Then I laid before him my misfortunes, and spoke of the loss of my slaves, and of all I possessed. My teeth chattered for fear.
“But,” said the Sultan, “did I not set a guard over thee?”
“Yes, prince, and that is the cause of my misfortune. I am kept in prison, but my slaves are allowed to fly, and none remain to me. I wished to take advantage of the darkness, to go forth and visit Malik, and lay before him my case, in the hope that he would speak to your majesty, and that you would order either my deliverance or my death; for it is better to die than to live in this anguish.”
“How is that?”
“Prince of the faithful,” replied I, “I no longer possess anything—neither provisions nor slaves. I have passed many days without eating. I have so suffered from hunger that I can no longer sleep. In a moment of fever I have stolen a handful of millet from a measure set before an ass, and devoured it like a beast of burden. I am in despair. Misfortune holds my two hands down in the dust.”
Then Suliman Tyr came forward, and bent his knees, and begged, in the name of our friendship, that I should not be made responsible for the faults of my father, but that I should be restored to liberty. His pleading was so eloquent, that the Sultan was afflicted, and said,—
“I take away thy guards, and restore thee to liberty; but thou shalt not depart from Tendelty until I am well assured that the Sultan of Wadaï has given up the idea of warring upon us, and has returned to his country.”
These words recalled me to life, and calmed my sorrows, and I said,—
“I beg that your majesty will allow me to return to my estates, to take wherewith to live. I have suffered all that can be suffered. Perfumes are for wedding-nights, not for other nights. I only ask what is absolutely necessary. Grant me this grace, and may God reward you.”
The Sultan acquiesced in this demand, and allowed me full right over my property; so I returned full of joy, happy at having attained my object, and being delivered from my prison. It was now four months from the commencement of my captivity. I quoted the words of the Prophet,—“If Sadness enters the lizard’s hole, Joy follows it, and drives it out.” I passed the night most tranquilly, and in the morning my guards were taken away, and I felt myself at liberty. I went immediately to see Malik, who congratulated me on my deliverance, but was in reality grieved and disconcerted.