第12章

Rejoined Kamar al-Zaman，'It shall not come to that； but how is thy master called in Ajam land？' Answered the envoy，'He is called King Shahriman，lord of the Khalidan Islands； and he hath levied these troops in the lands traversed by him，whilst seeking his son.' No-vv when Kamar al-Zaman heard these words，he cried out with a great cry and fell down in a fainting fit which lasted a long while； and anon coming to himself he wept bitter tears and said to Amjad and As'ad，'Go ye，O my sons，with the herald，salute your grandfather and my father，King Shahriman and give him glad tidings of me，for he mourneth my loss and even to the present time he weareth black raiment for my sake.' Then he told the other Kings all that had befallen him in the days of his youth，at which they wondered and，going down with him from the city，repaired to his father，whom he saluted，and they embraced and fell to the ground senseless for excess of joy.And when they revived after a while，Kamar al-Zaman acquainted his father with all his adventures and the other Kings saluted Shahriman.Then，after having married Marjanah to As'ad，they sent her back to her kingdom，charging her not to cease correspondence with them； so she took leave and went her way.Moreover they married Amjad to Bostan，Bahram's daughter，and they all set out for the City of Ebony.And when they arrived there，Kamar al-Zaman went in to his father-in-law，King Armanus，and told him all that had befallen him and how he had found his sons； whereat Armanus rejoiced and gave him joy of his safe return.Then King Ghayur went in to his daughter，Queen Budur，[23] and saluted her and quenched his longing for her company，and they all abode a full month's space in the City of Ebony； after which the King and his daughter returned to their own country.--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say，When it was the Two Hundred and Forty-ninth Night，She said，It hath reached me，O auspicious King，that King Ghayur set out with his daughter and his host for his own land，and they took with them Amjad and returned home by easy marches.And when Ghayur was settled again in his kingdom，he made his grandson King in his stead； and as to Kamar al-Zaman he also made As'ad king in his room over the capital of the Ebony Islands，with the consent of his grandfather，King Armanus and set out himself，with his father，King Shahriman，till the two made the Islands of Khalidan.Then the lieges decorated the city in their honour and they ceased not to beat the drums for glad tidings a whole month；

nor did Kamar al-Zaman leave to govern in his father's place，till there overtook them the Destroyer of delights and the Sunderer of societies； and Allah knoweth all things！ Quoth King Shahryar，'O Shahrazad，this is indeed a most wonderful tale！'

And she answered，'O King，it is not more wonderful than that of ALA AL-DIN ABU AL-SHAMAT.[24]

'What is that？' asked he，and she said，It hath reached me that there lived，in times of yore and years and ages long gone before，a merchant of Cairo[25] named Shams al-Din，who was of the best and truest spoken of the traders of the city； and he had eunuchs and servants and negro-slaves and handmaids and Mame lukes and great store of money.Moreover，he was Consul[26] of the Merchants of Cairo and owned a wife，whom he loved and who loved him； except that he had lived with her forty years，yet had not been blessed with a son or even a daughter.One day，as he sat in his shop，he noted that the merchants，each and every，had a son or two sons or more sitting in their shops like their sires.Now the day being Friday，he entered the Hammam-bath and made the total-ablution： after which he came out and took the barber's glass and looked in it，saying，'I testify that there is no god but the God and I testify that Mohammed is the Messenger of God！' Then he considered his beard and，seeing that the white hairs in it covered the black，bethought himself that hoariness is the harbinger of death.Now his wife knew the time of his coming home and had washed and made herself ready for him，so when he came in to her，she said，'Good evening，' but he replied 'I see no good.' Then she called to the handmaid，'Spread the supper-tray；' and when this was done quoth she to her husband 'Sup，O my lord.' Quoth he，'I will eat nothing，' and pushing the tray away with his foot，turned his back upon her.She asked，'Why dost thou thus？ and what hath vexed thee？'； and he answered，'Thou art the cause of my vexation.'--And Shahrazed perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say，When it was the Two Hundred and Fiftieth Night，She said，It hath reached me，O auspicious King，that Shams al-Din said to his wife，'Thou art the cause of my vexation.' She asked，'Wherefore？' and he answered，'When I opened my shop this morning，I saw that each and every of the merchants had with him a son or two sons or more，sitting in their shops like their fathers； and I said to myself：--He who took thy sire will not spare thee.Now the night I first visited thee，[27] thou madest me swear that I would never take a second wife over thee nor a concubine，Abyssinian or Greek or handmaid of other race；

nor would lie a single night away from thee： and behold，thou art barren，and having thee is like boring into the rock.' Rejoined she，'Allah is my witness that the fault lies with thee，for that thy seed is thin.' He asked，'And what showeth the man whose semen is thin？' And she answered，'He cannot get women with child，nor beget children.' Quoth he，'What thickeneth the seed？