The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night — Volume 03 (of 10)
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The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night — Volume 03 (of 10)
Fairy tales; Tales -- Arab countries
"While slanderers slumber, longsome is my night; *
Suffice thee a heart so sad in parting-plight;
I say, while night in care slow moments by, *
'What! no return for thee, fair morning light?'"
And the saying of another,
"When saw I Pleiad-stars his glance escape *
And Pole star draught of sleep upon him pour;
And the Bier-daughters[FN#236] wend in mourning dight, *
I knew that morning was for him no more!"
Such was the case with King Shahriman; but as regards Kamar al- Zaman,
when the night came upon him the eunuch set the lanthorn before him and
lighting the wax-candle, placed it in the candlestick; then brought him
somewhat of food. The Prince ate a little and continually reproached
himself for his unseemly treatment of his father, saying to himself, "O
my soul, knowest thou not that a son of Adam is the hostage of his
tongue, and that a man's tongue is what casteth him into deadly
perils?" Then his eyes ran over with tears and he bewailed that which
he had done, from anguished vitals and aching heart, repenting him with
exceeding repentance of the wrong wherewith he had wronged his father
and repeating,
"Fair youth shall die by stumbling of the tongue: *
Stumble of foot works not man's life such wrong:
The slip of lip shall oft smite off the head, *
While slip of foot shall never harm one long."
Now when he had made an end of eating, he asked for the wherewithal to
wash his hands and when the Mameluke had washed them clean of the
remnants of food, he arose and made the Wuzu-ablution and prayed the
prayers of sundown and nightfall, conjoining them in one; after which
he sat down.—And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say
her permitted say.
When it was the Hundred and Seventy-sixth Night,
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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