第2章

I slew him by means of this ring on my finger，and Allah hurried his soul to the fire and the abiding-place dire.'Therewithal the King was assured that this was indeed he who slew his son；so presently he called his Wazirs and said to them，'This is the murtherer of my son sans shadow of doubt： so how do you counsel me to deal with him？ Shall I slay him with the foulest slaughter or torture him with the terriblest torments or how？'Quoth the Chief Minister，'Cut off his limbs，one a day.'Another，'Beat him with a grievous beating every day till he die.'A third，'Cut him across the middle.'A fourth，'Chop off all his fingers and burn him with fire.'A fifth，'Crucify him；'and so on，each speaking according to his rede.Now there was with the Blue King an old Emir，versed in the vicissitudes and experienced in the exchanges of the times，and he said，'O King of the Age，verily I would say to thee somewhat，and thine is the rede whether thou wilt hearken or not to my say.'Now he was the King's privy Councillor and the Chief Officer of his empire，and the Sovran was wont to give ear to his word and conduct himself by his counsel and gainsay him not in aught.So he rose and kissing ground before his liege lord，said to him，'O King of the Age，if I advise thee in this matter，wilt thou follow my advice and grant me indemnity？'Quoth the King，'Set forth thine opinion，and thou shalt have immunity.'Then quoth he，'O King of the Age，an thou slay this one nor accept my advice nor hearken to my word，in very sooth I say that his death were now inexpedient，for that he his thy prisoner and in thy power，and under thy protection；so whenas thou wilt，thou mayst lay hand on him and do with him what thou desirest.Have patience，then，O King of the Age，for he hath entered the garden of Iram and is become the betrothed of Badi'a al-Jamal，daughter of King Shahyal，and one of them.Thy people seized him there and brought him hither and he did not hide his case from them or from thee.So an thou slay him，assuredly King Shahyal will seek blood-revenge and lead his host against thee for his daughter's sake，and thou canst not cope with him nor make head against his power.'So the King hearkened to his counsel and commanded to imprison the captive.

Thus fared it with Sayf al-Muluk；but as regards the old Queen；grandmother of Badi'a al-Jamal，when her son Shahyal came to her she despatched Marjanah in search of Sayf al-Muluk；but she found him not and returning to her mistress，said，'I found him not in the garden.'So the ancient dame sent for the gardeners and questioned them of the Prince.Quoth they，'We saw him sitting under a tree when behold，five of the Blue King's folk alighted by him and spoke with him，after which they took him up and having gagged him flew away with him.'When the old Queen heard the damsel's words it was no light matter to her and she was wroth with exceeding wrath： so she rose to her feet and said to her son，King Shahyal，'Thou art a King and shall the Blue King's people come to our garden and carry off our guests unhindered，and thou alive？'And she proceeded to provoke him，saying，'It behoveth not that any transgress against us during thy lifetime.'[1] Answered he，'O mother of me，this man slew the Blue King's son，who was a Jinni and Allah threw him into his hand.He is a Jinni and I am a Jinni： how then shall I go to him and make war on him for the sake of a mortal？'But she rejoined，'Go to him and demand our guest of him，and if he be still alive and the Blue King deliver him to thee，take him and return；but an he have slain him，take the King and all his children and Harim and household depending on him；then bring them to me alive that I may cut their throats with my own hand and lay in ruins his reign.Except thou go to him and do my bidding，I will not acquit thee of my milk and my rearing of thee shall be counted unlawful.'--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.

When it was the Seven Hundred and Seventy-eighth Night，She said，It hath reached me，O auspicious King，that the grandmother of Badi'a al-Jamal said to Shahyal，'Fare thee to the Blue King and look after Sayf al-Muluk： if he be still in life come with him hither；but an he have slain him take that King and all his children and Harim and the whole of his dependents an proteges and bring them here alive that I may cut their throats with my own hand and ruin his realm.Except thou go to him and do my bidding，I will not acquit thee of my milk and my rearing of thee shall be accounted unlawful.'Thereupon Shahyal rose and assembling his troops，set out，in deference to his mother；desiring to content her and her friends，and in accordance with whatso had been fore-ordained from eternity without beginning；

nor did they leave journeying till they came to the land of the Blue King，who met them with his army and gave them battle.The Blue King's host was put to the rout and the conquerors having taken him and all his sons，great and small，and Grandees and officers bound and brought them before King Shahyal，who said to the captive，'O Azrak，[2] where is the mortal Sayf al-Muluk who whilome was my guest？'Answered the Blue King，'O Shahyal，thou art a Jinni and I am a Jinni and is't on account of a mortal who slew my son that thou hast done this deed；yea，the murtherer of my son，the core of my liver and solace of my soul.How couldest thou work such work and spill the blood of so many thousand Jinn？'He replied，'Leave this talk！ Knowest thou not that a single mortal is better，in Allah's sight，than a thousand Jinn？[3] If he be alive，bring him to me，and I will set thee free and all whom I have taken of thy sons and people；but an thou have slain him，I will slaughter thee and thy sons.'Quoth the Malik al-Azrak，'O King，is this man of more account with thee than my son？'and quoth Shahyal，'Verily，thy son was an evildoer who kidnapped Kings' daughters and shut them up in the Ruined Well and the High-builded Castle of Japhet son of Noah and entreated them lewdly.'Then said the Blue King，'He is with me；