Supplemental Nights to the Book of the Thousand and One Nights — Volume 3 (of 6)
Science
Supplemental Nights to the Book of the Thousand and One Nights — Volume 3 (of 6)
Fairy tales; Tales -- Arab countries
Quoth Dunyazad, "O sister mine, an thou be other than sleepy,
tell us one of thy fair tales, so therewith we may cut short the
waking hours of this our night," and quoth Shahrazad:--It hath
reached me, O King of the Age, that the King of the Jann said to
the Queen-mother, "Indeed Zayn al-Asnam hath not kept faith and
covenant with all nicety as regards the young lady, in that he
longed for her to become his wife. However, I am assured that
this lapse befel him from man's natural and inherent frailty
albeit I repeatedly enjoined him to defend and protect her until
he concealed from her his face. I now accept[FN#61] this man's
valour and bestow her upon him to wife, for she is the Ninth
Statue by me promised to him and she is fairer than all these
jewelled images, the like of her not being found in the whole
world of men save by the rarest of chances." Then the King of the
Jann turned to the Prince and said to him, "O Emir Zayn al-Asnam,
this is thy bride: take her and enjoy her upon the one condition
that thou love her only nor choose for thyself another one in
addition to her; and I pledge myself that her faith theewards
will be of the fairest." Hereupon the King of the Jann
disappeared and the Prince, gladdened and rejoicing, went forth
with the maiden and for his love and affection to her he paid to
her the first cermonious visit that same night[FN#62] and he made
bride-feasts and banquets throughout his realm and in due time he
formally wedded her and went in unto her. Then he stablished
himself upon the throne of his kingship and ruled it, bidding and
forbidding, and his consort became Queen of Bassorah. His mother
left this life a short while afterwards and they both mourned and
lamented their loss. Lastly he lived with his wife in all joyance
of life till there came to them the Destroyer of delights and the
Separator of societies.--And Shahrazad ceased to say her
pleasant[FN#63] say. Quoth Dunyazad, "O sister mine, how rare is
thy tale and delectable!" whereto quoth Shahrazad, "And what is
this compared with that I would relate to you on the coming night
concerning Alaeddin[FN#64] and the Enchanted Lamp, an this my
lord the King leave me on life?" The King said to himself, "By
Allah, I will not slay her until she tell me the whole tale."
When it was the Five Hundred and Fourteenth Night,
Quoth Dunyazad,[FN#65] to Shahrazad, "O sister mine, an thou be
other than sleepy, do tell us some of thy pleasant tales;" and
Shahrazad began to relate the story of
ALAEDDIN; OR, THE WONDERFUL LAMP.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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