第80章

And when the proclamation became known，they laid the tables and the subjects came in hosts； so she bade them sit down at the trays and eat their fill of all the dishes.Accordingly they sat down and she took place on her chair of state，watching them，whilst each who was at meat said to himself，'Verily the King looketh at none save me.' Then they fell to eating and the Emirs said to them，'Eat and be not ashamed； for this pleaseth the King.' So they ate their fill and went away，blessing the Sovereign and saying，one to the other，'Never in our days saw we a Sultan who loved the poor as doth this Sultan.' And they wished him length of life.Upon this Zumurrud returned to her palace，--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.

When it was the Three Hundred and Twentieth Night，She said，It hath reached me，O auspicious King，that Queen Zumurrud returned to her palace，rejoicing in her device and saying to herself，'Inshallah，I shall surely by this means happen on news of my lord Ali Shar.' When the first day of the second month came round，she did as before and when they had spread the tables she came down from her palace and took place on her throne and commanded the lieges to sit down and fall to.Now as she sat on her throne，at the head of the tables，watching the people take their places company by company and one by one，behold her eye fell on Barsum，the Nazarene who had bought the curtain of her lord； and she knew him and said in her mind，'This is the first of my joy and the winning of my wish.' Then Barsum came up to the table and，sitting down with the rest to eat，espied a dish of sweet rice，sprinkled with sugar； but it was far from him，so he pushed up to it through the crowd and，putting out his hand to it，seized it and set it before himself.His next neighbour said to him，'Why dost thou not eat of what is before thee？ Is not this a disgrace to thee？ How canst thou reach over for a dish which is distant from thee？ Art thou not ashamed？'

Quoth Barsum，'I will eat of none save this same.' Rejoined the other，'Eat then，and Allah give thee no good of it！' But another man，a Hashish-eater，said，'Let him eat of it，that I may eat with him.' Replied his neighbour，'O unluckiest of Hashish-

eaters，this is no meat for thee； it is eating for Emirs.Let it be，that it may return to those for whom it is meant and they eat it.' But Barsum heeded him not and took a mouthful of the rice and put it in his mouth； and was about to take a second mouthful when the Queen，who was watching him，cried out to certain of her guards，saying，'Bring me yonder man with the dish of Sweet rice before him and let him not eat the mouthful he hath read but throw it from his hand.'[304] So four of the guards went up to Barsum and haled him along on his face，after throwing the mouthful of rice from his hand，and set him standing before Zumurrud，whilst all the people left eating and said to one another，By Allah，he did wrong in not eating of the food meant for the likes of him.' Quoth one，'For me I was content with this porridge[305] which is before me.' And the Hashish-eater said，'Praised be Allah who hindered me from eating of the dish of sugared rice for I expected it to stand before him and was waiting only for him to have his enjoyment of it，to eat with him，when there befel him what we see.' And the general said，one to other，'Wait till we see what shall befal him.' Now as they brought him before Queen Zumurrud she cried，'Woe to thee，O blue eyes！ What is thy name and why comest thou to our country？' But the accursed called himself out of his name having a white turband[306] on，and answered，'O King，my name is Ali； I work as a weaver and I came hither to trade.' Quoth Zumurrud，'Bring me a table of sand and a pen of brass，' and when they brought her what she sought，she took the sand and the pen，and struck a geomantic figure in the likeness of a baboon； then，raising her head，she looked hard at Barsum for an hour or so and said to him，'O dog，how darest thou lie to Kings？ Art thou not a Nazarene，Barsum by name，and comest thou not hither in quest of somewhat？ Speak the truth，or by the glory of the Godhead，I will strike off thy head！' At this Barsum was confounded and the Emirs and bystanders said，'Verily，this King understandeth geomancy：

blessed be He who hath gifted him！' Then she cried out upon the Christian and said，'Tell me the truth，or I will make an end of thee！' Barsum replied，'Pardon，O King of the age； thou art right as regards the table，for the far one[307] is indeed a Nazarene，--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.

When it was the Three Hundred and Twenty-first Night，She said，It hath reached me，O auspicious King，that Barsum replied，'Pardon，O King of the age； thou art right as regards the table，for thy slave is indeed a Nazarene.' Whereupon all present，gentle and simple，wondered at the King's skill in hitting upon the truth by geomancy，and said，'Verily this King is a diviner，whose like there is not in the world.' Thereupon Queen Zumurrud bade flay the Nazarene and stuff his skin with straw and hang it over the gate of the race-course.Moreover，she commended to dig a pit without the city and burn therein his flesh and bones and throw over his ashes offal and ordure.'We hear and obey，' answered they，and did with him all she bade；