Supplemental Nights to the Book of the Thousand and One Nights — Volume 3 (of 6) Part 1
General
Supplemental Nights to the Book of the Thousand and One Nights — Volume 3 (of 6) Part 1
Fairy tales; Tales -- Arab countries
“Allah perpetuate thy glory, O thou the King; so shall thy memory endure
in thy daughter’s pavilion.” The Sultan forthright bade summon jewellers
and goldsmiths and ordered them be supplied from the treasury with all
their needs of gold and gems and noble ores; and, when they were
gathered together he commanded them to complete the work still wanting
in the Kiosque-window. Meanwhile the Princess came forth to meet her
sire the Sultan who noticed, as she drew near, her smiling face; so he
embraced her and kissed her, then led her to the pavilion and all
entered in a body. Now this was the time of the noon-day meal and one
table had been spread for the Sovran, his daughter and his son-in-law
and a second for the Wazirs, the Lords of the land, the Grandees of the
realm, the Chief Officers of the host, the Chamberlains and the Nabobs.
The King took seat between the Princess and her husband; and, when he
put forth his hand to the food and tasted it, he was struck with
surprise by the flavour of the dishes and their savoury and sumptuous
cooking. Moreover, there stood before him the fourscore damsels each and
every saying to the full moon, “Rise that I may seat myself in thy
stead!”[187] All held instruments of mirth and merriment and they tuned
the same and deftly moved their finger-tips and smote the strings into
song, most musical, most melodious, which expanded the mourner’s heart.
Hereby the Sultan was gladdened and time was good to him and for high
enjoyment he exclaimed, “In very sooth the thing is beyond the compass
of King and Kaysar.” Then they fell to eating and drinking; and the cup
went round until they had drunken enough, when sweetmeats and fruits of
sorts and other such edibles were served, the dessert being laid out in
a different salon whither they removed and enjoyed of these pleasures
their sufficiency. Presently the Sultan arose that he might see if the
produce of his jewellers and goldsmiths favoured that of the pavilion;
so he went upstairs to them and inspected their work and how they had
wrought; but he noted a mighty great difference and his men were far
from being able to make anything like the rest of Alaeddin’s
pavilion.——And Shahrazad was surprised by the dawn of day and ceased to
say her permitted say.
Now when it was the Five Hundred and Seventy-first Night,
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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