第50章 KEMEREZZEMAN AND BUDOUR.(12)

Dhoulcaadeh，'answered Kemerezzeman，and it is followed by Dhoulhejjeh；then comes Muherrem，then Sefer，then Rebia the First and Rebia the Second，the two Jumadas，Rejeb，Shaaban，Ramazan and Shewwal.'At this the King rejoiced exceedingly and spat in the Viziers face，saying，O wicked old man，how canst thou pretend that my son is mad？None is mad but thou.'The Vizier shook his head and would have spoken，but bethought himself to wait awhile and see what befell.Then the King said to Kemerezzeman，O my son，what is this thou sayest to the eunuch and the Vizier of a fair damsel that lay with thee last night？What damsel is this of whom thou speakest？Kemerezzeman laughed at his fathers words and replied，O my father，I can bear no more jesting；so mock me not with another word，for my humour is soured by that you have done with me.Let it suffice thee to know that I consent to marry，but on condition that thou give me to wife her with whom I lay yesternight；for I am assured that it was thou sentest her to me and madest me in love with her，then tookest her away from beside me before the dawn.'O my son，'rejoined the King，the name of God encompass thee and preserve thy wit from madness！What young lady is this of whom thou talkest？By Allah，O my son，I know nothing of the affair，and I conjure thee，tell me if it be a delusion of sleep or a hallucination caused by food？Doubtless，thou layest down to sleep last night，with thy mind occupied with marriage and troubled with the thought of it （may God curse marriage and the hour in which it occurred to me and him who counselled it！） and dreamtest that a handsome young lady embraced thee and didst fancy thou sawst her on wake；but all this，O my son，is but an illusion of dreams.'Leave this talk，'replied Kemerezzeman，and swear to me by God，the All-wise Creator，the Humbler of the mighty and the Destroyer of the Chosro？s，that thou knowest nothing of the young lady nor of her abiding-place.'By the virtue of the Most High God，'said the King，the God of Moses and Abraham，I know nothing of all this and it is assuredly but an illusion of dreams that thou hast seen in sleep.'Quoth the prince，I will give thee a proof that it was not a dream.Come，let me put a case to thee： did it ever happen to any to dream that he was fighting a sore battle and after to awake and find in his hand a sword besmeared with blood？No，by Allah，O my son，'answered the King，this hath never been.'I will tell thee what happened to me，'rejoined Kemerezzeman.'Meseemed I awoke from sleep in the middle of the past night and found a young lady lying by my side，whose shape and favour were as mine.

I embraced her and turned her about with my hand and took her ring，which I put on my finger，and she pulled off my ring and put it on her finger.Then I went to sleep by her side，but refrained from her and was ashamed to kiss her on the mouth，deeming that thou hadst sent her to me，with intent to tempt me with her and incline me to marriage，and misdoubting thee to be hidden somewhere whence thou couldst see what I did with her.At point of day，I awoke and found no trace of her，nor could I come at any news of her，and there befell me what thou knowest of with the eunuch and the Vizier.How then can this have been a dream and a delusion，seeing that the ring is a reality？I should indeed have deemed it a dream but for her ring on my finger.

Here it is： look at it，O King，and see what is its worth.'So saying，he handed the ring to his father，who examined it and turned it over，then said to his son，Verily，there hangs some mighty mystery by this ring and some strange secret.What befell thee last night is indeed a mysterious affair and I know not how this intruder came in upon us.None is the cause of all this trouble save the Vizier；but I conjure thee，O my son，to take patience，so haply God may do away this affliction from thee and bring thee complete relief： as quoth one of the poets：

It may be Fate at last shall draw its bridle-rein And bring us happy chance；for Fortune changes still；

And things shall happen yet，despite the things fordone，To further forth my hopes and bring me to my will.

And now，O my son，'added he，I am certified that thou art not mad；but thy case is a strange one，none can unravel it for thee but God the Most High.'By Allah，O my father，'cried the prince，deal kindly with me and seek out this damsel and hasten her coming to me；else I shall die of grief.'And he repeated the following verses，in a voice that betrayed the ardour of his passion：

An if thy very promise of union prove untrue，Let but in sleep thy favours the longing lover cheer.

'How can the phantom visit a lovers eyes，'quoth they，'From which the grace of slumber is banned and banished sheer？'