"Thy sight hath never seen a fairer sight, * Of all things men can in the world espy, Than yon brown mole, that studs his bonny cheek * Of rosy-red beneath that jet black eye." And as saith another, "I marvel seeing yon mole that serves his cheeks' bright flame * Yet burneth not in fire albeit Infidel[FN#470] I wonder eke to see that apostolic glance, * Miracle working, though it work by magic spell: How fresh and bright the down that decks his cheek, and yet * Bursten gall bladders feed which e'en as waters well." And as saith another, "I marvel hearing people questioning of * The Fount of Life and in what land 'tis found: I see it sprung from lips of dainty fawn, * Sweet rosy mouth with green mustachio down'd: And wondrous wonder 'tis when Moses viewed * That Fount, he rested not from weary round."[FN#471] Now having developed such beauty, when he came to man's estate his loveliness increased, and it won for him many comrades and intimates; while every one who drew near to him wished that Taj al-Muluk Kharan might become Sultan after his father's death, and that he himself might be one of his Emirs. Then took he passionately to chasing and hunting which he would hardly leave for a single hour. His father, King Sulayman Shah, would have forbidden him the pursuit fearing for him the perils of the waste and the wild beasts; but he paid no heed to his warning voice. And it so chanced that once upon a time he said to his attendants "Take ye ten days food and forage;" and, when they obeyed his bidding, he set out with his suite for sport and disport. They rode on into the desert and ceased not riding four days, till they came to a place where the ground was green, and they saw in it wild beasts grazing and trees with ripe fruit growing and springs flowing. Quoth Taj al-Muluk to his followers, "Set up the nets here and peg them in a wide ring and let our trysting place be at the mouth of the fence, in such a spot." So they obeyed his words and staked out a wide circle with toils; and there gathered together a mighty matter of all kinds of wild beasts and gazelles, which cried out for fear of the men and threw themselves for fright in the face of the horses. Then they loosed on to them the hounds and lynxes[FN#472] and hawks;[FN#473] and they shot the quarry down with shafts which pierced their vitals; and, by the time they came to the further end of the net ring, they had taken a great number of the wild beasts, and the rest fled. Then Taj al-Muluk dismounted by the water side and bade the game be brought before himself, and divided it, after he had set apart the best of the beasts for his father, King Sulayman Shah, and despatched the game to him; and some he distributed among the officers of his court. He passed the night in that place, and when morning dawned there came up a caravan of merchants conveying negro slaves and white servants, and halted by the water and the green ground. When Taj al-Muluk saw them, he said to one of his