The Seven Hundred nd Ninety-fifth 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 King sent to his suite bidding them bring the owner of that stallion adding, "If he make aught delay with you drag him before me debased and degraded, and in other than pleasurable plight." Accordingly, they went to him and accosting him said, "O youth, thou owest hearing and obeying to His Highness the King; and, if thou come not to him with good gree we will bear thee maugre thyself." But the Prince, hearing these their words, set his left foot in stirrup and throwing his right leg over the saddle mounted till he was firm of seat upon his stallion's back and had power over his monture. Then he asked saying, "Who amongst you shall come near me or carry me to yonder Sultan of yours?" Whenas they saw this from him they kept away from his arm-reach, but inasmuch as they could not return to their King and report saying, "We availed not to bring him," they exclaimed, "Allah upon thee, O Youth, that thou draw nigh with us to the Sovran and bespeak him from the back of thy steed: so shall we be clear and bear nor rebuke nor reproach." Hearing this much the Prince understood what was in their thoughts and that their design was to win free of the King and the avoidance of blame; accordingly he said to them; "Fare ye before me and I will follow you."[519] But when they returned with the youth behind them to within a short distance of the King where either of the twain could hear the other's words, the Prince asked, "O King of the Age, what dost thou require of me and what is it thou wantest?" "Do thou dismount," answered the Sultan, "and draw near me when I will tell thee and question thee of a certain matter;" but quoth the youth, "I will not alight from the back of my steed and let whoso hath a claim upon me demand satisfaction,[520] for here be the Maydán—the field of fight." So saying he wheeled his steed and would have made for the open country, when the Sultan cried aloud to his followers, "Seize him and bring him hither." So they took horse all of them, a matter of one hundred and fifty riders, and followed him at full speed (he still riding) and overtook him and formed a ring around him, and he seeing this shortened the bridle-reins and gored flanks with stirrup-irons when the beast sprang from under him like the wafting of the wind. Then he cried out to them, "Another day, O ye dogs;" and no sooner had they heard his outcry than they turned from him flying and to safety hieing. When the Sultan beheld his followers, some hundred and fifty riders, returning to the presence in headlong flight and taking station before him, he enquired the cause of their running, and they replied that none could approach that horseman, adding, "Verily he cried a warcry which caused each and every of us to turn and flee, for that we deemed him one of the Jánn." "Woe to you!" exclaimed the King: "an hundred and fifty riders and not avail to prevail over a single horseman!" presently adding, "By Allah, his say was sooth who said,
'And how many an one in the tribe they count * When to one a
thousand shall ne'er amount?'
Verily this youth could not be confronted by a thousand, nor indeed could a whole tribe oppose him, and by Allah, I have been deficient in knightly devoir for not doing him honour; however, it was not to be save on such wise." But the youth ceased not faring through days and nights for the whole of four months, unknowing the while when he should reach a place wherein to take repose. And as soon as this long wayfare ended, suddenly a mountain towering high to the heights of heaven arose before him; so he set his face thither, and after a further term of three days[521] (and he ever wayfaring) he reached it and beheld upon its flanks fair leasows with grasses and rills and trees and fruits besprent, and birds hymning Allah the One, the Omnipotent. Anon he alighted therein for that his heart had somewhat to say anent that mountain, and he also marvelled thereat by cause that during his wayfare he had never seen aught like it at all, nor anything resembling that herbage and those streams. And after dismounting he unbridled his steed and suffered him browse and pasture upon the greenery and drink of the water, while he on like wise fell to eating of the fruits which hung from the trees and taking his ease and repose. But the more he shifted from place to place the fairer he found it than the first, so he was delighted with the site, and as he looked upon it he improvised these couplets,
"O who fearest the world do thou feel right safe; * Trust all to
Him did mankind create:
Fate aye, O my lord, shall come to pass * While safe thou art
from th' undoomed by Fate."
The Sultan's son ceased not straying from stead to stead for a term of ten days, during which he wandered round about the Mountain and solaced himself by gazing upon the trees and waters,[522] and he was gladdened by the warbling of the birds till at length the Doom of Destiny and the Fiat of Fate cast him over against the door of the cave which contained the Khwajah's daughter with her handmaids and her negro slaves. He looked at the entrance and marvelled and was perplexed at—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