第31章

Now when he heard his mother's words he told her what said the horsethief concerning Zat alDawahi，how the old woman was then in their land purposing to make Baghdad，and added，'It was she who slew my uncle and my grandfather，and needs must Iavenge them with manbote，that our reproach be wiped out.'Then he left her and repaired to an old woman，a wicked，whorish，pernicious beldam by name Sa'adanah and complained to her of his case and of what he suffered for love of his cousin Kuzia Fakan and begged her to go to her and win her favour for him.'I hear and I obey，'answered the old hag and leaving him betook herself to Kuzia Fakan's palace，that she might intercede with her in his behalf.Then she returned to him and said，'Of a truth Kuzia Fakan saluteth thee and promiseth to visit thee this night about midnight.'And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.

When it was the One Hundred and Fortysecond Night，She said，It hath reached me，O auspicious King，that when the old woman came to Kanmakan and said，'Of a truth the daughter of thine uncle saluteth thee and she will visit thee this night about midnight；'he rejoiced and sat down to await the fulfilment of his cousin's promise.But before the hour of night she came to him，wrapped in a veil of black silk，and she went in to him and aroused him from sleep，saying，'How canst thou pretend to love me，when thou art sleeping heartfree and in complete content？'So he awoke and said，'By Allah，O desire of my heart，I slept not but in the hope that thine image might visit my dreams！'Then she chid him with soft words and began versifying in these couplets，'Hadst thou been leaf in love's loyalty，Ne'er haddest suffered sleep to seal those eyne：

O thou who claimest loverloyalty，

Treading the lover's path of pain and pine！

By Allah，O my cousin，never yet

Did eyes of lover sleep such sleep indign.'

Now when he heard his cousin's words，he was abashed before her and rose and excused himself.Then they embraced and complained to each other of the anguish of separation； and they ceased not thus till dawn broke and day dispersed itself over the horizon；when she rose preparing to depart.Upon this Kanmakan wept and sighed and began improvising these couplets，'O thou who deignest come at sorest sync，Whose lips those teeth like necklaced pearls enshrine'I kissed him[94] thousand times and clips his waist，And spent the night with cheek to cheek close li'en Till to depart us twain came dawning day，Like sword edge drawn from sheath in radiant line.'

And when he ended his poetry，Kuzia Fakan took leave of him and returned to her palace.Now certain of her damsels became aware of her secret，and one of these slave girls disclosed it to King Sasan，who went into Kuzia Fakan and，drawing his sabre upon her，would have slain her： but her mother Nuzhat alZaman entered and said to him，'By Allah，do her no harm，for if thou hurt her，the report will be noised among the folk and thou shalt become a reproach amongst the Kings of the age！ Know thou that Kanmakan is no son of adultery，but a man of honour and nobility，who would not do aught that could shame him，and she was reared with him.So be not hasty； for verily the report is spread abroad，among all the palacepeople and all the folk of Baghdad，how the Wazir Dandan hath levied armies from all countries and is on his way hither to make Kanmakan King.'Quoth Sasan，'By Allah，needs must I cast him into such calamity that neither earth shall support him nor sky shall shadow him！ I did but speak him fair and show him favour because of my lieges and my lords，lest they incline to him； but right soon shalt thou see what shall betide.'

Then he left her and went out to order the affairs of the realm.

Such，then，was the case with King Sasan； but as regards Kanmakan，on the next day he came in to his mother and said，'O my mother！ I am resolved to ride forth a raiding and a looting：

and I will cut the road of caravans and lift horses and flocks，negroes and white slaves and，as soon as I have collected great store and my case is bettered galore，I will demand my cousin Kuzia Fakan in marriage of my uncle Sasan.'Replied she，'O my son，of a truth the goods of men are not ready to hand like a scapecamel；[95] for on this side of them are swordstrokes and lancelungings and men that eat the wild beast and lay countries waste and chase lynxes and hunt lions.'Quoth he，Heaven forefend that I turn back from my resolve，till I have won to my will！ Then he despatched the old woman to Kuzia Fakan，to tell her that he was about to set out in quest of a marriage settle ment befitting her，saying to the beldam，'Thou needs must pray her to send me an answer.''I hear and I obey，'replied the old woman and going forth，presently returned with Kuzia Fakan's reply，which was，'She will come to thee at midnight.'So he abode awake till one half of the night was passed，when restlessness get hold on him，and before he was aware she came in to him，saying，'My life be thy ransom from wakefulness！'and he sprang up to receive her，exclaiming，'O desire of my heart，my life be thy redemption from all ills and evils！'Then he acquainted her，with his intent，and she wept： but he said，'Weep not，O daughter of my uncle； for I beseech Him who decreed our separation to vouchsafe us reunion and fair understanding.'Then Kanmakan，having fixed a day for departure，went in to his mother and took leave of her，after which came he down from his palace and threw the baldrick of his sword over his shoulder and donned turband and faceveil； and mounting his horse，AlKatul，and looking like the moon at its full，he threaded the streets of Baghdad，till he reached the city gate.And behold，here he found Sabbah bin Rammah coming out of town； and his comrade seeing him，ran to his stirrup and saluted him.He returned his salutation，and Sabbah asked him，'O my brother，how camest thou by this good steed and this sword and clothes，whilst I up to present time have gotten nothing but my sword and target？'