Jaạfar then said to him, Wonder not, O Prince of the Faithful, at his tale, for it is not more extraordinary than the story of the Wezeer Noor-ed-Deen, and Shems-ed-Deen, his brother.--What story, said the Khaleefeh, can be more wonderful than this?--O Prince of the Faithful, replied Jaạfar, I will not relate it to thee unless on the condition that thou exempt my slave from the punishment of death. The Khaleefeh said, I give thee his blood:--and Jaạfar, thereupon, commenced the relation of the story as follows:-- THE STORY OF NOOR-ED-DEEN AND HIS SON, AND OF SHEMS-ED-DEEN AND HIS DAUGHTER. Know, O Prince of the Faithful, that there was, in Cairo,[IV_12] a Sulṭán,[IV_13] just and beneficent, who had a wise and well-informed Wezeer, possessing a knowledge of the affairs of the world, and of the art of government. This minister was an aged man, and he had two sons, like two moons: the name of the elder was Shems-ed-Deen, and that of the younger, Noor-ed-Deen;[IV_14] and the latter was more distinguished than the former by handsomeness and comeliness: there was no one in his day more handsome, so that the fame of his charms spread through the neighbouring regions, and some of the inhabitants of those parts travelled to his country merely to obtain a sight of him. And it came to pass that their father died, and the Sulṭán mourned for him, and, turning his regards towards the two sons, took them into his favour, invested them with robes of honour, and said to them, Ye two are instated in your father's office:--at which they rejoiced, and kissed the ground before him. They observed the ceremonies of mourning[IV_15] for their father during a period of a whole month, and entered upon the office of Wezeers, each of them discharging the duties of this station for a week at a time; and whenever the Sulṭán had a desire to go forth on a journey, he took one of them with him.