She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that when the lady Shamsah entered the new palace, she smelt the scent of her flying feather-gear and knew where it was and determined to take it. So she waited till midnight, when Janshah was drowned in sleep; then she rose and going straight to the place where the marble-coffer was buried under the arches she hollowed the ground alongside till she came upon it; when she removed the lead wherewith it was soldered and, taking out the feather-suit, put it on. Then she flew high in air and perching on the pinnacle of the palace, cried out to those who were therein, saying, “I pray you fetch me Janshah, that I may bid him farewell.” So they told him and he came out and, seeing her on the terrace-roof of the palace, clad in her feather-raiment, asked her, “Why hast thou done this deed?”; and she answered “O my beloved and coolth of mine eyes and fruit of my heart, by Allah, I love thee passing dear and I rejoice with exceeding joy in that I have restored thee to thy friends and country and thou hast seen thy mother and father. And now, if thou love me as I love thee, come to me at Takní, the Castle of Jewels.” So saying, she flew away forthright to find her family and friends, and Janshah fell down fainting, being well-nigh dead for despair. They carried the news to King Teghmus, who mounted at once and riding to the palace, found his son lying senseless on the ground; whereat he wept knowing that the swoon was caused by the loss of his love, and sprinkled rose-water on his face.[[552]] When the Prince came to himself and saw his sire sitting at his head, he wept at the thought of losing his wife and the King asked what had befallen him. So he replied, “Know, O my father, that the lady Shamsah is of the daughters of the Jann and she hath done such and such” (telling him all that had happened); and the King said, “O my son, be not troubled and thus concerned, for I will assemble all the merchants and wayfarers in the land and enquire of them anent that castle. If we can find out where it is, we will journey thither and demand the Princess Shamsah of her people; and we hope in Allah the Almighty that He will give her back to thee and thou shalt consummate thy marriage.” Then he went out and, calling his four Wazirs without stay or delay, bade them assemble all the merchants and voyagers in the city and question them of Takni, the Castle of Jewels, adding, “Whoso knoweth it and can guide us thither, I will surely give him fifty thousand gold pieces.” The Wazirs accordingly went forth at once and did as the King bade them, but neither trader nor traveller could give them news of Takni, the Castle of Jewels; so they returned and told the King. Thereupon he bade bring beautiful slave-girls and concubines and singers and players upon instruments of music, whose like are not found but with the Kings: and sent them to Janshah, so haply they might divert him from the love of the lady Shamsah. Moreover, he despatched couriers and spies to all the lands and islands and climes, to enquire for Takni, the Castle of Jewels, and they made quest for it two months long, but none could give them news thereof. So they returned and told the King, whereupon he wept bitter tears and going in to his son found Janshah sitting amidst the concubines and singers and players on harp and zither and so forth, not one of whom could console him for the lady Shamsah. Quoth Teghmus, “O my son, I can find none who knoweth this Castle of Jewels; but I will bring thee a fairer than she.” When Janshah heard this, his eyes ran over with tears and he recited these two couplets:—

Patience hath fled, but passion fareth not; ✿ And all my frame with pine is fever-hot:

When will the days my lot with Shamsah join? ✿ Lo, all my bones with passion-lowe go rot!

Now there was a deadly feud between King Teghmus and a certain King of Hind, by name Kafíd, who had great plenty of troops and warriors and champions; and under his hand were a thousand puissant chieftains, each ruling over a thousand tribes whereof every one could muster four thousand cavaliers. He reigned over a thousand cities each guarded by a thousand forts and he had four Wazirs and under him ruled Emirs, Princes and Sovereigns; and indeed he was a King of great might and prowess whose armies filled the whole earth. Now King Teghmus had made war upon him and ravaged his reign and slain his men and of his treasures had made gain. But when it came to King Kafid’s knowledge that King Teghmus was occupied with the love of his son, so that he neglected the affairs of the state and his troops were grown few and weak by reason of his care and concern for his son’s state, he summoned his Wazirs and Emirs and said to them, “Ye all know that whilom King Teghmus invaded our dominions and plundered our possessions and slew my father and brethren, nor indeed is there one of you, but he hath harried his lands and carried off his goods and made prize of his wives and slain some kinsmen of his. Now I have heard this day that he is absorbed in the love of his son Janshah, and that his troops are grown few and weak; and this is the time to take our blood-revenge on him. So make ready for the march and don ye your harness of battle; and let nothing stay or delay you, and we will go to him and fall upon him and slay him and his son, and possess ourselves of his reign.”——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.

Now when it was the Five Hundred and Seventeenth Night,

She continued, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that Kafid, King of Hind, commanded his troops and armies to mount and make for the dominions of King Teghmus, saying, “Get ye ready for the march and don ye your harness of war; and let nothing stay or delay you; so we will go to him and fall upon him and slay him and his son and possess ourselves of his reign.” They all answered with one voice, saying, “We hear and obey,” and fell at once to equipping themselves and levying troops; and they ceased not their preparations for three months and, when all was in readiness, they beat the drums and sounded the trumps and flew the flags and banners: then King Kafid set out at the head of his host and they fared on till they reached the frontiers of the land of Kabul, the dominions of King Teghmus, where they began to harry the land and do havoc among the folk, slaughtering the old and taking the young prisoners. When the news reached King Teghmus, he was wroth with exceeding wrath and assembling his Grandees and officers of state, said to them, “Know that Kafid hath come to our land and hath entered the realm we command and is resolved to fight us hand to hand; and he leadeth troops and champions and warriors, whose number none knoweth save Allah Almighty; what deme deem ye?” Replied they, “O King of the age, let us go out to him and give him battle and drive him forth of our country; and thus deem we.” So he bade them prepare for battle and brought forth to them hauberks and cuirasses and helmets and swords and all manner of warlike gear, such as lay low warriors and do to death the champions of mankind. So the troops and braves and champions flocked together and they set up the standards and beat the drums and sounded the trumpets and clashed the cymbals and piped on the pipes; and King Teghmus marched out at the head of his army, to meet the hosts of Hind. And when he drew near the foe, he called a halt, and encamping with his host in the Zahrán Valley,[[553]] hard by the frontier of Kabul despatched to King Kafid by messenger the following letter:—“Know that what thou hast done is of the doings of the villain rabble and wert thou indeed a King, the son of a King, thou hadst not done thus, nor hadst thou invaded my kingdom and slain my subjects and plundered their property and wrought unright upon them. Knowest thou not that all this is the fashion of a tyrant? Verily, had I known that thou durst harry my dominions, I had come to thee before thy coming and had prevented thee this long while since. Yet, even now, if thou wilt retire and leave mischief between us and thee, well and good; but if thou return not, meet me in the listed field and measure thyself with me in cut and thrust.” Lastly he sealed his letter and committed to an officer of his army and sent with him spies to spy him out news. The messenger fared forth with the missive and, drawing near the enemy’s camp, he descried a multitude of tents of silk and satin, with pennons of blue sendal, and amongst them a great pavilion of red satin, surrounded by a host of guards. He ceased not to advance till he made this tent and found on asking that it was that of King Kafid whom he saw seated on a chair set with jewels, in the midst of his Wazirs and Emirs and Grandees. So he brought out the letter and straightway there came up to him a company of guards, who took it from him and carried it to the King; and Kafid read it and wrote a reply to this purport:—“After the usual invocations, We let King Teghmus know that we mean to take our blood-revenge on thee and wash out our stain and waste thy reign and rend the curtain in twain and slay the old men and enslave the young men. But to-morrow, come thou forth to combat in the open plain, and to show thee thrust and fight will I deign.” Then he sealed the letter and delivered it to the messenger, who carried it to King Teghmus——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.

Now when it was the Five Hundred and Eighteenth Night,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that King Kafid delivered the answering letter to the messenger who carried it to King Teghmus and delivered it, after kissing the ground between his hands. Then he reported all that he had seen, saying, “O King of the age, I espied warriors and horsemen and footmen beyond count nor can I assist thee to the amount.” When Teghmus read the reply and comprehended its contents, he was with furious rage enraged and bade his Wazir Ayn Zar take horse and fall upon the army of Kafid with a thousand cavaliers, in the middle watch of the night when they would easily ride home and slay all before them. Ayn Zar replied, “I hear and I obey,” and at once went forth to do his bidding. Now King Kafid had a Wazir, Ghatrafán[[554]] by name, whom he bade take five thousand horse and attack the host of King Teghmus in like manner. So Ghatrafan did his bidding and set out on his enterprise marching till midnight. Thus the two parties met halfway and the Wazir Ghatrafan fell upon the Wazir Ayn Zar. Then man cried out against man and there befel sore battle between them till break of day, when Kafid’s men were routed and fled back to their King in confusion. As Kafid saw this, he was wroth beyond measure and said to the fugitives, “Woe to you! What hath befallen you, that ye have lost your captains?” and they replied, “O King of the age, as the Wazir Ghatrafan rode forth to fall upon King Teghmus, there appeared to us halfway and when night was half over, the Wazir Ayn Zar, with cavaliers and champions, and we met on the slopes of Wady Zahran; but ere we were ware we found ourselves in the enemy’s midst, eye meeting eye; and we fought a fierce fight with them from midnight till morning, many on either side being slain. Then the Wazir and his men fell to shouting and smiting the elephants on the face till they took fright at their furious blows, and turning tail to flee, trampled down the horsemen, whilst none could see other for the clouds of dust. The blood ran like a rain-torrent and had we not fled, we had all been cut off to the last man.” When King Kafid heard this, he exclaimed, “May the sun not bless you and may he be wroth with you and sore be his wrath!” Meanwhile Ayn Zar, the Wazir, returned to King Teghmus and told him what had happened. The King gave him joy of his safety and rejoiced greatly and bade beat the drums and sound the trumpets, in honour of the victory; after which he called the roll of his troops and behold, two hundred of his stoutest champions had fallen. Then King Kafid marched his army into the field and drew them out ordered for battle in fifteen lines of ten thousand horse each, under the command of three hundred captains, mounted on elephants and chosen from amongst the doughtiest of his warriors and his champions. So he set up his standards and banners and beat the drums and blew the trumpets whilst the braves sallied forth, offering battle. As for King Teghmus, he drew out his troops line after line and lo! there were ten of ten thousand horse each, and with him were an hundred champions, riding on his right hand and on his left. Then fared forward to the fight each renowned knight, and the hosts clashed together in their might, whilst the earth for all its wideness was straitened because of the multitude of the cavaliers and ears were deafened by drums and cymbals beating and pipes and hautboys sounding and trumpets blaring and by the thunder of horse-tramp and the shouting of men. The dust arched in canopy over their heads and they fought a sore fight from the first of the day till the fall of darkness, when they separated and each army drew off to its own camp.——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased saying her permitted say.

Now when it was the Five Hundred and Nineteenth Night,

She said, It hath reached me, O auspicious King, that each army drew off to its own camp. Then King Kafid called the roll of his troops and, finding that he had lost five thousand men, raged with great rage; and King Teghmus mustered his men and seeing that of them were slain three thousand riders, the bravest of his braves, was wroth with exceeding wrath. On the morrow King Kafid again pushed into the plain and did duty as before, while each man strave his best to snatch victory for himself; and Kafid cried out to his men, saying, “Is there any of you will sally forth into the field and open us the chapter of fray and fight?” And behold came out from the ranks a warrior named Barkayk, a mighty man of war who, when he reached the King, alighted from his elephant and kissing the earth before him, sought of him leave to challenge the foe to combat singular. Then he mounted his elephant and driving into mid-field, cried out, “Who is for duello, who is for derring-do, who is for knightly devoir?” When King Teghmus heard this, he said to his troops, “Which of you will do single battle with this sworder?” And behold, a cavalier came out from the ranks, mounted on a charger, mighty of make, and driving up to the King kissed the earth before him and craved his permission to engage Barkayk. Then he mounted again and charged at Barkayk, who said to him, “Who art thou and what art thou called, that thou makest mock of me by coming out against me and challenging me, alone?” “My name is Ghazanfar[[555]] son of Kamkhíl,” replied the Kabul champion; and the other, “I have heard tell of thee in my own country; so up and do battle between the ranks of the braves!” Hearing these words Ghazanfar drew a mace of iron from under his thigh and Barkayk took his good sword in hand, and they laid on load till Barkayk smote Ghazanfar on the head with his blade, but the morion turned the blow and no hurt befel him therefrom; whereupon Ghazanfar, in his turn, dealt Barkayk so terrible a stroke on the head with his mace, that he levelled him down to his elephant’s back and slew him. With this out sallied another and crying to Ghazanfar, “Who be thou that thou shouldst slay my brother?”; hurled a javelin at him with such force that it pierced his thigh and nailed his coat of mail to his flesh. Then Ghazanfar, feeling his hurt, hent his sword in hand and smote at Barkayk’s brother and cut him in sunder, and he fell to the earth, wallowing in his life-blood; whilst the challenger of Kabul galloped back to King Teghmus. Now when Kafid saw the death of his champions, he cried out to his troops, saying, “Down with you to the plain and strike with might and main!” as also did King Teghmus, and the two armies fought the fiercest of fights. Horse neighed against horse and man cried out upon man and brands were bared, whilst the drums beat and the trumpets blared; and horseman charged upon horseman and every brave of renown pushed forward, whilst the faint-heart fled from the lunge of lance and men heard nought but slogan-cry and the clash and clang of armoury. Slain were the warriors that were slain[[556]] and they stayed not from the mellay till the decline of the sun in the heavenly dome, when the Kings drew off their armies and returned each to its own camp.[[557]] Then King Teghmus took tally of his men and found that he had lost five thousand, and four standards had been broken to bits, whereat he was sore an-angered; whilst King Kafid in like manner counted his troops and found that he had lost six hundred, the bravest of his braves, and nine standards were wanting to the full tale. The two armies ceased joining battle and rested on their arms three days’ space, after which Kafid wrote a letter and sent it by messenger to a King called Fákun al-Kalb (with whom he claimed kinship by the spindle side): and this kinsman forthwith mustered his men and marched to meet the King of Hind.——And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.