,
eating and drinking, seven days with their nights. Then the king
shut himself up with his brother and acquainted him with that
which had betided him with the vizier's daughter [Shehrzad] in
those three years [which were past] and told him what he had
heard from her of saws and parables and chronicles and pleasant
traits and jests and stories and anecdotes and dialogues and
histories and odes and verses; whereat King Shahzeman marvelled
with the utterest of marvel and said, "Fain would I take her
younger sister to wife, so we may be two own brothers to two own
sisters, and they on likewise be sisters unto us; for that the
calamity which befell me was the means of the discovering of that
which befell thee and all this time of three years past I have
taken no delight in woman, save that I lie each night with a
damsel of my kingdom, and when I arise in the morning, I put her
to death; but now I desire to marry thy wife's sister Dinarzad."
When King Shehriyar heard his brother's words he rejoiced with an
exceeding joy and arising forthright, went in to his wife
Shehrzad and gave her to know of that which his brother purposed,
to wit, that he sought her sister Dinarzad in marriage;
whereupon, "O king of the age," answered she, "we seek of him one
condition, to wit, that he take up his abode with us, for that I
cannot brook to be parted from my sister an hour, because we were
brought up together and may not brook severance from each other.
If he accept this condition, she is his handmaid." King Shehriyar
returned to his brother and acquainted him with that which
Shehrzad had said; and he answered, saying, "Indeed, this is what
was in my mind, for that I desire nevermore to be parted from
thee. As for the kingdom, God the Most High shall send unto it
whom He chooseth, for that there abideth to me no desire for the
kingship."
When King Shehriyar heard his brother's words, he rejoiced with
an exceeding joy and said, "Verily, this is what I had wished, O
my brother. So praised be God who hath brought about union
between us!" Then he sent after the Cadis and learned men and
captains and notables, and they married the two brothers to the
two sisters. The contracts were drawn up and the two kings
bestowed dresses of honour of silk and satin on those who were
present, whilst the city was decorated and the festivities were
renewed. The king commanded each amir and vizier and chamberlain
and deputy to decorate his palace and the folk of the city
rejoiced in the presage of happiness and content. Moreover, King
Shehriyar bade slaughter sheep and get up kitchens and made
bride-feasts and fed all comers, high and low.
Then the eunuchs went forth, that they might perfume the bath
[for the use of the brides]; so they essenced it with rose-water
and willow-flower-water and bladders of musk and fumigated it
with Cakili[FN#191] aloes-wood and ambergris. Then Shehrzad
entered, she and her sister Dinarzad, and they cleansed their
heads and clipped their hair. When they came forth of the bath,
they donned raiment and ornaments, [such as were] prepared for
the kings of the Chosroes; and among Shehrzad's apparel was a
dress charactered with red gold and wroughten with semblants of
birds and beasts. Moreover, they both encircled their necks with
necklaces of jewels of price, in the like whereof
Iskender[FN#192] rejoiced not, for therein were great jewels such
as amazed the wit and the eye, and the thought was bewildered at
their charms, for indeed, each of them was brighter than the sun
and the moon. Before them they kindled lighted flambeaux in
torch-holders of gold, but their faces outshone the flambeaux,
for that they had eyes sharper than drawn swords and the lashes
of their eyelids ensorcelled all hearts. Their cheeks were rosy
and their necks and shapes swayed gracefully and their eyes
wantoned. And the slave-girls came to meet them with instruments
of music.
Then the two kings entered the bath, and when they came forth,
they sat down on a couch, inlaid with pearls and jewels,
whereupon the two sisters came up to them and stood before them,
as they were moons, swaying gracefully from side to side in their
beauty and grace. Presently they brought forward Shehrzad and
displayed her, for the first dress, in a red suit; whereupon King
Shehriyar rose to look upon her and the wits of all present, men
and women, were confounded, for that she was even as saith of her
one of her describers:
Like a sun at the end of a cane in a hill of sand, She shines in
a dress of the hue of pomegranate flower.
She gives me to drink of her cheeks and her honeyed lips And
quenches the worst of the fires that my heart devour.
Then they attired Dinarzad in a dress of blue brocade and she
became as she were the full moon, whenas it shineth forth. So
they displayed her in this, for the first dress, before King
Shahzeman, who rejoiced in her and well-nigh took leave of his
wits for longing and amorous desire; yea, he was distraught with
love for her, whenas he saw her, for, indeed, she was as saith of
her one of her describers in the following verses:
She comes in a robe the colour of ultramarine, Blue as the
stainless sky, unflecked with white;
I view her with yearning eyes and she seems to me A moon of the
summer, set in a winter's night.
Then they returned to Shehrzad and displayed her in the second
dress. They clad her in a dress of surpassing goodliness, and
veiled her face to the eyes with her hair. Moreover, they let
down her side locks and she was even as saith of her one of her
describers in the following verses:
Bravo for her whose loosened locks her cheeks do overcloud! She
slays me with her cruelty, so fair she is and proud.
Quoth I, "Thou overcurtainest the morning with the night;" And
she, "Not so; it is the moon that with the dark I shroud."
Then they displayed Dinarzad in a second and a third and a fourth
dress and she came forward, as she were the rising sun, and
swayed coquettishly to and fro; and indeed she was even as saith
the poet of her in the following verses:
A sun of beauty she appears to all who look on her, Glorious in
arch and amorous grace, with coyness beautified;
And when the sun of morning sees her visage and her smile,
O'ercome. he hasteneth his face behind the clouds to hide.
Then they displayed Shehrzad in the third dress and the fourth
and the fifth, and she became as she were a willow-wand or a
thirsting gazelle, goodly of grace and perfect of attributes,
even as saith of her one in the following verses:
Like the full moon she shows upon a night of fortune fair,
Slender of shape and charming all with her seductive air.
She hath an eye, whose glances pierce the hearts of all mankind,
Nor can cornelian with her cheeks for ruddiness compare.
The sable torrent of her locks falls down unto her hips; Beware
the serpents of her curls, I counsel thee, beware!
Indeed her glance, her sides are soft; but none the less, alas!
Her heart is harder than the rock; there is no mercy there.
The starry arrows of her looks she darts above her veil; They hit
and never miss the mark, though from afar they fare.
Then they returned to Dinarzad and displayed her in the fifth
dress and in the sixth, which was green. Indeed, she overpassed
with her loveliness the fair of the four quarters of the world
and outshone, with the brightness of her countenance, the full
moon at its rising; for she was even as saith of her the poet in
the following verses:
A damsel made for love and decked with subtle grace; Thou'dst
deem the very sun had borrowed from her face.
She came in robes of green, the likeness of the leaf That the
pomegranate's flower doth in the bud encase.
"How call'st thou this thy dress?" quoth we, and she replied A
word wherein the wise a lesson well might trace;
"Breaker of hearts," quoth she, "I call it, for therewith I've
broken many a heart among the amorous race."
Then they displayed Shehrzad in the sixth and seventh dresses and
clad her in youths' apparel, whereupon she came forward, swaying
coquettishly from side to side; and indeed she ravished wits and
hearts and ensorcelled with her glances [all who looked on her].
She shook her sides and wagged her hips, then put her hair on the
hilt of her sword and went up to King Shehriyar, who embraced
her, as the hospitable man embraces the guest, and threatened her
in her ear with the taking of the sword; and indeed she was even
as saith of her the poet in these verses:
Were not the darkness[FN#193] still in gender masculine, As
ofttimes is the case with she-things passing fine,
Tirewomen to the bride, who whiskers, ay, and beard Upon her face
produce, they never would assign.[FN#194]
On this wise they did with her sister Dinarzad, and when they had
made an end of displaying the two brides, the king bestowed
dresses of honour on all who were present and dismissed them to
their own places. Then Shehrzad went in to King Shehriyar and
Dinarzad to King Shahzeman and each of them solaced himself with
the company of his beloved and the hearts of the folk were
comforted. When the morning morrowed, the vizier came in to the
two kings and kissed the ground before them; wherefore they
thanked him and were bountiful to him. Then they went forth and
sat down upon couches of estate, whilst all the viziers and amirs
and grandees and the chief officers of the realm and the
household presented themselves before them and kissed the earth.
King Shehriyar ordered them dresses of honour and largesse and
they offered up prayers for the abiding continuance [on life] of
the king and his brother.
Then the two kings appointed their father-in-law the vizier to be
viceroy in Samarcand and assigned him five of the chief amirs to
accompany him, charging them attend him and do him service. The
vizier kissed the earth and prayed that they might be vouchsafed
length of life. Then he went in to his daughters, whilst the
eunuchs and ushers walked before him, and saluted them and bade
them farewell. They kissed his hands and gave him joy of the
kingship and bestowed on him treasures galore. Then he took leave
of them and setting out, journeyed days and nights till he came
within three days' journey of Samarcand, where the townspeople
met him and rejoiced in him with an exceeding joy. So he entered
Samarcand and they decorated the city, and it was a notable day.
He sat down on the throne of his kingship and the viziers did him
homage and the grandees and amirs of Samarcand and prayed that he
might be vouchsafed justice and victory and length of continuance
[on life]. So he bestowed on them dresses of honour and entreated
them with worship and they made him Sultan over them.
As soon as his father-in-law had departed for Samarcand, King
Shehriyar summoned the grandees of his realm and made them a
magnificent banquet of all manner rich meats and exquisite
sweetmeats. Moreover, he bestowed on them dresses of honour and
guerdoned them and divided the kingdoms between himself and his
brother in their presence, whereat the folk rejoiced. Then the
two kings abode, ruling each a day in turn and they accorded with
each other, what while their wives continued in the love of God
the Most High and in thanksgiving to Him; and the subjects and
the provinces were at peace and the preachers prayed for them
from the pulpits, and their report was bruited abroad and the
travellers bore tidings of them [to all countries].
Moreover, King Shehriyar summoned chroniclers and copyists and
bade them write all that had betided him with his wife, first and
last; so they wrote this and named it "The Stories of the
Thousand Nights and One Night." The book came to[FN#195] thirty
volumes and these the king laid up in his treasury. Then the two
kings abode with their wives in all delight and solace of life,
for that indeed God the Most High had changed their mourning into
joyance; and on this wise they continued till there took them the
Destroyer of Delights and Sunderer of Companies, he who maketh void
the dwelling-places and peopleth the tombs, and they were translated to the mercy of God the
Most High; their houses were laid waste and their palaces ruined and the kings inherited their
riches.
Then there reigned after them an understanding king, who was just, keen-witted and
accomplished and loved stories, especially those which chronicle the doings of kings and sultans,
and he found [in the treasuries of the kings who had foregone him] these marvellous and rare and
delightful stories, [written] in the thirty volumes aforesaid. So he read in them a first book and a
second and a third and [so on] to the last of them, and each book pleased him more than that
which forewent it, till he came to the end of them. Then he marvelled at that which he had read
[therein] of stories and discourse and witty traits and anecdotes and moral instances and
reminiscences and bade the folk copy them and publish them in all lands and climes; wherefore
their report was bruited abroad and the people named them "The marvels and rarities of the
Thousand Nights and One Night." This is all that hath come down to us of [the history of] this
book, and God is All-Knowing.[FN#196]