The Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night, Volume II
General
The Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night, Volume II
Fairy tales; Tales -- Arab countries
'If I make war on the King of the Camphor Islands and carry off
his daughter, she will kill herself and it will profit me
nothing.' So he told his son how the case stood, and he said, 'O
my father, I cannot live without her; so I will go to her and
cast about to get me access to her, though I die in the attempt.'
'How wilt thou go to her?' asked his father; and he answered, 'In
the disguise of a merchant.' Then said the King, 'If thou must go
and there is no help for it, take with thee Aziz and the Vizier.'
He agreed to this, and the King took money from his treasuries
and made ready for him merchandise, to the value of a hundred
thousand dinars; and when the night came Taj el Mulouk went to
Aziz's lodging and passed the night there, heart-smitten and
taking no delight in food nor sleep; for melancholy was heavy
upon him and he was agitated with longing for his beloved. So he
besought the Creator to unite him with her and wept and groaned
and complained, repeating the following verses:
Shall union after estrangement betide us, perchance, some day?
Shall I ever make moan of my passion to thee, I wonder, and
say,
'How oft have I called thee to mind, whilst the night in its
trances slept! Thou hast made me waken, whilst all but I in
oblivion lay.
Then he wept sore and Aziz wept with him, for that he remembered
his cousin; and they both ceased not to do thus till the morning,
when Taj el Mulouk rose and went in to his mother in his
travelling dress. She asked him of his case, and he told her what
was to do; so she gave him fifty thousand dinars and bade him
farewell, offering up prayers for his safety and for his union
with his beloved. Then he left her and betaking himself to his
father, asked his leave to depart. The King granted him leave and
presenting him with other fifty thousand dinars, let pitch a tent
for him without the city, in which they abode two days, then set
out on their journey. And Taj el Mulouk delighted in Aziz's
company and said to him, 'O my brother, I can never bear to be
parted from thee.' 'Nor I from thee,' replied Aziz; 'and fain
would I die at thy feet: but, O my brother, my heart is concerned
for my mother.' 'When we have attained our wish,' said the
prince, 'all will be well.' As for the Vizier, he exhorted Taj el
Mulouk to patience, whilst Aziz entertained him with talk and
recited verses to him and diverted him with stories and
anecdotes; and so they fared on day and night for two whole
months, till the way became tedious to the prince and the fires
of passion redoubled on him. So he repeated the following verses:
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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