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Presently
they brought forward Scheherazade and displayed her, for the first dress, in a
red suit, whereupon King Shahryar rose to look upon her and the wits of all
present, men and women, were bewitched for that she was even as saith of her
one of her describers:
A sun
on wand in knoll of sand she showed,
Clad
in her cramoisy-hued chemisette.
Of her
lips' honeydew she gave me drink
And
with her rosy cheeks quencht fire she set.
Then they attired Dunyazade in a dress of blue brocade and she became as she
were the full moon when it shineth forth. So they displayed her in this, for
the first dress, before King Shah Zaman, who rejoiced in her and well-nigh
swooned away for love longing and amorous desire. Yea, he was distraught with
passion for her whenas he saw her, because she was as saith of her one of her
describers in these couplets:
She
comes appareled in an azure vest,
Ultramarine as skies are deckt and dight.
I
view'd th' unparalleled sight, which showed my eyes
A
summer moon upon a winter night.
Then
they returned to Scheherazade and displayed her in the second dress, a suit of
surpassing goodliness, and veiled her face with her hair like a chin veil.
Moreover, they let down her side locks, and she was even as saith of her one of
her describers in these couplets:
O hail
to him whose locks his cheeks o'ershade,
Who
slew my life by cruel hard despite.
Said
I, "Hast veiled the morn in night?" He said,
"Nay I but veil moon in hue of night."
Then they displayed Dunyazade in a second and a third and a fourth dress, and
she paced forward like the rising sun, and swayed to and fro in the insolence
of beauty, and she was even as saith the poet of her in these couplets:
The
sun of beauty she to all appears
And,
lovely coy, she mocks all loveliness.
And
when he fronts her favor and her smile
A-morn, the sun of day in clouds must dress.
Then they displayed Scheherazade in the third dress and the fourth and the
fifth, and she became as she were a ban branch snell or a thirsting gazelle,
lovely of face and perfect in attributes of grace, even as saith of her one in
these couplets:
She
comes like fullest moon on happy night,
Taper
of waist with shape of magic might.
She
hath an eye whose glances quell mankind,
And
ruby on her cheeks reflects his light.
Enveils her hips the blackness of her hair-
Beware
of curls that bite with viper bite!
Her
sides are silken-soft, that while the heart
Mere
rock behind that surface 'scapes our sight.
From
the fringed curtains of her eyne she shoots
Shafts
that at furthest range on mark alight.
Then
they returned to Dunyazade and displayed her in the fifth dress and in the
sixth, which was green, when she surpassed with her loveliness the fair of the
four quarters of the world, and outvied with the brightness of her countenance
the full moon at rising tide, for she was even as saith of her the poet in
these couplets:
A
damsel 'twas the tirer's art had decked with snare and sleight,
And
robed with rays as though the sun from her had borrowed light.
She
came before us wondrous clad in chemisette of green,
As
veiled by his leafy screen Pomegranate hides from sight.
And
when he said, "How callest thou the fashion of thy dress?"
She
answered us in pleasant way with double meaning dight:
"We
call this garment crevecoeur, and rightly is it hight,
For
many a heart wi' this we brake and harried many a sprite."
Then they displayed Scheherazade in the sixth and seventh dresses and clad her
in youth's clothing, whereupon she came forward swaying from side to side and
coquettishly moving, and indeed she ravished wits and hearts and ensorceled all
eyes with her glances. She shook her sides and swayed her haunches, then put
her hair on sword hilt and went up to King Shahryar, who embraced her as
hospitable host embraceth guest, and threatened her in her ear with the taking
of the sword, and she was even as saith of her the poet in these words:
Were
not the murk of gender male,
Than
feminines surpassing fair,
Tirewomen they had grudged the bride,
Who
made her beard and whiskers wear!
Thus also they did with her sister Dunyazade, and when they had made an end of
the display, the King bestowed robes of honor on all who were present and sent
the brides to their own apartments. Then Scheherazade went in to King Shahryar
and Dunyazade to King, Shah Zaman, and each of them solaced himself with the
company of his beloved consort and the hearts of the folk were comforted.
When
morning morrowed, the Wazir came in to the two Kings and kissed ground before
them, wherefore they thanked him and were large of bounty to him. Presently
they went forth and sat down upon couches of kingship, whilst all the wazirs
and emirs and grandees and lords of the land presented themselves and kissed
ground. King Shahryar ordered them dresses of honor and largess, and they
prayed for the permanence and prosperity of the King and his brother.
Then
the two sovereigns appointed their sire-in-law, the Wazir, to be Viceroy in
Samarkand, and assigned him five of the chief emirs to accompany him, charging
them attend him and do him service. The Minister kissed the ground and prayed
that they might be vouchsafed length of life. Then he went in to his daughters,
whilst the eunuchs and ushers walked before him, and saluted them and
farewelled them. They kissed his hands and gave him joy of the kingship and
bestowed on him immense treasures, after which he took leave of them and
setting out, fared days and nights till he came near Samarkand, where the
townspeople met him at a distance of three marches and rejoiced in him with
exceeding joy. So he entered the city and they decorated the houses, and it was
a notable day. He sat down on the throne of his kingship and the wazirs did him
homage and the grandees and emirs of Samarkand, and all prayed that he might be
vouchsafed justice and victory and length of continuance. So he bestowed on
them robes of honor and entreated them with distinction, and they made him
Sultan over them.
As
soon as his father-in-law had departed for Samarkand, King Shahryar summoned
the grandees of his realm and made them a stupendous banquet of all manner of
delicious meats and exquisite sweetmeats. He also bestowed on them robes of
honor and guerdoned them, and divided the kingdoms between himself and his
brother in their presence, whereat the folk rejoiced. Then the two Kings abode,
each ruling a day in turn, and they were ever in harmony each with other, while
on similar wise their wives continued in the love of Allah Almighty and in
thanksgiving to Him. And the peoples and the provinces were at peace and the
preachers prayed for them from the pulpits, and their report was bruited abroad
and the travelers bore tidings of them to all lands.
In
due time King Shahryar summoned chroniclers and copyists and bade them write
all that had betided him with his wife, first and last. So they wrote this and
named it The Stories of the Thousand Nights and a Night. The book came to
thirty volumes, and these the King laid up in his treasury. And the two
brothers abode with their wives in all pleasaunce and solace of life and its
delights, for that indeed Allah the Most High had chanced their annoy into joy,
and on this wise they continued till there took them the Destroyer of delights
and the Severer of societies, the Desolator of dwelling places and Gamerer of
graveyards, and they were translated to the ruth of Almighty Allah. Their
houses fell waste and their palaces lay in ruins and the kings inherited their
riches.
Then
there reigned after them a wise ruler, who was just, keen-witted, and
accomplished, and loved tales and legends, especially those which chronicle the
doings of sovereigns and sultans, and he found in the treasury these marvelous
stories and wondrous histories, contained in the thirty volumes aforesaid. So
he read in them a first book and a second and a third and so on to the last of
them, and each book astounded and delighted him more than that which preceded
it, till he came to the end of them. Then he admired whatso he had read therein
of description and discourse and rare traits and anecdotes and moral instances
and reminiscences, and bade the folk copy them and dispread them over all lands
and climes, wherefore their report was bruited abroad and the people named them
The Marvels and Wonders of the Thousand Nights and a Night. This is all that
hath come down to us of the origin of this book, and Allah is All-knowing. So
Glory he to Him Whom the shifts of Time waste not away, nor doth aught of
chance or change affect His sway, Whom one case diverteth not from other case
and Who is sole in the attributes of perfect grace. And prayer and peace he
upon the Lord's Pontiff and Chosen One among His creatures, our lord MOHAMMED,
the Prince of mankind, through whom we supplicate Him for a goodly and a godly
FINIS
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