# 045 - Seven Hundred and Sixty-ninth Night to Seven Hundred and Seventy-first Night

An episode of [Arabian Nights Volume 7 - Tales of Adventure and Intrigue](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1858984052), 29 Dec 2025, 27 min.

Audio: https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/api.spreaker.com/download/episode/68851151/045_seven_hundred_and_sixty_ninth_night_to_seven_hundred_and_seventy_first_night.mp3

Dive into the enchanting world of Arabian Nights, a mesmerizing collection of stories that have captivated audiences for centuries. This compilation, woven together through the artful storytelling of Shahrazad, features a rich tapestry of myths and folklore from the Indian subcontinent, Persia, and Arabia. Despite the absence of an original manuscript, this timeless collection is believed to have originated between AD 800-900. Among its many treasures are the iconic tales of Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves and the adventures of Sinbad the Sailor. This volume is part of the renowned sixteen-volume translation by Richard Francis Burton, showcasing the allure of these age-old narratives. (Summary adapted from Wikipedia) This episode includes AI-generated content.

## Transcript

[0:00] Speaker 1: Section forty five of the Book of A Thousand Knights
[0:04] Speaker 1: and a Night, Volume seven. This is a LibriVox recording.
[0:08] Speaker 1: All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more
[0:12] Speaker 1: information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org. Recording
[0:18] Speaker 1: by Pam Castile. The Book of A Thousand Knights and
[0:23] Speaker 1: a Knight, Volume seven by Anonymous, translated by Richard Francis Burton,
[0:29] Speaker 1: section forty five. When it was the seven hundred and
[0:34] Speaker 1: sixty ninth night, she resumed it hath reached me o
[0:39] Speaker 1: auspicious king, that the damsel said to Saif al Muluk,
[0:44] Speaker 1: then the king of the Djen, after he had acquainted
[0:47] Speaker 1: me with his case, embraced me and kissed me, saying
[0:51] Speaker 1: abide here and fear nothing. Whereupon he went away from
[0:55] Speaker 1: me for an hour, and presently returned with these tables
[0:59] Speaker 1: in karp and furniture. He comes to me every third
[1:03] Speaker 1: and abideth with me three days, and on Friday, at
[1:07] Speaker 1: the time of mid afternoon prayer, he departeth and is
[1:11] Speaker 1: absent till the following third. When he is here, he
[1:15] Speaker 1: eateth and drinketh, and kisseth and huggeth me, but doth
[1:19] Speaker 1: naught else with me, and I am a pure virgin,
[1:22] Speaker 1: even as Allah Almighty created me. My father's name is
[1:26] Speaker 1: Taj al Muluk, and he woeth not what is come
[1:29] Speaker 1: of me, nor hath he hit upon any trace of me.
[1:33] Speaker 1: This is my story. Now tell me thy tale, answered
[1:38] Speaker 1: the Prince. My story is along, and I fear lest
[1:42] Speaker 1: while I am telling it to thee. The ifrit come,
[1:46] Speaker 1: quoth she, He went out from me but an hour
[1:49] Speaker 1: before thy entering, and will not return till third. So
[1:53] Speaker 1: sit THEE down and take thine ease, and hearken thy heart,
[1:57] Speaker 1: and tell me what hath betided THEE from beginning to end?
[2:02] Speaker 1: And quoth he, I hear and I obey. So he
[2:05] Speaker 1: fell to telling her all that had befallen him from
[2:09] Speaker 1: commencement to conclusion. But when she heard speak of by
[2:12] Speaker 1: di al Jamal, her eyes ran over with railing tears,
[2:16] Speaker 1: and she cried, Oh, by di al Jamal, I had
[2:20] Speaker 1: not thought this of THEE a lack for our luck.
[2:23] Speaker 1: Oh by de al Jamal, dost thou not remember me,
[2:27] Speaker 1: nor say my sister da luh Catun whither is she gone?
[2:31] Speaker 1: And her weeping redoubled, lamenting for that by di al
[2:35] Speaker 1: Jamal had forgotten her. Then said Saif al muluk o
[2:40] Speaker 1: d'luh caotun. Thou art a mortal and she is a genea,
[2:44] Speaker 1: how then can she be thy sister? Replied the princess.
[2:49] Speaker 1: She is my sister by fosterage. And this is how
[2:53] Speaker 1: it came about. My mother went out to solace herself
[2:56] Speaker 1: in the garden when labor pangs seized her and she
[3:00] Speaker 1: bare me. Now, the mother of bad Al Jamal chanced
[3:04] Speaker 1: to be passing with her guards when she also was
[3:07] Speaker 1: taking with travail pains. So she alighted in a side
[3:11] Speaker 1: of the garden and there brought forth by d al Jamal.
[3:15] Speaker 1: She despatched one of her women to seek food and
[3:18] Speaker 1: childbirth gear of my mother, who sent her what she
[3:21] Speaker 1: sought and invited her to visit her. So she came
[3:25] Speaker 1: to her with bad Al Jamal, and my mother suckled
[3:28] Speaker 1: the child, who with her mother tarried with us in
[3:31] Speaker 1: the garden two months, And before wending her ways, the
[3:35] Speaker 1: mother aby di al Jamal gave my mother somewhat saying,
[3:39] Speaker 1: when thou hast need of me, I will come to
[3:42] Speaker 1: thee amiddlemost the garden, and departed to her own land,
[3:46] Speaker 1: but she and her daughter used to visit us every
[3:49] Speaker 1: year and abide with us awhile before returning home. Wherefore,
[3:54] Speaker 1: an I were with my mother o saif al Muluk,
[3:57] Speaker 1: and if thou worked with me in my own and
[4:00] Speaker 1: by di al Jamala and I were together as of wont,
[4:04] Speaker 1: I would devise some device with her to bring THEE
[4:07] Speaker 1: to thy desire of her. But I am here an
[4:10] Speaker 1: They know naught of me for that, and they kinned
[4:14] Speaker 1: what is become of me. They have power to deliver
[4:17] Speaker 1: me from this place. However, the matter is in Allah's hands.
[4:21] Speaker 1: Extolled and exalteth be he. And what can I do?
[4:26] Speaker 1: Quoth sayif al Muluk rise and let us flee and
[4:30] Speaker 1: go with THEE almighty willeth. But quoth she, we cannot
[4:34] Speaker 1: do that, for by Allah, though we fled, hence a
[4:37] Speaker 1: year's journey, that a cursed would overtake us in an
[4:41] Speaker 1: hour and slaughter us. Then said the Prince, I will
[4:45] Speaker 1: hide myself in his way, and when he passeth by,
[4:49] Speaker 1: I will smite him with the sword and slay him.
[4:52] Speaker 1: Thou luh Katun replied, thou canst not succeed in slaying him,
[4:57] Speaker 1: save thou his soul, asked he, and where is his soul?
[5:01] Speaker 1: And she answered, many a time have I questioned him thereof,
[5:06] Speaker 1: But he would not tell me till one day I
[5:09] Speaker 1: pressed him, and he waxed wroth with me, and said
[5:12] Speaker 1: to me, how often wilt thou ask me of my soul?
[5:16] Speaker 1: What hast thou to do with my soul? I rejoined,
[5:20] Speaker 1: O hatim, there remaineth none to me but thou except Allah.
[5:24] Speaker 1: And my life dependeth on thy life. And whilst thou livest,
[5:29] Speaker 1: all is well for me. So except I care for
[5:32] Speaker 1: thy soul and set it in the apple of this
[5:35] Speaker 1: mine eye, how shall I live in thine absence? And
[5:39] Speaker 1: I knew where thy soul abideth, I would never ceased,
[5:42] Speaker 1: whilst I live to hold it in mine embrace, and
[5:46] Speaker 1: would keep it as my right eye. Whereupon said he
[5:50] Speaker 1: to me, what time I was born? The astrologers predicted
[5:54] Speaker 1: that I should lose my soul at the hands of
[5:57] Speaker 1: the son of a king of mankind. So I took
[6:00] Speaker 1: it and set it in the crop of a sparrow,
[6:04] Speaker 1: and shut up the bird in a box. The box
[6:06] Speaker 1: I set in a casket, and enclosing this in seven
[6:10] Speaker 1: other caskets and seven chests. Laid the whole in an
[6:14] Speaker 1: Alabastrian coffer, which I buried within the marge of yon
[6:18] Speaker 1: earth circling sea, for that these parts are far from
[6:22] Speaker 1: the world of men, and none of them can win hither.
[6:26] Speaker 1: So now see I have told THEE what thou wouldst know,
[6:29] Speaker 1: And do thou tell none thereof, for it is a
[6:32] Speaker 1: secret between me and THEE. And Shahrazad perceived the dawn
[6:38] Speaker 1: of day and ceased to say her permitted say. When
[6:43] Speaker 1: it was the seven hundred and seventieth night, she said
[6:47] Speaker 1: it hath reached me o auspicious king, that when Dao
[6:51] Speaker 1: lud Katun acquainted Saif al Muluk with the whereabouts of
[6:55] Speaker 1: the soul of the jennie who had carried her off,
[6:58] Speaker 1: and repeated to him his speech, ending with and this
[7:02] Speaker 1: is a secret between me and THEE, I rejoined, quoth
[7:06] Speaker 1: she to whom shall I tell it? Seeing that none
[7:09] Speaker 1: but thou cometh hither with whom I may talk thereof,
[7:13] Speaker 1: adding by Allah, thou hast indeed set thy soul in
[7:18] Speaker 1: the strongest of strong holds to which none may gain access.
[7:22] Speaker 1: How should a man win to it? Unless the impossible
[7:25] Speaker 1: be fore ordained, and Allah decree like as the astragers predicted.
[7:31] Speaker 1: Thereupon the Jenny peradventure. One may come, having on his
[7:35] Speaker 1: finger the seal ring of Solomon, son of David, on
[7:39] Speaker 1: the twain be peace, and lay his hand with the
[7:42] Speaker 1: ring on the face of the water, saying, by the
[7:45] Speaker 1: virtue of the names engraven upon this ring, let the
[7:49] Speaker 1: soul of such an one come forth, whereupon the cofferl
[7:54] Speaker 1: rise to the surface, and he will break it open,
[7:57] Speaker 1: and do the like with the chest and caskeit till
[8:00] Speaker 1: he come to the little box, when he will take
[8:03] Speaker 1: out the sparrow and strangle it. And I shall die.
[8:08] Speaker 1: Then said Sahif al Muluk. I am the King's son
[8:12] Speaker 1: of whom he spake, and this is the ring of Solomon,
[8:15] Speaker 1: David's son on my finger. So rise, Let us go
[8:19] Speaker 1: down to the sea shore and see if his words
[8:22] Speaker 1: be leal or leasing. Thereupon the two walked down to
[8:26] Speaker 1: the sea shore, and the princess stood on the beach,
[8:29] Speaker 1: whilst the prince waded into the water to his waist,
[8:33] Speaker 1: and laying his hand with the ring on the surface
[8:35] Speaker 1: of the sea, said, by the virtue of the names
[8:39] Speaker 1: and talismans engraven on the ring, and by the might
[8:42] Speaker 1: of Suliman bid dowd on whom be the peace, let
[8:46] Speaker 1: the soul of Hatim, the Jinnie, son of the Blue King,
[8:50] Speaker 1: come forth whereat the sea boiled in billows, and the
[8:54] Speaker 1: coffer of alabaster rose to the surface. Sa'if al Mulu
[8:59] Speaker 1: took it and shattered it against the rock, and broke
[9:02] Speaker 1: open the chest and caskets, till he came to the
[9:05] Speaker 1: little box and drew thereout the sparrow. Then the twain
[9:09] Speaker 1: returned to the castle and sat down on the throne.
[9:12] Speaker 1: But hardly had they done this, when lo, and behold,
[9:16] Speaker 1: there arose a dust cloud terrifying, and some huge thing
[9:20] Speaker 1: came flying and crying. Spare me, o King's son, and
[9:25] Speaker 1: slay me not, but make me thy freedmen, and I
[9:29] Speaker 1: will bring thee to thy desire. Quoth da lut Catun
[9:33] Speaker 1: the jinny cometh, slay the sparrow, lest this accursed enter
[9:37] Speaker 1: the palace and take it from thee, and slaughter me,
[9:40] Speaker 1: and slaughter thee after me. So the prince wrung the
[9:44] Speaker 1: sparrow's neck, and it died. Whereupon the jinny fell down
[9:48] Speaker 1: at the palace door and became a heap of black ashes.
[9:52] Speaker 1: Then said d'luh cartun, we are delivered from the hand
[9:56] Speaker 1: of Yonder accursed. What shall we do now? And sayf
[10:00] Speaker 1: al Muluk replied, it behooveth us to ask aid of
[10:04] Speaker 1: Allah Almighty, who hath afflicted us. Belike he will direct
[10:09] Speaker 1: us and help us to escape from this our strait.
[10:12] Speaker 1: So saying he arose and pulling up half a score
[10:15] Speaker 1: of the doors of the palace, which were of sandal
[10:18] Speaker 1: wood and line aloes with nails of gold and silver,
[10:22] Speaker 1: bound them together with ropes of silk and floss silk
[10:26] Speaker 1: and fine linen, and wrought of them a raft, which
[10:29] Speaker 1: he and the princess aided each other to hail down
[10:32] Speaker 1: to the sea shore. They launched it upon the water
[10:36] Speaker 1: till it floated, and making it fast to the beach,
[10:39] Speaker 1: returned to the palace. Whence they removed all the charges
[10:42] Speaker 1: of gold and saucers of silver, and jewels and precious
[10:46] Speaker 1: stones and metals, and what else was light of load
[10:49] Speaker 1: and weighty of worth, and freighted the raft therewith. Then
[10:53] Speaker 1: they embarked, after fashioning two pieces of wood into the
[10:57] Speaker 1: likeness of paddles, and casting off the rope moorings, let
[11:01] Speaker 1: the raft drift out to sea, with them committing themselves
[11:04] Speaker 1: to Allah, the most High, who contenteth those that put
[11:08] Speaker 1: their trust in Him, and disappointeth not them who rely
[11:11] Speaker 1: upon him. They ceased, not faring on thus four months
[11:16] Speaker 1: until their victual was exhausted, and their sufferings waxed severe,
[11:21] Speaker 1: and their souls were straitened. So they prayed Allah to
[11:25] Speaker 1: vouchsafe them deliverance from that danger. But all this time,
[11:29] Speaker 1: when they lay down to sleep, Saif al Muluk set
[11:32] Speaker 1: Dlukatun behind him and laid a naked brand at his back,
[11:36] Speaker 1: so that when he turned in sleep, the sword was
[11:39] Speaker 1: between them. At last, it chanced one night, when Sayif
[11:43] Speaker 1: al Muluk was asleep and d Alukatun awake, that behold,
[11:47] Speaker 1: the raft drifted landwards and entered a port wherein were ships.
[11:52] Speaker 1: The princess saw the ships and heard a man, he
[11:55] Speaker 1: being the chief and head of the captains, talking with
[11:58] Speaker 1: the sailors. Whereby she knew that this was the port
[12:01] Speaker 1: of some city, and that they were come to an
[12:04] Speaker 1: inhabited country. So she joyed with exceeding joy, and waking
[12:08] Speaker 1: the prince said to him, asked the captain the name
[12:11] Speaker 1: of the city and harbor. Thereupon Sa'if al Muluk arose
[12:15] Speaker 1: and said to the captain, O, my brother, how is
[12:19] Speaker 1: this harbor height? And what be the names of yonder
[12:21] Speaker 1: city and its king? Replied the captain, Oh, false face,
[12:27] Speaker 1: oh frosty beard. An thou knew not the name of
[12:30] Speaker 1: this port and city? How camest thou hither, quoth Saif
[12:35] Speaker 1: al Muluk. I am a stranger and had taken passage
[12:38] Speaker 1: in a merchant ship which was wrecked and sank with
[12:41] Speaker 1: all on board. But I saved myself on a plank
[12:45] Speaker 1: and made my way hither. Wherefore I asked thee the
[12:48] Speaker 1: name of the place, And in asking is no offense.
[12:52] Speaker 1: Then said the captain, this is the city of Amariya,
[12:56] Speaker 1: and this harbor is called Come in al Bahan. When
[12:59] Speaker 1: the princess heard this, she rejoice with exceeding joy and said,
[13:03] Speaker 1: praised be Allah. He asked what is to do, and
[13:07] Speaker 1: she answered, O, Saif al Muluk, rejoice and succor near hand,
[13:12] Speaker 1: For the king of this city is my uncle, my
[13:15] Speaker 1: father's brother. And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and
[13:20] Speaker 1: ceased saying her permitted say. When it was the seven
[13:26] Speaker 1: hundred and seventy first night, she continued it hath reached
[13:31] Speaker 1: me O auspicious king that dau Luh Katun said to
[13:35] Speaker 1: Saif al Muluk, rejoice in safety near hand, for the
[13:39] Speaker 1: king of this city is my uncle, my father's brother,
[13:43] Speaker 1: and his name is Ali al Muluk, adding say thou
[13:47] Speaker 1: then to the captain is the sultan of the city
[13:50] Speaker 1: Ali al Muluk. Well, he asked, but the captain was
[13:54] Speaker 1: wroth with him and cried, thou sayest I am a stranger,
[13:58] Speaker 1: and never in my life came hither. Who then told
[14:01] Speaker 1: thee the name of the lord of the city. When
[14:04] Speaker 1: da Luh Katun heard this, she rejoiced and knew him
[14:08] Speaker 1: for Muen al Din, one of her father's captains. Now
[14:11] Speaker 1: he had fared forth in search of her after she
[14:15] Speaker 1: was lost, and finding her not, he never ceased cruising
[14:18] Speaker 1: till he came to her uncle city. Then she bade
[14:21] Speaker 1: Saif al Muluk say to him, O, captain Muen al Din,
[14:26] Speaker 1: come and speak with thy mistress. So he called out
[14:29] Speaker 1: to him as she bade, whereat he was wroth with
[14:32] Speaker 1: exceeding wrath, and answered, oh dog o thief, O spy,
[14:37] Speaker 1: Who art thou and how knowest thou me. Then he
[14:41] Speaker 1: said to one of the sailors, give me an ash stave,
[14:44] Speaker 1: that I may go to yonder plaguing Arab and break
[14:48] Speaker 1: his head. So he took the stick and made for
[14:51] Speaker 1: Saif al Muluk. But when he came to the raft,
[14:54] Speaker 1: he saw something wondrous beauteous, which confounded his wits, and
[14:59] Speaker 1: considering it streatly, he made sure that it was Darluh
[15:02] Speaker 1: Cartun sitting there as she were a slice of the moon.
[15:06] Speaker 1: Whereat he said to the prince, who is that? With
[15:09] Speaker 1: thee replied he a damsel by name d'oluh Cartun. When
[15:14] Speaker 1: the captain heard the princess's name and knew that she
[15:18] Speaker 1: was his mistress and the daughter of his king, he
[15:21] Speaker 1: fell down in a fainting fit, and when he came
[15:24] Speaker 1: to himself, he left the raft and whatso was thereon,
[15:28] Speaker 1: and riding up to the palace, craved an audience of
[15:31] Speaker 1: the king, whereupon the chamberlain went into the presence and said,
[15:36] Speaker 1: Captain mohen a din is come to bring the good news.
[15:39] Speaker 1: So bid he be brought in, the king bade admit him. Accordingly,
[15:44] Speaker 1: he entered, and, kissing ground, said to him, O King,
[15:47] Speaker 1: thou owest me a gift for glad tidings for thy
[15:51] Speaker 1: brother's daughter. D'luh cartun hath reached our city safe and sound,
[15:56] Speaker 1: and it is now on a raft in the harbor,
[15:59] Speaker 1: in company with a young man, like the moon on
[16:01] Speaker 1: the night of its full When the king heard this,
[16:05] Speaker 1: he rejoiced and conferred a costly robe of honor on
[16:08] Speaker 1: the captain. Then he straightway bade decorate the city in
[16:13] Speaker 1: honor of the safe return of his brother's daughter, and
[16:16] Speaker 1: sending for her and Saif al Muluk, saluted the twain
[16:20] Speaker 1: and gave them joy of their safety, after which he
[16:23] Speaker 1: despatched a messenger to his brother to let him know
[16:26] Speaker 1: that his daughter was found and was with him. As
[16:29] Speaker 1: soon as the news reached Taj al Muluk, he gat
[16:32] Speaker 1: him ready, and, assembling his troops, set out for his
[16:36] Speaker 1: brother's capital, where he found his daughter and they rejoiced
[16:40] Speaker 1: with exceeding joy. He surgeoned with his brother a week,
[16:44] Speaker 1: after which he took his daughter and Saif al Muluk
[16:47] Speaker 1: and returned to Saramdib, where the princess foregathered with her mother,
[16:52] Speaker 1: and they rejoiced at her safe return and held high festival.
[16:56] Speaker 1: And that day was a great day never was seen
[16:59] Speaker 1: its life. As for Sayif al Muluk, the King entreated
[17:03] Speaker 1: him with honor and said to him, O, Sayif al Muluk,
[17:07] Speaker 1: thou hast done me and my daughter all this good,
[17:10] Speaker 1: for which I cannot requite THEE, nor can any requite THEE,
[17:14] Speaker 1: save the Lord of the three worlds. But I wish
[17:17] Speaker 1: THEE to sit upon the throne in my stead and
[17:19] Speaker 1: rule the land of Hind. For I offer THEE of
[17:22] Speaker 1: my throne and kingdom, and treasures and servants, all this
[17:26] Speaker 1: and free gift to THEE. Whereupon Sayf al Muluk rose
[17:30] Speaker 1: and kissing the ground before the King thanked him and answered, O,
[17:35] Speaker 1: King of the Age, I accept all thou givest me,
[17:38] Speaker 1: and return it to THEE in freest gift. For I, O,
[17:42] Speaker 1: King of the Age, covet not sovereignty, nor sultanate, nor
[17:47] Speaker 1: desire aught. But that Allah the most High, bring me
[17:50] Speaker 1: to my desire. Rejoined the King, O, Saif al Muluk,
[17:54] Speaker 1: these my treasures are at thy disposal. Take of them
[17:58] Speaker 1: what thou wilt, with thou consulting me, and Allah requite
[18:02] Speaker 1: thee for me with all weal, quoth the Prince, Allah
[18:06] Speaker 1: advanced the King. There is no delight for me in
[18:09] Speaker 1: money or in dominion till I win my wish. But
[18:12] Speaker 1: now I have a mind to solace myself in the
[18:15] Speaker 1: city and view its thoroughfares and market streets. So the
[18:19] Speaker 1: King bade bring him a mare of the thoroughbreds, saddled
[18:23] Speaker 1: and bridled, and Saif al Muluk mounted her and rode
[18:27] Speaker 1: through the streets and markets of the city. As he
[18:30] Speaker 1: looked about him right and left, lo his eyes fell
[18:33] Speaker 1: on a young man who was carrying a tunic and
[18:37] Speaker 1: crying it for sale at fifteen dinars. So he considered
[18:41] Speaker 1: him and saw him to be like his brother Sa'id,
[18:44] Speaker 1: And indeed it was his very self, But he was
[18:48] Speaker 1: Wan of Blee and changed for long strangerhood and the
[18:52] Speaker 1: travails of travel, so that he knew him not. However,
[18:56] Speaker 1: he said to his attendants, take yonder youth and carry
[19:00] Speaker 1: him to the palace where I lodge, and keep him
[19:02] Speaker 1: with you till my return from the ride, when I
[19:05] Speaker 1: will question him. But they understood him to say, carry
[19:09] Speaker 1: him to the prison and set in themselves. Haply, this
[19:13] Speaker 1: is some runaway mamluke of his. So they took him
[19:17] Speaker 1: and bore him to the bride well, where they laid
[19:19] Speaker 1: him in irons, and left him seated in solitude, unremembered
[19:23] Speaker 1: by any Presently, Saif al Muluk returned to the palace,
[19:28] Speaker 1: but he forgot his brother Sa'id, and none made mention
[19:32] Speaker 1: of him. So he abode in prison. And when they
[19:35] Speaker 1: brought out the prisoners to cut Ashlar from the quarries,
[19:38] Speaker 1: they took Sa'id with them, and he wrought with the rest.
[19:42] Speaker 1: He abode a month's space in this squalor and sore sorrow,
[19:46] Speaker 1: pondering his case and saying in himself, what is the
[19:50] Speaker 1: cause of my imprisonment? While Sayif al Muluk's mind was
[19:54] Speaker 1: diverted from him by rejoicing in other things. But one
[19:58] Speaker 1: day as he sat he bethought him of Sa'id and said,
[20:01] Speaker 1: to his mamelukes, where is the white slave I gave
[20:05] Speaker 1: into your charge on such a day? Quoth they didst
[20:09] Speaker 1: thou not bid us bear him to the bridewell? And
[20:12] Speaker 1: quoth he nay I said not, so, I bade you
[20:16] Speaker 1: carry him to my palace after the ride. Then he
[20:19] Speaker 1: sent his chamberlains and emirs for Sa'id, and they fetched
[20:23] Speaker 1: him in fetters, and, loosing him from his irons, set
[20:26] Speaker 1: him before the prince, who asked him, O, young man,
[20:30] Speaker 1: what country men art thou? And he answered, I am
[20:34] Speaker 1: from Egypt, and my name is Sa'id, son of Feris
[20:37] Speaker 1: the Wazir. Now hearing these words, Saif al Muluk sprang
[20:42] Speaker 1: to his feet and throwing himself off the throne, and
[20:45] Speaker 1: upon his friend hung on his neck, weeping aloud for
[20:49] Speaker 1: very joy and saying, O my brother O Sa'id praised
[20:54] Speaker 1: be Allah for King Asim. Then they embraced and shed
[20:57] Speaker 1: tears together, and all who were present marveled at them.
[21:02] Speaker 1: After this, Saif al Muluk bade his people bear Sa'id
[21:06] Speaker 1: to the hummand bath, and they did so. When he
[21:09] Speaker 1: came out, they clad him in costly clothing and carried
[21:13] Speaker 1: him back to Sayif al Muluk, who seated him on
[21:16] Speaker 1: the throne beside himself. When King Taj al Muluk heard
[21:19] Speaker 1: of their reunion of Saif al Muluk and his brother Sa'id,
[21:24] Speaker 1: he joyed with you exceeding and came to them, and
[21:27] Speaker 1: the three sat devising of all that had befallen them
[21:30] Speaker 1: in the past, from first to last. Then said sa'id O,
[21:34] Speaker 1: my brother, oh Saif al Muluk. When the ships sank
[21:38] Speaker 1: with all on board, I saved myself on a plank
[21:42] Speaker 1: with a company of mamelukes, and had drifted with us
[21:45] Speaker 1: a whole month when the wind cast us, by the
[21:48] Speaker 1: ordinance of Allah Almighty, upon an island. So we landed, and,
[21:52] Speaker 1: entering among the trees, took to eating of the fruits,
[21:56] Speaker 1: for we were a hungered. Whilst we were busy eating,
[21:59] Speaker 1: their fell on us unawares, folk like iffrits, and springing
[22:03] Speaker 1: on our shoulders. Rode us and said to us go
[22:07] Speaker 1: on with us, for ye are become our asses. So
[22:10] Speaker 1: I said to him who had mounted me, what art
[22:13] Speaker 1: thou and why mountest thou me. At this, he twisted
[22:17] Speaker 1: one of his legs about my neck till I was
[22:20] Speaker 1: all but dead, and beat upon my back the while
[22:23] Speaker 1: with the other leg, till I thought he had broken
[22:25] Speaker 1: my backbone. So I fell to the ground on my face,
[22:29] Speaker 1: having no strength left in me, for famine and thirst
[22:33] Speaker 1: from my fall. He knew that I was hungry, and
[22:36] Speaker 1: taking me by the hand, led me to a tree
[22:39] Speaker 1: laden with fruit, which was a pear tree, and said
[22:42] Speaker 1: to me eat thy fill of this tree. So I
[22:45] Speaker 1: ate till I had enough, and rose to walk against
[22:48] Speaker 1: my will. But ere I had fared afar, the creature turned, and,
[22:52] Speaker 1: leaping on my shoulders again, drove me on, now walking,
[22:56] Speaker 1: now running, and now trotting, And he the while mounted
[23:00] Speaker 1: on me, laughing and saying, never in my life saw
[23:04] Speaker 1: I a donkey like unto thee. We abode thus for years,
[23:08] Speaker 1: till one day of the days it chanced that we
[23:11] Speaker 1: saw there great plenty of vines covered with ripe fruit.
[23:15] Speaker 1: So we gathered a quantity of grape bunches, and, throwing
[23:18] Speaker 1: them into a pit, trod them with our feet till
[23:22] Speaker 1: the pit became a great water pool. Then we waited awhile,
[23:25] Speaker 1: and presently returning thither, found that the sun had rotten
[23:29] Speaker 1: on the grape juice, and it was become wine. So
[23:33] Speaker 1: we used to drink it till we were drunken, and
[23:35] Speaker 1: our faces flushed, and we fell to singing and dancing
[23:39] Speaker 1: and running about in the merriment of drunkenness. Whereupon our
[23:43] Speaker 1: masters said to us, what is it that reddeneth your
[23:47] Speaker 1: faces and maketh you dance unsing? We replied, ask us not,
[23:52] Speaker 1: what is your quest in questioning us hereof? But they insisted, saying,
[23:57] Speaker 1: you must tell us so that we may know the
[24:00] Speaker 1: truth of the case. Till we told them how we
[24:02] Speaker 1: had pressed grapes and made wine. Quoth they give us
[24:07] Speaker 1: to drink thereof? But quoth we their grapes are spent.
[24:11] Speaker 1: So they brought us to a waddie whose length we
[24:14] Speaker 1: knew not from its breath, nor its beginning from its end,
[24:18] Speaker 1: wherein were vines, each bunch of grapes on them, weighing
[24:21] Speaker 1: twenty pounds by the scale, and all within easy reach.
[24:25] Speaker 1: And they said, gather of these. So we gathered a
[24:29] Speaker 1: mighty great store of grapes, and, finding there a big trench,
[24:33] Speaker 1: bigger than the great tank in the King's garden, we
[24:36] Speaker 1: filled it full of fruit. This we trod with our feet,
[24:40] Speaker 1: and did with the juice as before, till it became
[24:43] Speaker 1: strong wine, which it did after a month. Whereupon we
[24:47] Speaker 1: said to them, tis come to perfection, But in what
[24:50] Speaker 1: will ye drink it? And they replied, we had asses
[24:54] Speaker 1: like unto you. But we ate them and kept their heads.
[24:58] Speaker 1: So give us to drink in their skulls. We went
[25:00] Speaker 1: to their caves, which we found full of heads and
[25:03] Speaker 1: bones of the sons of Adam, and we gave them
[25:06] Speaker 1: to drink. When they became drunken, and lay down nigh
[25:10] Speaker 1: two hundred of them. Then we said to one another,
[25:14] Speaker 1: is it not enough that they should ride us, but
[25:17] Speaker 1: they must eat us? Also? There is no majesty, and
[25:21] Speaker 1: there is no might save in Allah the glorious, the great.
[25:24] Speaker 1: But we will ply them with wine till they are
[25:27] Speaker 1: overcome by drunkenness, when we will slay them and be
[25:30] Speaker 1: at rest from them. Accordingly, we awoke them and fell
[25:35] Speaker 1: to filling the skulls, and gave them to drink. But
[25:38] Speaker 1: they said this is bitter. We replied, why say yea
[25:43] Speaker 1: tis bitter? Whoso saith thus, except he drink of it
[25:47] Speaker 1: ten times, he dieth the same day. When they heard this,
[25:51] Speaker 1: they feared death and cried to us, give us to
[25:54] Speaker 1: drink the whole ten times. So we gave them to drink.
[25:58] Speaker 1: And when they swallowed the rest of the tin drafts,
[26:01] Speaker 1: they waxed drunken exceedingly, and their strength failed them, and
[26:06] Speaker 1: they availed not to mount us. Thereupon we dragged them
[26:10] Speaker 1: together by their hands and laid them one upon another.
[26:14] Speaker 1: Collected great plenty of dry vine stalks and branches, and
[26:18] Speaker 1: heaped it about and upon them. Then we set fire
[26:21] Speaker 1: to the pile, and stood afar off to see what
[26:24] Speaker 1: became of them. And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day
[26:29] Speaker 1: and ceased to say her permitted say end of Section
[26:34] Speaker 1: forty five. Recording by Pam Castile

Shows are listed from Apple Podcasts' charts and directory, and Podcast Index where it is used. Every show and episode belongs to its publisher and plays from the publisher's own feed; this site hosts none of them.