The Seven Hundred and Seventy-sixth Night,
Dunyazad said to her, "Allah upon thee, O my sister, an thou be other than sleepy, finish for us thy tale that we may cut short the watching of this our latter night!" She replied, "With love and good will!" It hath reached me, O auspicious King, the director, the right-guiding, lord of the rede which is benefiting and of deeds fair-seeming and worthy celebrating, that the Kazi of the Army repaired to the Sultan, he and the whole of his officials, and he ceased not wending until he entered the presence, where he salam'd and said, "O King of the Age, is it lawful and allowed of Allah Almighty that thy Wali charge us with calumnious charge and false?" As the Chief of Police was standing hard by, the Sultan asked him, "How can the Wali have mispoken thee and thy daughter when she is still imprisoned by him and in his house?" whereto the Chief of Police added, "'Tis true! his daughter is surely with us in durance vile, she along with her lover, for indeed I found the pair in such a place." Said the Kazi, "O King of the Age, I will abide here beside thee and do thou let the Wali go down and bring before thee that which is with him in gaol, and the case shall be made manifest, because hearing with the ear is not like eyeing with the eye." The Sultan replied, "This rede is right," whereupon the Chief of Police returned to his house and ordered the gaoler to open the gaol and bring thereout the maiden Sitt al-Husn and her lover the youth Mohammed Shalabi. The man did his bidding and leading forth of prison the couple committed them to the Chief of Police who took them and fared with them to the Sovran, rejoicing the while with all joy. The citizens of Cairo heard of all this, so they flocked in crowds to solace them with the spectacle; and when the Wali reached the presence, the maiden and the young man being with him, he set them before the Sultan. Presently the King asked the youth saying, "Who mayest thou be, O young man, and who is thy father?" and answered he, "I am son of such an Emir;" when the King who believed that she was the daughter of the Chief Kazi continued, "And this maiden that is with thee, who may she be and whose daughter?" The youth replied, "This is my wife, O King of the Age," and the King rejoined, "How can she be thy wife?" So the youth retorted, "Indeed she is; and Such-an-one and So-and-so and Such-another together with a host of thy favoured courtiers wot right well that she is my spouse and that she is the daughter of So-and-so." Hereupon they accosted her and bespoke her and she bespake them, so they recognised her and were certified that she was lawful wife to the Shalabi. Then asked the King, "How is it that the Wali arrested thee and her?" and the youth answered, "O King of the Age, I went out with this my wife intending to enjoy ourselves and, finding a place that was cheerful and pleasant we tarried there until midnight when the Wali broke in upon us and seized us, scandalously declaring that I was companying with the Kazi's daughter. Then he carried us off and gaoled us in his house and now (Alhamdolillah!) here we are between thy hands. So do thou whatso thou will and command according to Holy Law and whoever shall deserve chastisement deal it to him, for thou art the lord of our necks and the master of our good." Now when the youth spake these words the King bade put to death the Chief of Police and harry his house and enslave his women and he commanded the Crier before the execution to cry about the thoroughfares of Cairo in front of the Wali that he was being led to die and declare, "This is the award of him who dishonoureth the noble and chargeth the folk with lying charges and false!" After that they slew the Chief of Police and thus carried out the King's commandment.—And Shahrazad was surprised by the dawn of day and fell silent and ceased saying her permitted say. Then quoth her sister Dunyazad, "How sweet and tasteful is thy tale, O sister mine, and how enjoyable and delectable!" Quoth she, "And where is this compared with that I would relate to you on the coming night, an the Sovran suffer me to survive?" Now when it was the next night and that was