After assisting the affrighted girl to the ground he took her upon the horse behind him, and together they rode to the home of the prince.
Strange as it may seem, the king was not angry when his son told the story of his rescue of the maiden, and asked permission to marry her.
“Let me see this strange game which you bring home after ten days of hunting, my son,” he asked, smiling. And the maiden, when brought into his presence, was so gentle and modest that he gave his consent to the wedding. [[191]]
Therefore, according to the will of Allah and the law of the Prophet, these two young people were married, and their wedding feast lasted forty days and forty nights.
In due course of time three children were born to them. This increased the happiness of the prince and his gratitude to Allah at having been led to the tree beside the spring upon the mountain.
We will leave these children while we attend to their mother, who had been made princess.
One day the memory of her own mother—who had so cherished her—came to her so strongly that tears, like drops of rain, began to flow from her eyes. The prince, coming in, saw her sorrow, and asked, with concern:
“Why do you grieve thus, my princess! Are you not happy with all I have done to make you so?”
“My lord, as I sat sewing to-day, I thought of my own mother. Desire to see her again wrings my heart.”
“Is your mother yet alive?” He asked this because he had respected the silence of his wife about her family, and had not questioned her before—feeling almost certain that some sad tragedy had come into her life. Therefore he asked, “Is your mother yet alive?” [[192]]